NO DUTY TO CONDUCT PERIODIC INSPECTIONS OF ONE’S HOME
After AMWP, Inc. suffered water damage due to the failure of a “flexible water supply line” that was situated in an upstairs neighbor’s master bedroom, he filed a lawsuit with the New York County Supreme Court, and the defendant-neighbor later asked that court for pre-trial dismissal of AMWP’s “negligence” and “gross negligence” claims.
While the defendant wasn’t aware of the supply line condition (as it wasn’t visible or apparent for a sufficient period of time to have been remedied), the motion court denied dismissal of the claims because it thought that there was a “triable issue” as to whether regular inspections would have revealed problems.
But on its review, the Appellate Division, First Department, “unanimously reversed” the outcome, noting that in the absence of a cognizable legal duty or requirement that a homeowner of a private residential apartment conduct such “periodic inspections,” AMWP’s negligence claims thus should have been dismissed.
The law could use some repair, don’t you think?
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DECISION