Collins v. Li

• Decision Date: 02 October 2007
• Docket Number: No. 590, September Term, 2006.,No. 1297, September Term, 2005.,1297, September Term, 2005.,590, September Term, 2006.
• Citation: 933 A.2d 528,176 Md. App. 502
• Parties: Stephon COLLINS et al. v. Gui-Fu LI et al. Michael Chapman et al. v. Gui-Fu Li et al.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

933 A.2d 528

176 Md. App. 502

Stephon COLLINS et al. v. Gui-Fu LI et al.

Michael Chapman et al. v. Gui-Fu Li et al.

No. 1297, September Term, 2005.

No. 590, September Term, 2006.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

October 2, 2007.

Catherine D. Bertram, Washington, DC, and Stewart A. Sutton, Germantown (Patrick M. Regan, Regan, Zambri & Long, PLLC, Washington, DC, Clifford Sobin, Berman, Sobin & Gross, Gaithersburg), on the brief, for appellant.

Kevin Arthur, Patrick Cullen and Jonathan A. Cusson, Baltimore, Paul Urey, Dunkirk, Benjamin E. Zuckerman, Philadelphia, PA (Robert H. Bouse, Jr., Anderson, Coe & King, LLP, Baltimore, James S. Wilson, Joan F. Brault, Brault & Graham, LLC, Rockville, James H. Heller, Elizabeth C. Bailey, Cozen O'Connor, Philadelphia, PA), on the brief, for appellee.

Panel: DAVIS, KRAUSER, MEREDITH, JJ.

DAVIS, J.

On June 14, 1998, Samuel Juster and Stephon Collins, Jr., the sons of appellants Collins and Juster, perished in a house fire. Appellants' children were overnight guests of appellants, the Chapmans, who rented a single family residence, located at 23 Grantchester Place (Grantchester Place) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, from appellees, Mr. and Mrs. Gui-Fu Li (The Lis).

Kyle Chapman, the son of appellant, Michael Chapman, was severely burned as a result of the fire and both of his legs were amputated. Other Chapman family members also suffered injuries. The three Chapman children, as well as Samuel Juster and Stephon Collins, Jr. had been sleeping in a bedroom in the basement of the home.

The fire was caused by a candle in the basement, which was being used during an area-wide electrical outage caused by severe thunderstorms. Due to the power outage, the AC-powered smoke detector in the basement was not activated.

In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, appellants sued Gui-Fu Li and Chung Ling Li as landlords of the home. Appellants also sued Pittway Corporation, First Alert, Inc., Sunbeam Corporation, BRK Brands, Inc. and Honeywell International, Inc. (the manufacturer defendants), as manufacturers of the smoke detectors in the subject home. Appellants sued the Ryland Group, Inc. (Ryland) as the builder of the home and Summit Electric Co. (Summit) as the electrical subcontractor, for failing to install dual-power smoke detectors, e.g., AC-power with a safety battery back-up, when the home was built in 1989 and for failing to provide the homeowner with the User's Manual for the AC-power smoke detectors. Appellants sued David Dieffenbach as well as his employee Kevin Hightower, alleging that they renovated the basement without permits in 1994, that they failed to replace the AC-power smoke detectors with dual-power smoke detectors and that they failed to warn the owners and occupants that the enclosed rooms in the basement could not be used as sleeping areas.

On January 3, 2002, the trial court heard arguments and granted several motions. The Motions for Summary Judgment of appellees Dieffenbach and Hightower were granted. The Motion to Dismiss of appellee Ryland was granted. The Motion to Dismiss or in the Alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment of appellee Summit was granted. Appellants' Motion for Reconsideration as to Ryland and Summit was denied on March 26, 2002.

Following dismissal of Ryland and Summit, appellants voluntarily dismissed all claims against the remaining defendants, Gui-Fu Li, Chung Ling-Li and the manufacturer defendants. Appellants then filed an appeal against Ryland and Summit, in which this Court concluded that the voluntary dismissals were inappropriate and vacated them, remanding the case to the circuit court for further proceedings. On October 27, 2004, appellants filed a Re-Filed Omnibus Amended Complaint against appellees in this case.

After the case was refiled, the circuit court granted the Motion to Dismiss of the manufacturer defendants. Appellees Gui-Fu Li and Chung Ling Li then filed a Motion to Dismiss the claims on March 29, 2006 asserted by the Chapman appellants and the circuit court granted this motion on April 20, 2006.

Appellants Collins and Juster and the Chapman appellants filed this timely appeal, presenting the following issues for our review, which we have rephrased and reordered:¹

I. Whether the circuit court erred in determining, pursuant to motions to dismiss filed by the manufacturer defendants, Ryland Homes, Summit Electric and the Lis, that the alleged intervening acts of negligence set forth in the Re-Filed Omnibus Amended Complaint constituted a superseding cause, relieving

A. the manufacturer defendants of liability for negligence, design defect, failure to warn, strict liability, breach of express warranty and breach of implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose and merchantability;

B. Ryland Homes and Summit Electric of liability for negligence, strict liability and failure to warn and whether the circuit court erred in denying appellants' request for a continuance to conduct further discovery in proceeding against Ryland Homes; and

C. the Lis of liability for negligence, violation of building codes and violation of the Consumer Protection Act.

II. Whether the circuit court erred in granting the motion for summary judgment filed by appellees Dieffenbach and Hightower, finding, as a matter of law, that the undisputed facts did not support appellants' claims that Dieffenbach and Hightower

A. had a duty to warn that the enclosed basement rooms could not be used as sleeping areas;

B. were liable by reason in their failure to apply for and obtain the proper working permits before commencing repairs to the basement of the subject property, thereby preventing inspectors from the City of Gaithersburg from discovering that the basement was being used improperly as a sleeping area and consequently, preventing the inspectors from warning the occupants of the violation; and

C. had a duty to replace or recommend that the AC power smoke/fire detector be upgraded to one with an alternative power source of when they installed two or three new electrical outlets in the basement after it had flooded in 1994.

Because the circuit court was limited, on the motions to dismiss, to facts susceptible of but one inference, we shall hold that it erred in determining whether the intervening acts of negligence constituted a superseding cause, relieving the manufacturer defendants, Summit Electric, Ryland Homes and Gui-Fu Li and Chung Ling Li of liability for the deaths and injuries sustained. We shall affirm the grant of the motions for summary judgment filed by David Dieffenbach and Kevin Hightower and hold that appellants failed to establish that they had a legally cognizable duty with reference to the deaths and injuries sustained by the Collins, Juster and Chapman children. Finally, in light of our decision regarding the grant of Ryland's motion to dismiss, we need not reach the court's denial of appellants' request for a continuance to conduct further discovery as to its claim against Ryland Homes.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Gui-Fu Li and Chung Ling Li purchased residential property located at 23 Grantchester Place in Gaithersburg, Maryland from the Ryland Group in 1989. Appellee Ryland Group was the builder of Grantchester Place and Summit was the electrical subcontractor. When the home was built in 1989, appellees Ryland and Summit installed an AC-power smoke detector that was hard wired into the home's electrical system, but that did not have a safety battery back-up on each level of the home. Gui-Fu Li, a chiropractor, renovated the basement for a medical office; these renovations, however, were performed without a building permit. When Dr. Li began to treat his acupuncture patients in the finished basement, neighbors complained to the City of Gaithersburg about his home medical office and he was cited for a zoning violation on June 6, 1989. After the Lis were denied permission for a zoning variance for a home medical office, they relocated their residence and, thereafter, sought to rent Grantchester Place.

Michael Chapman and the Lis signed a rental agreement on August 13, 1991 and the Lis applied for and obtained a Rental License from the City of Gaithersburg on August 29, 1991. The enclosed basement rooms had been used as bedrooms by the Chapman children and the sleep-over guests of their children since 1994. Mr. Chapman lived in the home with his wife, Catherine Chapman, and their children, including his three boys from his prior marriage, Keith, Brandon and Kyle Chapman.

Grantchester Place had a finished basement, which had three enclosed rooms: (a) Brandon and Kyle Chapman's bedroom, (b) Keith Chapman's bedroom, and (c) Mr. Chapman's computer room/office. The two basement bedrooms did not have any windows.

In early 1994, a water pipe burst in Grantchester Place, causing extensive damage, especially to the basement, where a foot of water had accumulated. On February 2, 1994, appellee, David E. Dieffenbach, trading as DEDHICO Home Improvements, submitted a written proposal to the Lis and Mr. Chapman to repair the water damage for a total of $28,060. The contract itself indicates that "[t]he existing metal stud framing will be replaced and repaired to facilitate replacement of the walls." Dieffenbach did not apply for and thus never obtained a building permit.

Dieffenbach subsequently submitted two invoices for extra work, which both showed that twenty electrical outlets in the basement were cleaned and re-wired by an electrician at $17.50 per outlet for a total cost of $350. Kevin Hightower, who is a journeyman electrician and an employee of Dieffenbach, performed the electrical re-wiring work.

Hightower admitted that he installed two or three new electrical outlets in the basement. Neither Dieffenbach nor Hightower obtained a permit for the electrical work performed from the City of Gaithersburg and they conceded that they were required by law to apply for an electrical permit....