Case Title: Eoff v. Warden

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: arkansas

Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Date: 1997-10-16T00:00:00Z

Document:
Kathy R. EOFF v. Lisa WARDEN

97-221                                             ___ S.W.2d ___

                    Supreme Court of Arkansas
               Opinion delivered October 16, 1997


1.   Landlord & tenant -- recovery by injured third party -- duty
     to be established. -- An injured third party must establish a
     landlord's contractual duty to repair a defect in the premises
     before he may recover for an injury suffered upon leased
     property over which the landlord has relinquished possession
     and control to a tenant.

2.   Landlord & tenant -- landlord generally under no obligation to
     tenant for injuries sustained in common areas -- express
     agreement or assumption of duty required to remove landlord
     from general rule. -- A landlord is under no legal obligation
     to a tenant for injuries sustained in common areas, absent a
     statute or an agreement; only an express agreement or
     assumption of duty by conduct can remove a landlord from the
     general rule of nonliability.

3.   Landlord & tenant -- appellee failed to show landlord
     undertook duty to maintain or repair premises -- trial judge
     erred in denying appellant's directed-verdict motion. --
     Because appellee failed to show that appellant-landlord had in
     any way agreed or undertook a duty to maintain or repair her
     premises, the trial judge erred in denying appellant's
     directed-verdict motion.
4.   Motions -- directed verdict -- properly made -- appellee's
     argument in error. -- Where appellant's counsel moved for
     directed verdict after appellee's case-in-chief, and in doing
     so, counsel specifically cited the applicable case law bearing
     on landlord liability and pointed out that the appellee had
     failed to show that the appellant had agreed or undertook any
     duty to maintain or repair the parking lot and, at the end of
     all the evidence, defense counsel renewed his earlier motions,
     thus generally renewing the directed-verdict motion appellant
     made at the end of appellee's case-in-chief, the motion for
     directed verdict was properly renewed; a defendant is not
     required to restate his or her grounds for directed verdict
     where he had already made a specific motion at the close of
     the plaintiff's case. 


     Appeal from White Circuit Court; Bill Mills, Judge; reversed
and dismissed.
     Huckabay, Munson, Rowlett & Tilley, P.A., by:  John E. Moore
and Julia L. Busfield, for appellant.
     Hodges & Hodges, by:  David Hodges and Lona McCastlain, for
appellee.

     Tom Glaze, Justice.
     Lisa Warden brought this lawsuit against Kathy R. Eoff after
sustaining injuries from falling in the parking lot on property of
an apartment complex owned by Kathy.  Prior to her fall, Lisa had
been at her friend's, Cecilia Mitchell's, apartment in the complex
to help Cecilia with her clothes dryer, but when the two of them
could not fix it, Lisa's husband was called and he performed the
repairs.  Afterwards, Cecilia was confronted with the dilemma of
needing to pick up her son from football practice and staying at
her apartment to receive a telephone call.  In order to help
Cecilia, Lisa volunteered that she and her husband would pick up
Cecilia's son so Cecilia could stay and not miss her call.  The
Wardens opted to drive Cecilia's car so Cecilia's son would easily
recognize it.  It was night when the Wardens walked to Cecilia's
car, and the car was parked in one of two spaces which she had been
designated as a tenant.  Twelve foot long concrete barriers had
been placed to separate parking spaces, and Lisa tripped over one
of the barriers on the driver's side of Cecilia's car.  She
sustained a broken arm, and later required surgery.
     In Lisa's complaint against Kathy Eoff, Lisa alleged she was
a business invitee at the time she fell on Kathy's parking lot. 
She further asserted Kathy's failures to maintain the premises, to
adequately light the parking lot and to place concrete barriers
properly were the proximate causes of Lisa's injuries.  At trial,
the jury agreed, 10 to 2, rendering a verdict in Lisa's favor in
the sum of $30,000.00.
     On appeal, Kathy Eoff argues one point for reversal.  She
relies on Stalter v. Akers, 303 Ark. 603,