Shroades v. Rental Homes, Inc.

• Decision Date: 04 November 1981
• Docket Number: No. 80-1593,80-1593
• Citation: 68 Ohio St.2d 20,22 O.O.3d 152,427 N.E.2d 774
• Parties: , 22 O.O.3d 152 SHROADES, Appellee, v. RENTAL HOMES, INC., Appellant.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Page 20

68 Ohio St.2d 20

427 N.E.2d 774, 22 O.O.3d 152

SHROADES, Appellee, v. RENTAL HOMES, INC., Appellant.

No. 80-1593.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Nov. 4, 1981.

Syllabus by the Court

A landlord is liable for injuries, sustained on the demised residential premises, which are proximately caused by the landlord's failure to fulfill the duties imposed by R.C. 5321.04. (Thrash v. Hill, 63 Ohio St.2d 178, 407 N.E.2d 495, overruled.)

Louella M. Shroades, plaintiff-appellee herein, initiated this action by filing a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas of Columbiana County on December 1, 1977, alleging that she sustained injuries as a result of the failure of Rental Homes, Inc., appellant herein, to make necessary repairs to the stairs leading to her rented apartment.

The stairs involved were outside the building and led to appellee's second floor apartment. An inside stairway led to a third floor apartment. Each tenant used his or her own stairway. However, in case of an emergency it was possible for appellee to unlock her door and allow the third floor tenants to go through her apartment and use the outside stairway. Similarly, appellee could unlock her door and leave by the inside stairway, but because she did not have a key, she could not enter via the third floor tenant's stairway.

Appellee had rented the second floor apartment for over eight years; however, in June 1977, she decided to relocate. In preparing to move, she sold some of her appliances. As purchasers were carrying appliances down the outside stairs, two steps were broken.

Appellee notified the East Liverpool Health Department and the fire chief. In June 1977, the fire chief inspected the premises, found the stairs to be defective and informed the appellant's secretary. Appellee also attempted to notify the appellant about the condition of the stairs.

On July 20, 1977, as appellee was descending the stairs, a third step collapsed and she fell through the opening. As a result, she was injured and hospitalized.

Appellee's complaint prayed for compensatory and punitive damages. Appellant answered alleging that the accident resulted from the appellee's negligence, contributory negligence and assumption of the risk, and that she had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.

Trial was had and the jury found for the appellee, awarding damages in the sum of $15,000 with seven percent interest. Judgment was entered upon the verdict. Upon appeal, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment except for the interest which was reduced to six percent. The court held that the stairs were under the tenant's control and were not a common area. However, the court also held that R.C. 5321.04(A)(2) applies to the entire premises leased to the tenant and that when the landlord failed to keep the stairs in a fit and habitable condition, it was liable for the injuries sustained in their use.

The cause is now before this court pursuant to the allowance of a motion to certify the record.

Jack D. Kuhlman, Columbiana, for appellee.

George A. Chuparkoff, Youngstown, for appellant.

FRANK D. CELEBREZZE, Chief Justice.

In this cause, the Court of Appeals held that R.C. 5321.04(A)(2) imposed a duty upon the landlord to keep the stairs in a fit and habitable condition, and that the landlord was subject to liability for personal injuries for failure to repair same after reasonable notice. The case was decided before this court's decision in Thrash v. Hill (1980), 63 Ohio St.2d 178, 407 N.E.2d 495 (Thrash, hereinafter), become known to the litigants.

R.C. 5321.04(A) reads, in part, as follows:

"A landlord who is a party to a rental agreement shall:

" * * *

"(2) Make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition."

This provision is part of the Landlords and Tenants Act of 1974. The General Assembly enacted comprehensive legislation which changed the previous common law relationship of landlords and tenants under residential rental agreements. The Act imposed a number of obligations upon landlords and provided remedies for tenants. For example, R.C. 5321.04(A) imposes obligations on landlords. It provides that:

"(A) A landlord who is a party to a rental agreement shall:

"(1) Comply with the requirements of all applicable building, housing, health, and safety codes which materially affect health and safety;

"(2) Make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition;

"(3) Keep all common areas of the premises in a safe and sanitary condition;

"(4) Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning fixtures and appliances, and elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by him;

"(5) When he is a party to any rental agreements that cover four or more dwelling units in the same structure, provide and maintain appropriate receptacles for the removal of ashes, garbage, rubbish, and other waste incidental to the occupancy of the dwelling unit, and arrange for their removal;

"(6) Supply running water, reasonable amounts of hot water and reasonable heat at all times, except where the building that includes the dwelling unit is not required by law to be equipped for that purpose, or the dwelling unit is so constructed that heat or hot water is generated by an installation within the exclusive control of the tenant and supplied by a direct public utility connection;

"(7) Not abuse the right of access conferred by division (B) of section 5321.05 of the Revised Code;

"(8) Except in the case of emergency or if it is impracticable to do so, give the tenant reasonable notice of his intent to enter and enter only at reasonable times. Twenty-four hours is presumed to be a reasonable notice in the absence of evidence to the contrary."

The Act also provides remedies for tenants when landlords fail to fulfill their statutory obligations. For example, R.C. 5321.07 allows the tenant to deposit rent with the clerk of court, apply for a court order directing the landlord to remedy the condition, and to terminate the rental agreement. ¹

Historically, the tenant was viewed as purchasing an interest in the land, and any interest in the buildings was of minor significance. Prior to the enactment of R.C. Chapter 5321, tenants had difficulty recovering for injuries sustained because of defective rental premises. At common law, a landlord, not in possession and control of the rental property, was not liable for injuries occurring on the premises. Burdick v. Cheadle (1875), 26 Ohio St. 393; Shindelbeck v. Moon (1877), 32 Ohio St. 264; Stackhouse v. Close (1911), 83 Ohio St. 339, 94 N.E.2d 746; Berkowitz v. Winston (1934), 128 Ohio St. 611, 193 N.E. 343; Ripple v. Mahoning Natl. Bank (1944), 143 Ohio St. 614, 56 N.E.2d 289; Cooper v. Roose (1949), 151 Ohio St. 316, 85 N.E.2d 545; Brown v. Cleveland Baseball Co. (1952), 158 Ohio St. 1, 106 N.E.2d 632; Pitts v. Cincinnati Metro. Housing Auth. (1953), 160 Ohio St. 129, 113 N.E.2d 869. Case law developed a test under which a plaintiff-tenant could not recover unless the landlord had a right of control to the exclusion of any control by the tenant. Ripple v. Mahoning Natl. Bank, supra. Furthermore, unless the landlord had the requisite control, the courts were unwilling to impose tort liability even when there was a contractual agreement for the landlord to make repairs. Cooper v. Roose, supra. Similarly, a landlord was found not to be absolutely liable in tort for breach of a duty imposed by a penal, municipal sanitary regulation. Tair v. Rock Investment Co. (1942), 139 Ohio St. 629, 41 N.E.2d 867.

However, there is some common law support in Ohio for holding the landlord liable for breach of a duty to repair. This court has stated that a lessor could be held liable if special circumstances were proven which established that liability. Shindelbeck v. Moon, supra, at page 273. Under this proposition, a special circumstance could be a duty imposed by statute. Similarly, a lessor could be held liable for the condition of premises if there were an agreement to repair or a violation of a duty imposed by statute. Stackhouse v. Close, supra. Thus, breach of a duty imposed by statute has been one exception to the landlord's immunity from tort claims by tenants.

In most instances, the landlord was immune from tort liability for injuries sustained on the rented premises. However, abrogation of this immunity has been advocated by legal commentators, and the overwhelming majority of states have either abolished, in whole or part, the traditional immunity enjoyed by landlords. ² The Restatement of Property 2d, Landlord and Tenant, Section 17.6, provides, at page 232, that:

"A landlord is subject to liability for physical harm caused to the tenant and others upon the leased property * * * by a dangerous condition existing before or arising after the tenant has taken possession, if he has failed to exercise reasonable care to repair the condition and the existence of the condition is in violation of:

"(1) an implied warranty of habitability; or

"(2) a duty created by statute or administrative regulation."

Also, Prosser on Torts (4 Ed.), Section 63, states, at page 400, that:

"Modern ideas of social policy have given rise to a number of exceptions to these general rules of non-liability of the lessor * * *. There is increasing recognition of the fact that the tenant who leases defective premises is likely to be impecunious and unable to make the necessary repairs, and that the financial burden is best placed upon the landlord, who receives a benefit from the transaction in the form of rent. This policy is expressed by statutes in a number of states, which require the landlord to put and keep certain types of premises, such as tenement houses, in good condition and repair, and have been held to impose liability in...