Q: A guest slipped and fell from a ladder in my AirBnB, now she's sueing me. Any guidance welcome.
I run an AirBnB in my rental home in New Orleans, LA. One of the rooms we rent out is a loft, with a ladder leading up to it. The ladder is homemade and very sturdy, although I'm not sure if it's legally up to code.
A year ago, a guest slipped and fell from the lowest step, hurting her shoulder in the process. We felt bad and helped her as much as we could, taking her to her hospital. She said it was fine and that her insurance should cover it.
Yesterday my landlord was served. She is attempting to sue us, our landlord, and AirBnB. We're currently trying to get a hold of AirBnB as they're supposed to cover something like this, but fear they will try to wiggle out of responsibility.
According to the suit, we admitted fault, although we're not so sure that we did.
We are a young couple, still working to gain financial stability. Any advice is welcome, as we have no experience with this matter. If worst comes to worst, what type of lawyer should we seek out? How f*d are we?
A: Hopefully you have insurance that will cover this and provide you with a defense attorney. Examples are premises liability (homeowners), commercial liability, or general liability coverage policies. You should contact your insurance agent or insurance company as soon as possible and provide them with a copy of the lawsuit. If you don't have insurance, you should consult with an attorney that handles insurance defense matters.
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