Landlord's Tort Liability

Question 1

Common Law Caveat Lessee

Answer 1

Caveat Lessee (let the tenant beware) means that in tort, a landlord was under no duty to make the premises safe. But there are five exceptions (CLAPS)

C- Common Areas
L - Latent Defects
A - Assumption of Repairs
P - Public Use
S - Short Term lease of furnished dwelling

Question 2

Common Areas (caveat lessee)

Answer 2

A landlord has duty to reasonable care in maintaining all common areas

Question 3

Latent Defect (caveat lessee)

Answer 3

A landlord must WARN a tenant of hidden defects - a dangerous condition that the tenant couldn’t discover by reasonable inspection - of which the landlord has knowledge or reason to know

If he fail to do so, he will be liable for any injuries resulting from the condition.

If the tenant accepts the premises after disclosure, the tenant assumes the risk and the landlord is no longer liable in tort

Question 4

Assumption of Repair (caveat lessee)

Answer 4

While in tort a landlord is under no duty to make repairs, once repairs are undertaken, the landlord must complete them with reasonable care

Question 5

Public Use (caveat lessee)

Answer 5

A landlord who leases public space, and who should know, because of the significant nature of the defect and the short length of the lease, that a tenant will not repair, is liable for any defects on the premises that cause injury to members of the public

Question 6

Short Term Lease with Furnishings (caveat lessee)

Answer 6

A landlord who rents a fully furnished premises for a short period of time is under a stricter duty. Such landlords are responsible for any defective condition which proximately injures a tenant - whether they knew of the defect or not

Question 7

Modern Duty of Reasonable Care

Answer 7

Rather than caveat lessee, the modern trend is that a landlord owes a general duty of reasonable care toward residential tenants, and will be held liable for injuries in tort resulting from ordinary negligence if the landlord had notice of the defect and an opportunity to repair.

Question 8

GA Duty of Care for Landlords

Answer 8

A landlord is liable by statute to keep the premises in repair and is liable for all substantial improvements placed on the premises by their consent.

Duty to Repair - Proximate - A plaintiff must show not only that the landlord breached their statutory duty to keep the premises in repair, but also that the breach was the proximate cause

Duty to Repair - Notice - it must be shown that the landlord actually knew or should have known of a defective condition

Patent Obvious defects - Although a landlord has no duty to warn against obvious dangers that may be avoided by the exercise of reasonable care, they have duty to maintain the premises in repair