Can I be held liable for a personal injury occurring at a home I previously owned?

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Can I be held liable for a personal injury occurring at a home I previously owned?

I bought a house in FL 10 years ago. It was fenced and gated. I had the gate motorized a year later and it had a button so the gate could be opened from inside the gate without using the car remote. I sold the house 4 years ago. A guest of the new owner, who knew the location of the button reached through the gate to open it and the gate caught her hand. The insurance company is apparently balking at paying. Her lawyer and the current homeowner’s lawyer now want to get a deposition from me. I’d like to cooperate, but wonder if I can be held in any way liable?

Asked on July 13, 2011 under Personal Injury, Virginia

Answers:

FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

Typically once a property owner sells his or her residential property where he/she are no longer on legal title to the parcel and someone gets injured, liability as to the former property ceases in most jurisdictions.

The above answer also depends upon the fact that the personal injury occurred after legal title to the property is transferred to the new owner and the former owner after property transfer had no actual contact with the injured person when the accident happended.

The deposition that you are requested to attend is most likely a fact finding mechanism to see if the current proeprty owners knew or should have known about a dangerous condition as to the gate and your knowledge of the gate's condition before property transfer and changes to the condition o the gate after property title transfer.


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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