Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Its fun to decorate the pumpkins and the yard. There are visits to pumpkin patches, Halloween costume pop-up stores, and haunted houses. I remember when I was living in the Bay Area there was a small town called Half-Moon Bay. Half-Moon Bay was a small fishing town south of San Francisco. There was also a lot of little farms in that area as well. Each October there would be the Half-Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. It was fun to take my son at the time when he was a toddler.
Unlike California, Halloween in Ohio tends to mark the transition from mild Fall into colder weather(granted in the Bay Area it gets cooler, but 50-60 in December and January doesn’t compare to Ohio in December and January). Sometimes Halloween can be warm, sometimes it can be unpleasant and chilly. Irregardless the kids still have to get out there to get that candy!!! I believe this will be the last Halloween my son trick-or-treats. Its weird how fast times goes. I remember his first couple of Halloweens when he was a baby and had no concept of what trick-or-treating was.
Then when he became a toddler, at first he would be suspicious of these strangers handing out candy. Later he would enthusiastically run up driveways and ring the doorbell. Now he’s trick or treating with his friends. Leaving me at home to cry in my soup (or work on hearings). The great thing about Halloween, no matter how young or old, its still fun, and there are still things you can do to participate and enjoy Halloween.
Landlord Duty of Care
Anyways, this is a lawfirm’s website so each post has to veer back around to some legal concept. So what legal issue or concept is implicated by Halloween? Well, here goes, if you rent your apartment or home, then you landlord owes you a duty of care to maintain the property so as to avoid injuries to both yourself and your guests, including little kids who are trick-or-treating.
Therefore if there is something that needs repaired at your home or apartment, like a loose handrail, or a rotting front porch, let your landlord know so he can fix it. If he does not and you or your guests sustain an injury, you may be entitled to compensation and/or payment of your medical bills.
As always if you or your family have suffered a serious injury, please call an attorney at Malek & Malek. We have been protecting families since 1972.