By: Daryoosh Khashayar, Founder and Managing Partner, Khashayar Law Group | ABOTA Member | Office: 1350 Columbia St., Suite 303, San Diego, CA 92101 | Practice Area: Premises Liability, Trip, Slip and Fall | Last Updated: September 2026.

Legal review note: This article was checked against the California case law and statutes cited below in September 2026. Laws change, and this is general information, not legal advice about your case.

The Straight Answer

The party liable for a trip and fall in California is whoever owned, possessed, or controlled the property where you fell and failed to use reasonable care to keep it safe. That has been the rule since Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108, where the California Supreme Court replaced the old trespasser and invitee categories with a general duty of ordinary care, now codified in Civil Code §1714. In practice, who you sue depends on where you fell: a store, a rented home, an HOA community, a shopping center, or a public sidewalk. Each comes with its own rules and its own deadline.

The Defendant Depends on Where You Fell

Who is liable if you slip and fall in a store?

Businesses that invite the public in must inspect for hazards, not just react to them. Under Ortega v. Kmart Corp. (2001) 26 Cal.4th 1200, a jury may infer the store should have known about a spill or hazard when the aisle was not inspected within a reasonable time. Sweep logs, inspection schedules, and camera footage decide these cases, which is why they need to be preserved before they are overwritten.

Who is liable if you fall at a rental property?

Landlords are responsible for dangerous conditions they know about, or should know about, in the units and buildings they rent, including hazards a tenant reported that never got fixed. Our firm resolved exactly that case for $1.35 million after an apartment complex left a reported hazard unrepaired inside a tenant’s unit and then blamed him for his fall and back surgery.

Who is liable for a fall in an HOA community?

An HOA that controls common areas owes residents the same duty of reasonable care as any other property owner. When an association knows about a walkway hazard and leaves it, it can be held responsible, as in our $225,000 HOA trip and fall settlement, which turned on the association’s prior notice of the condition.

Who is liable for a fall at a shopping center?

Falls in parking lots, walkways, and common areas of retail centers can implicate the property owner, the management company, and maintenance contractors at the same time. Sorting out who controlled the surface you fell on is part of the case. Our $475,000 shopping center settlement involved a surgical foot injury from a fall outside a small retail center.

Who is liable for a sidewalk fall on public property?

Sidewalk and public property falls follow a different statute entirely. Under Government Code §835, a public entity is liable for a dangerous condition of its property when it had notice in time to fix it, and the deadline is unforgiving: a written claim within six months under Government Code §911.2. These cases can be won. Daryoosh Khashayar tried Brownlee v. City of San Diego to a $4.5 million jury verdict, reported as a $4.8 million judgment with costs and fees, for a trip and fall on public property that caused a traumatic brain injury.

The Trivial Defect Defense

Cities and property owners often argue the crack or height difference was too small to matter. California courts have found very small defects trivial as a matter of law, such as the walkway crack under half an inch in Caloroso v. Hathaway (2004) 122 Cal.App.4th 922. But there is no bright-line rule. In Stathoulis v. City of Montebello (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 559, the court held that size alone is not decisive when poor lighting, jagged edges, debris, or other circumstances make a modest defect dangerous. Photographs taken before the defect is repaired, with something in frame for scale, are often the whole ballgame.

What If You Were Partly at Fault

Expect the defense to say you should have watched your step. Under Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804, California applies pure comparative negligence: your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, never erased by it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is liable if I trip and fall on someone else's property?

The owner, occupier, or manager who controlled the property and failed to use reasonable care in maintaining it. That can be a business, a landlord, an HOA, a management company, a maintenance contractor, or a public entity, and sometimes more than one of them at once.

Can I sue a store if I slip and fall inside it?

Yes, if the store created the hazard or failed to find and fix it through reasonable inspections. California law lets a jury infer notice from the absence of timely inspections, so the store’s own sweep logs and camera footage often decide the case.

Who is responsible for a sidewalk trip and fall, the city or the homeowner?

It depends on who owns and controls that stretch of sidewalk and what caused the defect. Claims against a city, county, or state agency require a written government claim within six months, so the ownership question needs to be answered quickly.

Can you sue the city for a sidewalk fall and actually win?

Yes. Our firm won a $4.5 million jury verdict against the City of San Diego in Brownlee, a public-property trip and fall involving a traumatic brain injury. Public entity cases demand early evidence work and strict compliance with the claim deadline, but they are winnable.

Is a landlord liable if a guest falls at a rental property?

A landlord can be liable to tenants and their guests for dangerous conditions the landlord knew or should have known about and failed to repair, especially conditions that were reported before the fall.

Talk to a San Diego Premises Liability Lawyer

Khashayar Law Group handles trip, slip and fall cases throughout San Diego County and across California, from offices in Little Italy, Downtown San Diego, Carmel Valley, and San Francisco. Read about what fall cases are actually worth, or call (858) 509-1550 for a free consultation.

Sources

Case results disclosure: Settlement results above are firm reported unless identified as a verdict; settlement terms may be confidential. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every case depends on its facts, evidence, defendants, insurance coverage, venue, and applicable law. See our editorial policy. This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.