Finley v. Williams

• Decision Date: 29 October 1932
• Docket Number: No. 22163.,22163.
• Citation: 166 S.E. 265,45 Ga.App. 863
• Parties: FINLEY. v. WILLIAMS.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

45 Ga.App. 863

166 S.E. 265

166 S.E 265

FINLEY.

v.WILLIAMS.

No. 22163.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 2.

Oct. 29, 1932.

Syllabus by Editorial Staff.

Error from City Court of Floyd County; W. J. Nunnally, Judge.

Action by Mrs. J. H. Finley against Mrs. J. B. Williams. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff brings error.

Affirmed.

Alec Harris, of Rome, for plaintiff in error.

Porter & Mebane, of Rome, for defendant in error.

Syllabus Opinion by the Court.

JENKINS, P. J.

1. By section 3699 of the Civil Code (1910), the duty to make repairs upon rented premises, which, at common law, devolved upon the tenant, is placed upon the landlord, who is liable to the tenant for any injury incurred by reason of his failure to perform such duty. But in a case where the landlord has fully parted with possession and right to the possession of the premises, there is no duty of inspection on his part for the purpose of discovering defects arising subsequent to the time of the lease, and he is therefore not liable to his tenant for injuries resulting from defects thus arising, unless he has had actual knowledge of them, or has been notified of such defects and has failed to make repairs within a reasonable time, and the tenant could not have avoided the injuries resulting therefrom by the exercise of ordinary care on his own part. Stack v. Harris, 111 Ga. 149, 36 S. E. 615; McGee v. Hardacre, 27 Ga. App. 106 (2), 107 S. E. 563; Kleinberg v. Lyons, 39 Ga. App. 774, 148 S. E. 535.

2. Under the general rule stated above, where the tenant has knowledge of the defective condition of the rented premises, and the defect is such that an ordinarily prudent person would know of the danger naturally incident to such defective condition, it is his dutyto refrain from using that portion of the premises the use of which would be attended with danger, and, where he nevertheless voluntarily uses a portion of the premises which he knows to be thus defective, and sustains an injury, he will be deemed to be guilty of such contributory negligence as will bar a recovery. Jackson v. Davis, 39 Ga. App. 621, 623, 147 S. E. 913.

3. In the instant case, the injury occurred by virtue of one of the pillars of the house falling upon the plaintiff's minor child, causing her death. it is alleged that this pillar consisted of a large sycamore log, about four and a half feet long and about fifteen inches in diameter, which was not fastened at the top, and that the bottom, which rested upon rocks, had...