I was injured outside my building in the winter. I slipped and fell on ice on the walkway leading to the front door. A nearby leader pipe from a gutter was in bad repair and was leaking water. Do I have a claim against the landlord?
Yes, you have a claim. Although you can argue that your Landlord had a common law duty to maintain the leader pipe, but the specific circumstances of the leak size and distance to the area you fell may mean that your Landlord was acting reasonably under the circumstances. Thus, your Landlord may not be liable under a common law theory, but he might be liable for violation of a statute or the administrative code.
Statute Violation
Depending upon the type of building from which you rent, there may be multiple sections of the law which require landlords to have working leaders from the roof. In prior posts there has been discussion of the Multiple Dwelling Housing Law. Depending upon your building, Multiple Dwelling Housing Law section 77 could apply. That particular section requires a Landlord to have working leader to permit water to drain from the roof, away from the building. Thus, if the Landlord violated this statute, then the Landlord would be responsible for the ice which caused your fall.
Building Code Violation
Other types of laws may also apply to your situation. For example, New York City Building Code, Administrative Code of the City of New York, Title 27, Reference Standard 16, P110.1 et seq. may also apply to your case. This particular building code specifies with great detail the types of leaders that need to be in place. That building code places an affirmative duty on the Landlord to have a specific leader in place at your building. Violation of that building code would be evidence of the Landlord negligence.
So depending on the type of your building, there could be multiple theories of recovery against your Landlord.
By James Santner, Esq.
If you have questions about a similar situation, feel free to contact us. Consultations are free and there is no fee unless we win.