Actual Notice

Conveying facts to a person with the intention to apprise that person of a proceeding in which his or her interests are involved, or informing a person of some fact that he or she has a right to know and which the informer has a legal duty to communicate.

When such notice has been given to someone personally, it is called express actual notice or express notice. If a tenant notifies a landlord that the elevator is broken, the landlord has express actual notice of the defect. Should the landlord fail to repair the elevator and another tenant is injured while riding it, the landlord would be liable for the tenant's injuries.

Actual notice can be presumed if an average person, having witness of the same evidence, should know that a particular fact exists. This is called implied actual notice or implied notice. If the landlord had been with the tenant when the tenant discovered the broken elevator, the landlord would be considered to have implied notice of the defect.