Lang v. Hill

• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Johnson
• Citation: Lang v. Hill, 157 Mo. App. 685, 138 S.W. 698 (Mo. App. 1911)
• Decision Date: 12 June 1911
• Parties: LANG v. HILL et al.

138 S.W. 698

157 Mo. A. 685

LANG v. HILL et al.

Kansas City Court of Appeals. Missouri.

June 12, 1911.

Rehearing Denied June 28, 1911.

1. LANDLORD AND TENANT (§ 162)—INJURIES FROM DANGEROUS CONDITION OF PREMISES— LANDLORD'S DUTY TO TENANT.

A landlord owes his tenants the duty of exercising reasonable care to maintain in a reasonably safe condition those portions of the demised buildings and improvements over which control is reserved by him.

2. LANDLORD AND TENANT (§ 169)—INJURIES FROM DANGEROUS CONDITION OF PREMISES—CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE OF TENANT.

Where a tenant knew that steps upon the demised premises, the control over which was in the landlord, were in a decayed condition and in bad repair, but they had been used by the tenant for the past six months without injury, the tenant was not, as a matter of law, guilty of contributory negligence in using the steps, for he had the right to rely upon the implied assurance of the landlord that the premises were safe, and it was a question of fact for the jury whether the steps were so glaringly unsafe as to threaten immediate danger.

3. DAMAGES (§ 130) — PERSONAL INJURY — MEASURE OF DAMAGES.

Where a woman broke through a decayed step, spraining and bruising her leg and otherwise injuring herself, so that a nervous disorder resulted, an award of $1,000 damages was not excessive.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Jackson County; T. J. Seehorn, Judge.

Action by Nettie Lang against John B. Hill and another. From a judgment for plaintiff, defendants appeal. Affirmed.

Gage, Ladd & Small, for appellants. Wofford & Kimbrell, for respondent.

JOHNSON, J.

This is an action by a tenant against her landlords to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have been caused by negligence of the landlords in failing to maintain a stairway on the premises in a reasonably safe condition for the use of their tenants. The answer is a general traverse. A trial to a jury resulted in a verdict and judgment for plaintiff in the sum of $1,000, and the cause is here on the appeal of defendants. The injury occurred June 3, 1909.

Plaintiff is a married woman, and, together with her family, which consisted of her husband, herself, and one child, was living as a tenant from month to month in a house owned by defendants in Kansas City. The family occupied apartments on the first floor and another family, tenants of defendants, lived on the second floor. There was a stairway connecting the second floor with a porch, and another stairway, containing five or six steps, connecting this porch with the backyard. The backyard and outbuildings were used jointly by the two families, and the stairway from the porch to the yard was for their common use. The house was old, and the stairway just mentioned was in bad repair at the time the tenancy began, and was not repaired until after plaintiff was injured. The attention of defendants' agent had been called to its condition, and he had promised to repair the stairway, but neglected to do so. The wooden steps and stringers had decayed, and the stairway had the appearance of being unsafe; but the two families had used it daily for six months without an accident, and plaintiff states she thought she could use it without risk of immediate injury. On the occasion of her injury, she was going up the stairway in the usual way, and in the...