Tort Liability of Landlords

A landlord is generally not liable for dangerous conditions on premises that are leased to a tenant after the tenant takes possession and control of the premises. The landlord is also not liable for failing to make repairs or for injuries that are caused by defects in the premises unless the defects are hidden or concealed. The landlord's lack of liability for dangerous conditions or for defects applies to the tenant and to any person who enters the premises at the tenant's invitation, which person is also known as an invitee. The landlord's lack of liability applies to both personal injuries and property damages.

However, there are exceptions to a landlord's lack of liability for leased premises. These exceptions include where the landlord has agreed to make repairs to the premises, where the landlord fails to disclose hidden defects of which he or she has knowledge, where the landlord maintains control over common areas, and where the landlord violates a statutory or an administrative duty. The exceptions may also include where the landlord violates the warranty of habitability or suitability, where the landlord admits the public to the premises, or when criminal acts are committed by third parties.

If a landlord agrees to make repairs to leased premises and enters into a contract with a tenant for the repairs, the landlord is liable to the tenant and his or her invitees if the landlord's failure to repair creates an unreasonable risk or if the landlord fails to exercise reasonable care in performing the repairs. In order to be held liable to the tenant, the landlord does not need to have agreed to make the repairs prior to the tenant's taking possession of the premises. Also, the repairs do not need to have been made for the purpose of preventing injury to the tenant or his or her invitees. However, the landlord must have entered into the contract with the tenant under the tenant's lease. If the lease only provides that the landlord has the right to make repairs, the landlord is not liable for the repairs.

A landlord is liable to a tenant and his or her invitees if the landlord concealed or failed to disclose a condition to the tenant, if the condition involved an unreasonable risk of harm, if the condition existed at the time the tenant took possession of the premises, if the tenant did not know of the condition or did not have reason to know of the condition, and if the landlord knew or had reason to know of the condition. If the landlord actively conceals the condition, he or she will be held liable to the tenant until the tenant discovers the condition or has an opportunity to protect himself or herself from the condition. If the landlord merely fails to disclose the condition and does not actively conceal the condition, the landlord is liable to the tenant until the tenant has an opportunity to discover the condition and to protect himself or herself from the condition.

A landlord is liable to a tenant for common areas and for areas over which the landlord maintains control. The landlord has a duty to maintain the common areas in a safe and prudent manner. The landlord is liable to the tenant and his or her invitees for injuries as a result of a dangerous condition in the common areas. However, the landlord is not an insurer of the common areas. The landlord is only liable for negligence with regard to the common areas.

A landlord is liable to a tenant if he or she violates a statutory or an administrative duty. The landlord will be liable to the tenant if he or she violates a statute or an ordinance that was designed to prevent injury to the tenant. If a state's laws recognize the implied warranty of habitability in residential leases or the implied warranty of suitability in commercial leases, the landlord may be liable to the tenant if he or she breaches the appropriate implied warranty. A breach of the warranty of habitability means that the premises are unsafe, unsanitary, or otherwise unfit for living. A breach of the warranty of suitability means that the premises are unsafe, unsanitary, or unfit for commercial purposes. The warranty of suitability may also extend to latent defects.

In some states, if a landlord admits the public to the leased premises, the landlord will be liable to the tenant for injuries that occur as a result of the admission of the public. However, not all states have adopted this exception to the general rule of non-liability of the landlord.

In some states, a landlord may be liable to a tenant for the criminal acts of third parties if the landlord realized or should have realized that the acts were foreseeable and would involve an unreasonable risk of harm to the tenant. For example, if the tenant asked the landlord to change the locks on the tenant's apartment and the landlord failed to do so, the landlord may be liable if the tenant's apartment is broken into or if the tenant is assaulted by a third party in his or her apartment.

A landlord may also be liable for criminal acts that are committed by third parties in the common areas of the premises if the landlord knew or had reason to know that there was an unreasonable risk of criminal intrusion into the common areas. The landlord has a duty to protect a tenant and his or her invitees when the risk is both unreasonable and foreseeable. Factors that determine whether the risk was foreseeable include whether any criminal conduct previously occurred on or near the premises, how recently the conduct occurred, how often the conduct occurred, whether the prior conduct was similar to the new conduct, and whether there was any publicity regarding the prior conduct.

Copyright 2008 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.