What Is The New York Statute Of Limitations For Premises Liability Cases?

Suing a Private Individual or Corporation

If an accident occurs on private property with no municipal involvement, New York’s negligence statute of limitations is three years.

And that’s measured from the date of the accident. This means that you must file a lawsuit three years from the date of the accident.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you have three years to claim an injury from the date of the accident. All of these cases are dependent upon medical proof, so if you haven’t seen a doctor for 8 months regarding a back or knee injury you claim is from a fall, this three year window won’t really help you. This is because that long delay in treatment will make it difficult to prove that your injuries are actually related to the fall.

Suing a Municipal Government

Now, when you have a potential claim against a municipal defendant, meaning a government entity such as the City of New York, the New York City Transit Authority, the New York City Housing Authority or some other town, county or village outside of the City of New York, the statute is shorter. 

You must file a Notice of Claim within 90 days of your accident and start a lawsuit within 1 year and 90 days.

State and local governments used to have something called Sovereign Immunity, which meant that you were not allowed to sue them for torts such as negligence. That is no longer the case, as this immunity has been waived, but certain steps are still required. And one of those things is filing a Notice of Claim within 90 days.

Filing a Notice of Claim

In any scenario where your slip and fall or a trip and fall case is against the City of New York or one of these other government entities being a defendant or a county or a town outside of the City of New York, you have 90 days in which to file a document called a Notice of Claim. This is a verified document that must be served a very specific way upon the municipal entity, the government entity, within 90 days of accident.

This Notice of Claim needs to lay out the following:

• The time when the accident happened,
• Way it happened, and
• What you are claiming that the municipality did wrong.

We strongly recommended that an attorney handle this step due to potential pitfalls. These include who to name, where and how to serve it, and what it must include.

Once you file this Notice of Claim, you have saved your right to sue. But that is not the only hoop that you must jump through. To facilitate its “investigation,” the government can question you at an examination known as a “50-h Hearing.”

Let’s assume that you filed the Notice of Claim on time. Now you have 1 year and 90 days in which to bring a lawsuit.

Suing Public Authorities

Certain Public Authorities, such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the NYC School Construction Authority and others have a shorter statute of limitations. With these entities there is a 60 day Notice of Claim window and any lawsuit must be filed within 1 year of the accident.

Other Public Authorities like the MTA Long Island Railroad or the MTA are entitled to a Notice of Claim at least 30 days prior to the commencement of suit, while the lawsuit must be filed within one year of the incident.

Suing the State of New York

If you are injured on New York State owned property, your case is governed by the Court of Claims Act. This Act gives you two options. 

You can either:

1. Serve and file a Verified Claim within 90 days of the incident; or
2. You can file a Notice of Intention within 90 days of the incident. This gives you two years from the incident to file and serve a Verified Claim against the State of New York.

Contact an Experienced New York Premises Liability Lawyer

For a free consultation, please don’t hesitate to call (646) 450-4110 or send us an online message today.