Tort Liability of Out-of-Possession Landlords

Statutorily Imposed Obligations

When a state statute or local law imposes a non-delegable duty on a landlord, that landlord bears liability to parties injured as a result of breach of that duty. Multiple Dwelling Law Section 78 provides the prime example. The statute provides that “every multiple dwelling … shall be kept in good repair” and makes the owner responsible for compliance with the section. The Court of Appeals has held that a landlord of a residential building remains liable for injuries caused by defective conditions, even if the landlord had no actual knowledge of those conditions. Thus, in Tkach v. Montefiore Hospital, 289 NY 387, the hospital had leased an entire apartment building to Hurwitz, and by the terms of the lease, required Hurwitz to maintain the building in good repair. Nevertheless, when two apartment tenants were injured by falling plaster, the court held the landlord liable, even if he could establish actual ignorance of the defective condition. And in Worth v. Latham, 59 NY2d 231, the court held that the landlord's liability under MDL section 78 extended even to commercial tenants, so long as the building also contained residential units and the injury was caused by a structural problem applicable to residential and commercial tenants alike. In that case, the injuries were caused by a widening crack in a weight-bearing wall.