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> If someone falls off a ladder while painting your house, they can sue you and take your house. I just checked some online references and this is well within

> If someone falls off a ladder while painting your house, they can sue you and take your house. I just checked some online references and this is well within the realm of possibility. New thing learned today: contractor insurance certificates must be inspected thoroughly.

awb 5y ago
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- codeisawesome 5y ago
  First hit on search - https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/personal-injury/ladder-injury-lawsuit/ https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/personal-injury/ladder-injury-l... Apparently it is under “premises liability” and I don’t know how the so-called “warn the contractor” system gets to be anything beyond but he said she said in a real hearing…
  - awb 5y ago
    > If someone falls off a ladder while painting your house, they can sue you and take your house. This doesn’t address the claim that people are losing their houses due to painters falling off of ladders. There is a very low bar in the US for filing a lawsuit and it’s unsurprising to find a lawyer’s website encouraging you to do so as they typically still get paid even if you lose, or they hope to scare someone into a settlement because they’d never win at trial. Winning a case like this in front of a jury, and for the value of the house (and collecting it) as OP mentioned sounds unrealistic to me, but happy to see links to any stories where this actually happened in case I’m wrong. Plus, some states have rules about not forcing people to sell their primary residence to pay a debt: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_exemption https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_exemption I just can’t imagine a jury awarding such high damages unless there was obvious negligence on the homeowner’s part. I have trouble believing that an accident alone (through no fault of the homeowner) could cost you your home.
    - codeisawesome 5y ago
      I see… okay, thank you for educating me a bit further. The claim in TFA indeed sounded hyperbolic, and the plethora of law sites encouraging people to sue, only increased the fear factor. My takeaway will still remain that ensuring comprehensive insurance should be a key factor in these engagements. But, good to know it’s not that simple for someone to steal your home over liability!

awb 5y ago

Do share

codeisawesome 5y ago
First hit on search - https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/personal-injury/ladder-injury-lawsuit/ https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/personal-injury/ladder-injury-l... Apparently it is under “premises liability” and I don’t know how the so-called “warn the contractor” system gets to be anything beyond but he said she said in a real hearing…
- awb 5y ago
  > If someone falls off a ladder while painting your house, they can sue you and take your house. This doesn’t address the claim that people are losing their houses due to painters falling off of ladders. There is a very low bar in the US for filing a lawsuit and it’s unsurprising to find a lawyer’s website encouraging you to do so as they typically still get paid even if you lose, or they hope to scare someone into a settlement because they’d never win at trial. Winning a case like this in front of a jury, and for the value of the house (and collecting it) as OP mentioned sounds unrealistic to me, but happy to see links to any stories where this actually happened in case I’m wrong. Plus, some states have rules about not forcing people to sell their primary residence to pay a debt: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_exemption https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_exemption I just can’t imagine a jury awarding such high damages unless there was obvious negligence on the homeowner’s part. I have trouble believing that an accident alone (through no fault of the homeowner) could cost you your home.
  - codeisawesome 5y ago
    I see… okay, thank you for educating me a bit further. The claim in TFA indeed sounded hyperbolic, and the plethora of law sites encouraging people to sue, only increased the fear factor. My takeaway will still remain that ensuring comprehensive insurance should be a key factor in these engagements. But, good to know it’s not that simple for someone to steal your home over liability!