TENANT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SNOW & ICE REMOVAL
During the course of a snow and ice condition, F.S. slipped and was injured in his building’s driveway, and later filed a negligence case against the property’s owner in Nassau County Supreme Court.The problem with the lawsuit, however, was that the lease obligated F.S. to undertake snow and ice removal; particularly in the area where he allegedly fell.
After a Nassau County justice declined to dismiss the lawsuit (in response to a motion for summary judgment), the owner appealed to the Appellate Division, Second Department, which reiterated established precedent that an out-of-possession landlord is not liable for property conditions “in the absence of a duty imposed by statute or assumed by contract or a course of conduct.”
Since F.S. failed to show that any of the governing exceptions applied, the AD2 reversed the underlying determination and threw the case out.
He sure got an icy reception there.
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DECISION