Liability with stairs being too steep?

[Ryan Fernholz]

Looking at buying a small two bedroom rental. The stairs to the basement seem to be a little steep but have railing in both sides. I don't think there's room to make the stairs less steep. Is this a liability I have to be concerned about? I'd hate for a renter to fall and sue me for the stairs not being to cide or something. Thanks. 

[Deanna McCormick]

I would find out what your local building code is for stairways, step width, stair tread, riser height and incline,, just as you think.. this is complicated. 

just because it's grandfathered in doesn't make it less of a obstacle just makes it a legal obstacle that someone can always find a lawyer to help in filing a suit.. 

We just had a new deck installed on our house,, the steps seemed fine but the top riser was off 3/8 of an inch, the entire stairway, railing had to be taken down and new stringers cut with the proper rise. So it's all fixed now and passed but it's nothing to overlook. Glad I wasn't the contractor on that extra expense.