Case Name: James Ahern, Administrator, etc., Resp't, v. Rosalie M. Steele et al., App'lts
Court: New York Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1889-10-08
Citations: 26 N.Y. St. Rep. 295
Docket Number: 
Parties: James Ahern, Administrator, etc., Resp't, v. Rosalie M. Steele et al., App’lts.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York State Reporter
Volume: 26
Pages: 295–326

Head Matter:
James Ahern, Administrator, etc., Resp't, v. Rosalie M. Steele et al., App’lts.
(Court of Appeals,
Filed October 8, 1889.)
1. Nuisance — Liability of owner of premises.
A testator in 1817 left certain premises,- including a pier, in trust during the life of his daughter, defendants’ mother, and to her issue upon her death'. Shortly before the mother’s death the trustee leased the pier for five years. It was then and continued to be in bad condition until the accident by which plaintiff’s intestate was killed, during the term of the lease. One of the defendants was a lunatic and the others resided abroad. In a partition suit a receiver was appointed who was directed to retain part of the rents to pay taxes, repairs, etc. Held, that defendants were not liable for the death of plaintiff’s intestate by reason of the existence of such nuisance.
3. Same.
Owners of premises who become such on the death of a life tenant subject to a valid outstanding lease are not responsible for a nuisance created during the existence of the precedent estate without any notice thereof.
3. Same — Notice.
In the absence of proof that such owners were ever in possession of the premises or ever even saw them, there is no possible ground for charging them with notice or imputing to them legal fault.
4. Same — Liability of devisees.
Devisees of premises under a lease for a term who have no power to terminate the lease during the term are not liable, although they received rent, for a nuisance which they did not cause, create or authorize.
5. Same — Effect of covenant as to repairs.
The fact that the devisees, in such a case, had the right, under the lease, to go upon the pier and make repairs if they should see fit to do so is not a material circumstance affecting their liability for a nuisance existing thereon.
Ruger, Ch. J., Danforth and Gray, JJ., dissent.
This action was brought to recover damages caused by the death of plaintiff’s son, an infant about six years old, who on the 8th day of October, 1882, without any fault of his, fell through a defective pier in the city of New York, and was drowned. The material facts are as follows: John Gardner died in 1817, being the owner of the pier and a large amount of other property, and. leaving a last will and testament, in which he devised the pier and the other property to trustees for the benefit of his children during their lives, and after their death to their issue. Under the will this pier and other property was set apart for his daughter, Mrs. De Dion, and during her life was under the control and management of a trustee, as provided in the will. She died on the 22d day of May, 1881, leaving as her only issue two daughters, Eosalie M. Steele, Henrietta Hutton, and one son, Thomas McCarty. The son died April 14, 1882, and the two daughters and the executors of the son were made defendants in this action. At the time of the accident the son, Thomas McCarty, was insane, and the two daughters then resided, and have ever since the death of their mother resided in Europe. On the 1st day of May, 1880, the trustees rented the pier for the term of five years to Frank Phelon, for an annual rental of $750 for the first three years, and $850 for the last two years, payable monthly in advance. In the least it was stipulated that the party of the first part should not be responsible for any latent or other defect in the premises, nor for any damage to property by reason of any fault or defect in the premises, nor for any loss or damage caused by any act, fault, neglect or omission of any tenant or occupant of the premises, and that the party of the first part should be permitted to enter upon the premises for the purpose of making repairs, if he should see fit to repair them, but that he should not be obliged to repair them. Phelon was, at the time of the accident, in the occupation of the premises under the lease, and he was made a party defendant, but did not defend the action.
Some time prior to July 29, 1881, Mrs. Steele commenced an action against ner brother and sister for a partition of the real estate, including the pier held by them in common, and in that action on the day last named, upon her petition, an order was made appointing Charles S. Brown receiver of the rents, issues and profits of the premises sought to be partitioned. On the 5th day of November, 1881, upon the petition of Mrs. Steele and her sister, Mrs. Hutton, an order was made by the supreme court in. the partition action that the receiver reserve out of the receipts by him as such receiver, and set apart quarterly a sum that would amount to a yearly sum of $17,500, to be applied by him to the payment of the taxes, insurance, necessary repairs and other expenses, and that he should pay the remainder of such receipts quarterly to Mrs. Steele, Mrs. Hutton, and to the committee of their lunatic brother.
Upon the trial, it was shown that the pier was defective and out of repair at the time of the execution of the lease, on the 1st day of May, 1880, and that it remained defective and out of repair to the time of the accident
Upon the trial, the counsel for the defendants asked the court to rule that they were not liable for the accident, because the pier came to them on the death of their mother subject to a valid, outstanding lease, because it was the duty of the tenant to repair the pier, and it was not their duty to repair it without notice of its defective condition, and because the receiver had been appointed with directions to make the repairs necessary to the pier; and the court refused so to rule, and ruled, as matter of law, that the defendants were responsible for the accident if the pier was out of repair ^at the time of the execution of the lease and remained so to the time of the accident.
The jury rendered a verdict for $4,500, and the judgment upon that verdict having been affirmed, the defendants appealed to this court.
John B. Whiting, for app’lts; Edward D. McCarthy, for resp’t.
Reversing 16 N. Y. State Rep., 24.

Opinion:
Earl, J.
The will of John Gardner came under consideration in Greason v. Keteltas, 17 N. Y.. 491, and it was there held that the trustee under that will took an estate in fee determinable when the purpose of the trust should cease, and that such a trustee had power at law to lease for a term which might extend beyond the period of his trust estate. The lease executed by the trustee to Phelon for a term of five years from May 1, 1880, was therefore valid for the whole term, and had nearly four years to run at the time of Mrs. De Dion's death, and more than two years at the time of the accident Hence any reasoning based upon the postulate that the defendants could have terminated the lease before the end of the term will lead to inevitable error.
There was no proof, even if that were in any way important, that the pier was out of repair in 1817, when Gardner died. It became out of repair and defective at some time during the existence of the trust estate, and in that condition it was demised by the trustee. By demising the pier while it was in such a condition as to be a nuisance, the trustee was guilty of a misfeasance, and during the existence of his estate, notwithstanding the lease, he would have been responsible for any damage caused by the nuisance. Even if he had been the trustee of Mrs. De Dion's children, and they had been the beneficiaries under the trust, they would not have been responsible for any nuisance created or permitted by him; and so it was held in People v. Townsend, 3 Hill, 479. But he was not trustee for them; they derived no title or benefit from him, and had no connection whatever with him. They took their title under the will of John Gardner, and were in no way responsible for what the trustee did or omitted to do upon the trust estate.
We have, then, this question for our determination: Are the children of Mrs. De Dion, who became full owners of this pier at the death of their mother, subject to a valid outstanding lease, responsible for a nuisance created thereon during the existence of the precedent estate, without any notice thereof? I have carefully examined the English and American authorities, and confidently assert that there is not an authority to be found in the books imposing such responsibility.
It is not the general rule that an owner of land is, as such, responsible for any nuisance thereon. It is the occupier, and he alone, to whom such responsibility generally and prima facie attaches. Pretty v. Bickmore, L. R., 8 C. P., 401; Kirby v. Boyl ston Market Assn., 14 Gray, 249; City of Lowell v. Spaulding, 4 Cushing, 277; Inhabitants of Oakham v. Holbrook, 11 id., 299. The owner is responsible if he creates a nuisance and maintains it; if he creates a nuisance and then demises the land with the nuisance thereon, although he is out of occupation; if the nuisance was erected on the land by a prior owner, or by a stranger, and he knowingly maintains it; if he has demised premises and covenanted to keep them in repair, and omits to repair,, and thus they become a nuisance; if he demises premises to be used as a nuisance, or for a business, or in a way so that they will necessarily become a nuisance. In all such cases I believe there is now no dispute that the owner would be liable. But an owner who has demised premises for a term during which they become ruinous, and thus a nuisance, is not responsible for the nuisance unless he has covenanted to repair. It has even been held in some cases that an owner may demise premises so defective and out of repair as to be a nuisance, and if he binds his-tenant to make the repairs, he is 'not responsible for the nuisance during the term. Pretty v. Bickmore, supra; Gwinnell v. Eamer,. L. R., 10 C. P., 658; Leonard v. Storer, 115 Mass., 86. But these cases are not in entire harmony with the decisions of our own state, and probably would not now be generally received as authority in this country or in England.
A grantee or devisee of premises upon which there is a nuisance at the time the title passes, is not responsible for the nuisance until he has had notice thereof, and in some cases until he has been requested to abate the same. The authorities to this effect are so numerous and uniform that the rule which they establish ought no longer to be open to question. One of the-earliest, if not the earliest case in which this rule was announced, is Penruddock's case, 5 Coke, 100 b, where it was resolved that an action lies against one who erects a nuisance without any request-made to abate it, but not against the feofee, unless he does not remove the nuisance after request; and in Pierson v. Glean, 2 Green. (N. J.), 37, Chief Justice Hornblower said: " The law as-settled in Penruddock's case has never, I believe, been seriously questioned since." In P lumer v. Harper, 3 N. H., 88, Richardson, C. J., said: " When he who erects the nuisance conveys the land he does not transfer the liability to his grantee. For it is agreed in all the books that the grantee is not liable until upon request he refuses to remove the nuisance." In Woodman v. Tufts, 9 N. H., 88, it was held that where a dam was erected and land flowed by the grantor of an individual, the grantee will not be liable for damages in continuing the dam and flowing the land as before, except on notice of damage and request to remove the nuisance or withdraw the water. In Eastman v. Company, 44 N. H., 144, it was held that no notice or request to abate the nuisance is-necessary before bringing suit against the original wrongdoer in such cases for the damages done; but that the grantee of the nuisance is not liable to the party injured until, upon request made,, he refuses to remove the nuisance. Sargent, J., writing the opinion, said: " The doctrine of the cases in this state and elsewhere is that he who erects a nuisance does not, by conveying the land to another, transfer the liability for the erection to the grantee; and the grantee is not liable until upon request he refuses to remove the nuisance, for the reason that he cannot know until such request but the dam was rightfully erected; and there can be no injury in holding to this doctrine, as the original wrongdoer continues liable, notwithstanding his alienation." To the same effect is Carleton v. Redington, 21 N. H., 291.
In Johnson v. Lewis, 13 Conn., 303, where it appeared in an action for the obstruction of a water course by raising a dam, that the dam creating the obstruction was erected by the defendant's grantor, it was held that the plaintiff could not recover without proving a special request to the defendant to remove the obstruction. Sherman, J., writing the opinion, said: "The law is well settled that a purchaser of the property on which a nuisance is erected is not liable for its continuance, unless he has been requested to remove it. This rule is very reasonable. The purchaser of property might be subject to great injustice if he were made responsible for consequences of which he was ignorant, and for damages which he never intended to occasion. They are often such as cannot be easily known, except to the party injuredand so also it was held in Noyes v. Stillman, 24 Conn., 15. In Pillsbury v. Moore, 44 Me., 154, it was held that a purchaser of property on which a nuisance is erected is not liable for its continuance unless he has been requested to remove it. In Pierson v. Glean, supra, it was held that an action for continuing a nuisance cannot be maintained against him who did not erect it, without a previous request to him to remove or abate it In Beavers v. Trimmer, 1 Dutcher, N. J., 97, it was held that when the action is not brought against the original erector of a nuisance, but against a subsequent owner or tenant, a special request to remove it must be alleged. In McDonough v. Gilman, 3 Allen, 264, it was held that a tenant for years is not liable for keeping a nuisance as it used to be before the commencement of his tenancy, if he had not been requested to remove it, or done any new act which of itself was a nuisance. And the same rule has repeatedly been laid down in this state.
In Hubbard v. Russell, 24 Barb., 404, an action against the continuator of a private nuisance originally erected by another, to recover damages for the injury sustained thereby, it was held that the plaintiff must prove a notice to the defendant of its existence and a request to remove it. In Miller Church, 2 N. Y. Supreme Ct., 259, in an action to recover damages for the overflow of a mill pond, it was shown that the defendant, the owner of the pond, was not in possession, having leased the same to a third party, and it was held that the owner of the premises overflowed could not recover for such overflow without showing that the defendant had notice or knowledge of the existence of the same, before the action was brought. And the same rules, without any variation, are laid down by all the text writers. In Chitty on Pleadings, 74, it is said that every occupier is liable for the con tinuance of a nuisance on his own land, though erected by another, if he refuses to remove the same, after notice; and in 2 Chitty's Plead., 338, note 0, the author adds that if the action is-not brought against the original erector of the nuisance, but against his feofee, lessee, etc., it is necessary to allege a special request to the defendant to remove it. In Cooley on Torts, 611, the learned author says : "A party who comes into possession of lands as grantee or lessee with a nuisance already upon it, is not, in general, liable for the continuance of the nuisance until his. attention has been called to it, and he has been requested to abate it." In 1 Hilliard on Torts (3d ed.), 574, it is said, " that a person who continues a nuisance erected by another is liable therefor at the suit of any party damaged thereby if he had knowledge of its-hurtful tendency, or more especially if notified or requested to-remove it." In Moak's Underhill on Torts, 253, 254, 255, the-learned editor, with many citations of authorities to sustain him, says: " Where premises are out of repair at the time they are leased, in particulars which the landlord is bound as against third persons not to allow, the landlord is liable for any injuries sustained by a third person from such want of repair. But not. even in such case if the tenant's tese is what produces the injury." " A landlord who negligently or improperly constructs his premises — as a dam — or where they become defective after notice suffers them to remain so, is liable to his tenant or a stranger, who-being himself free from fault is injured thereby.". "Where a, lessee or grantee continues a nuisance of a nature not especially unlawful, he is liable to an action for it only after notice to reform or abate it."
In Addison on Torts (Wood's Am. ed.), § 240, it is said: " And so an action will lie against the landlord for a permanent nuisance,, although the nuisance was created before the reversion came to-him, i. e., if he knew of it and might have determined the tenancy before the injury happened, as in the case of a tenancy from year to year."' "If an action is brought against the originator of a. nuisance, it is not necessary to demand the abatement or discontinuance of the nuisance before commencing the action, but if the action is brought against the mere continuance of a preceding nuisance, a request to remove the nuisance must be made before the action is commenced" Section 280. " The occupier of lands-is in general responsible for the continuance of a nuisance upon them; and so is the landlord, if the nuisance existed at the time he demised them or created the tenancy after he had the power of determining it." Section 283.
According to these authorities the simple fact that the three children of Mrs. De Dion became owners of the pier upon the death of their mother did not make them responsible for this-nuisance, then existing. Suppose this accident had happened an hour, or a day, or one week after the death of their mother, would they have been responsible, even if the pier had come to them not. subject to any lease? To. cast such a responsibility upon a grantee or devisee might imperil his whole fortune. Before it can be cast in such a case, he must have notice of the nuisance and a. reasonable time to abate it.- There must be some fault, some delictum on his part, and his liability can have no other basis. The notice required to put him in fault may be proved like any other fact The mere fact that the owner personally occupies the premises upon which the nuisance is alleged to exist, is not always sufficient to charge him with notice of its existence. It may, like a dam, or a building obstructing ancient lights, be of such a nature that he may rightfully suppose that he has the right to maintain it; or it may be of such a character that he may not know of its harmful tendency; in such cases he must have actual notice that the structure is a nuisance; and there may be cases in which, besides notice, there must be a request to abate. But where the structure or the condition of premises is such as to be absolutely a nuisance, plainly visible, so that an occupier may see and know the nuisance and. its dangerous character or hurtful tendency, then an owner in the occupation of the premises may, from his mere occupancy, be charged with notice thereof.
In this case, if these defendants had gone into possession of this pier personally, or by their agents, its character was such that they must have known that it was dangerous and a nuisance, and no direct proof of notice would have been required to charge them; it could have been inferred. But when there is no proof that the owners of premises which came to them with a nuisance existing thereon without their fault were ever in possession of the premises, or ever even saw them, there is no possible ground for charging them with notice or imputing to them legal fault.
But the position of these defendants is stronger than the one we have just been dealing with. This pier came to them, not only with this nuisance existing thereon, but subject to an outstanding-lease for some years which they had no power to terminate. The lessee who occupied and used, the pier was under obligation to the public to see that it did not become a nuisance, and it was his. duty to respond for any damage sustained by any person from the nuisance. The owners of the reversion had the right, in the absence, of notice to suppose that he would discharge such duty and protect the public, and they were under no obligations to see by watchful vigilance that he performed such duty. And so it has been held in all the analogous cases, that the landlord, in the absence, of notice is liable only in case he demised the premises with the nuisance thereon. In Rosewell v. Prior, 2 Salkeld, 460, a tenant for years erected a nuisance and afterwards made an under lease, and the question was whether, after a recovery against the first tenant for years for the erection, an action would lie against him for the continuance after he had made an under-lease ? And it was held that it would, " for he transferred it with the original wrong, and his demise affirms the continuance of it."
In Todd v. Flight, 9 C. B., N. S., 377, it was held that an action lies against the owner of premises who lets them to a tenant in a ruinous and dangerous condition, and who causes or permits them to remain so until by reason of the want of reparation they fall upon and injure the house of an adjoining owner. In Nelson v. Liverpool Brewery Co., L. R., 2 C. P. Div., 311, it was held that a landlord is liable for an injury to a stranger by the defective repair of demised premises only when he has contracted with the tenant to repair, or where he has been guilty of misfeasance, as for instance in letting the premises in a ruinous condition, and that in all other cases he is exempt from responsibility for accidents happening to strangers during the tenancy. Lopes, J., writing the opinion, said: "We think there are only two ways in which landlords or owners can be made liable in the case of injury to a stranger by the defective repairs of premises let to a tenant, the occupier, and the occupier alone¡ being prima facie liable; first in the case of a contract by the landlord to do repairs, when the tenant can sue him for not repairing; secondly in the case of a misfeasance by the landlord, as for instance, where he lets the premises in a ruinous condition. In either of these cases we think an action would lie against the owner." In Woodfall's Landlord and Tenant (13th ed.), 735, it is said: " As regards the liability of landlords to third persons, it may be taken as a general rule that the tenant and not the landlord is liable to third persons for any accident or injury occasioned to them by the premises being in a dangerous condition ; and the only exceptions to the rule appear to arise when the landlord has either (1) contracted with the tenant to repair, or (2) where he has let the premises in a ruinous condition, or (3) where he has expressly licensed the tenant to do acts amounting to a nuisance." In Knauss v. Brua, 107 Penn., 85, repeated in Fow v. Roberts, 108 id., 489, it is said: "We do not doubt but that in the absence of an agreement to repair, the landlord is not liable to a third party for a nuisance resulting from dilapidation in the leasehold premises whilst in the possession of a tenant." In City of Lowell v. Spaulding, 4 Cushing, 277, Shaw, Ch. J., said: " By the common law, the occupier, and not the landlord, is bound as between himself and the public so far to keep buildings in repair that they may be safe for "the public; and such occupier is prima facie liable to third persons for damages arising from any defect. If indeed there be an express agreement between landlord and tenant that the former shall keep the premises in repair so that in case of a recovery against the tenant he would have his remedy over, then to avoid circuity of action the party injured by the defect and want of repair may have his action in the first instance against the landlord. But such express agreement must be distinctly proved." And to the same effect is Larue v. Farren Hotel Co., 116 Mass., 67.
In Cunningham v. Cambridge Savings Bank, 138 Mass., 480, Morton, C. J., said: "It is often said in the cases that the occupier and not the owner of a building is liable to third persons for damages arising from any defect. But by occupier is meant, not merely the person who physically occupies the building, but the person who occupies it as a tenant having the control of it, and being, as to the public, under the duty of keeping it in repair." In Dalay v. Savage, 145 Mass., 38, land abutting on a public street in a city was sold under a power contained in a mortgage, and the owner of the equity of redemption released any title he might have to the purchaser, and was allowed by the purchaser to remain in possession under an agreement that he should pay rent at a certain rate monthly. At the time of the sale there was an open and visible defect in the cover of a coal hole in the sidewalk in front of a house on the land, which hole led to the cellar of the house. In consequence of this defect, during the tenancy, a person walking on the sidewalk fell into the hole, and it was held that he could maintain an action against the purchaser of the land for the injury thereby sustained. Field, J., writing the opinion, said: "It seems to be settled that if the landlord lets premises abutting upon a way which was from their condition or construction dangerous to persons lawfully using the way, he is liable to such persons for injuries suffered therefrom, although the premises are occupied by a tenant." " The reason of the rule that.if a landlord lets premises in a condition which is dangerous to the public, or with a nuisance upon them, he is liable to strangers for injury suffered therefrom, is that by letting he has authorized the continuance of the nuisance," and the learned judge further said : "If the defendant had bought the premises subject to a lease to Breslin (the tenant), who had continued in occupation under it, a different case would have been presented ; " and he held the defendant responsible for the nuisance solely on the ground that he had demised the premises with the nuisance thereon.
In Nugent v. The B. C. & M Railroad Co., 80 Me., 62, 77, Virgin, J., writing the opinion, said: "It is settled law that when the owner lets premises which are in a condition which is unsafe for the avowed purpose for which they are let, or with a nuisance upon them when let, and receives rent therefor, he is liable, whether in or out of possession, for the injuries which result from their state of insecurity to persons lawfully upon them; for by the letting for profit he authorizes a continuance of the condition they were in when he let them, and is therefore guilty of a nonfeasance." In Joyce v. Martin, 15 R. I., 558, A, owning a defective wharf used in connection with a public resort, and knowing the defect, leased the place and wharf to B, who learned of the wharf defect after accepting the lease, but continued to use-the wharf as a place for public resort; and in an action for damages to C, who was injured by the wharf defect, it was held that the action was maintainable against both A and B jointly— against A solely on the ground that he knew the wharf was defective when he let it. In Owings v. Jones, 9 Md., 108, the plaintiff sued for damages for injuries by falling into a vault appurtenant to the property of the defendant, and built under the sidewalk, of a public street. It was shown in defense that the property had been leased by the defendant for the term of seven years, for an annual rent, and the court held that the defendant was not relieved from liability if the vault was so constructed as to be unsafe for passers by when the premises were let, or as to be liable to become unsafe in the necessary opening for the purpose of cleaning it; and it laid down the following rules: (1) When property is demised, and at the time of the demise is not a nuisance, and becomes so only by the act of the tenant while in his. possession, and injury happens during such possession, the owner is not liable. (2) But where the owner leases premises which are a nuisance, or must in the nature of things be^ ome so by their use, and receives rent, then whether in or out of possession he is liable for injuries received from such nuisance.
In Albert v. State, 66 Md., 325, the action was brought by a minor for damages sustained by him by the death of his parents, who were drowned by reason of the defectiveness of a wharf in the occupation of the defendant's tenant. The instruction given on the trial was that " if the jury found that the defendant was the owner of the wharf and that he rented it out to a tenant, and that at the time of the renting the wharf was unsafe, and the defendant knew, or by the exercise of reasonable diligence could have known, of its unsafe condition, and the accident happened in consequence of such condition, then the plaintiff was entitled to recover;" and this was" upon appeal held to be a correct exposition of the law. In Clancy v. Byrne, 56 N. Y., 129, the true rule was fully apprehended by Eolger, J., who wrote the opinion. That was a case where plaintiff's horse fell through a defective pier, and the action was against a lessee who had covenanted with his landlord to make all ordinary repairs. The lessee had sublet the pier, and was not in the occupancy thereof, and it was held that if premises are in good repair when demised, but afterwards become ruinous and dangerous, the landlord is not responsible therefor either to the occupant or to the public during the continuance of the lease, unless he has expressly agreed to repair or has renewed the lease after need of repair has shown itself; and that this rule applies to a lessee out of possession who has sublet to another who is in possession. The learned judge said: " Generally speaking, the person responsible for a nuisance is he who is in occupation of the premises on which it exists." " As between him who is landlord and owner and him who is the lessee and occupant of the premises, there is, in general, no obligation upon the former to keep them in repair where he has made no express contract to that effect." " Humerous authorities are cited. We have examined them aU. It will be seen that in them the liability of the defendant is placed upon one of these grounds, viz.: That he owned or had rights in the premises, and leased them with the nuisance upon them; that he was in the possession of the premises and used them in their defective condition; that he was under a •contract enforceable by plaintiff to keep the premises in repair and failed so to do; that he, in the first instance, created the nuisance and put it in the power of others to continue it; or that being a municipal corporation, there was a duty upon it to repair. If there are authorities which, in the remarks of the court, reach farther than this, they will be found to go beyond the needs of the case in hand."
In Jaffe v. Harteau, 56 N. Y., 398, it was held that a lessor of buildings, in the absence of fraud or any agreement to that effect, is not liable to the lessee or others lawfully upon the premises for their condition or that they are tenantable and may be safely and conveniently used for the purposes for which they are apparently intended. In Swords v. Edgar, 59 N. Y., 28, the plaintiff's intestate was so injured by the falling of a defecttive pier that he died, and the action was brought to recover damages caused by his death. The defendant, the landlord, had rented the pier to a tenant who was in possession thereof at the time of the accident; and the defendant was held liable solely on the ground that he had demised the pier while the same was in a defective condition. In Wenzlick v. McCotter, 87 N. Y., 122, it was held that where a person acquires title to land upon which is a nuisance, the mere omission to abate or remove it does not render him liable; and that there must be something amounting to actual use, or a request to abate the nuisance must be shown. In Edwards v. N. Y. & H. R. R. Co., 98 N. Y., 247, it is said: "If a landlord lets premises and agrees to keep them in repair, and he fails to do so, in consequence of which any one lawfully upon the premises suffers injury, he is responsible for his own negligence to the party injured. If he demises premises knowing that they are dangerous and unfit for the use for which they are used, and fails to disclose their condition, he is guilty of negligence which will in many cases impose responsibility upon him. If he creates a nuisance upon his premises, and then demises them, he remains liable for the consequences of the nuisance as the creator thereof, and his tenant is also liable for the continuance of the same nuisance. But when the landlord has created no nuisance and is guilty of no willful wrong or fraud or culpable negligence, no case can be found imposing any liability upon him for any injury suffered by any person occupying or going upon the premises during the term of the demise; and there is no distinction stated in any authority between cases of a demise of dwelling-houses and of buildings to be used for public purposes. The responsibility of the landlord is the same in all cases. If guilty of negligence or other delictum which leads directly to the accident or wrong complained of, he is liable; if not so guilty, no liability attaches to him." Wolf v. Kilpatrick, 101 N. Y., 146, is an instructive case. There the defendants were owners of certain premises in the city of Xew York, which they leased to M., who under and in accordance with a permit from the city, built vaults under the sidewalk in front thereof with a coal hole which was properly constructed, and in the usual and permitted manner. Through the wrongful act of a stranger, who broke the stone, supporting the iron cover of the coal hole, the cover, turned when the plaintiff stepped upon it, and he fell and was injured. In an action to recover damages, it did not appear that the defendants had any' knowledge or notice of the defect, and it was held that they were not liable; that they would not have been liable had they themselves constructed the vaults lawfully and with due prudence and care, and thereafter transferred possession of the premises to a third person without covenant on their part to repair; that if the coal hole became a nuisance after the stone was broken, only the person who created the nuisance, or he who suffered it to continue, was responsible; that a party out of possession and control, and who had no knowledge, actual or con- structive, of the defect could not be said to have suffered it to continue; that a landlord out of possession is not responsible for an after occurring nuisance unless in some manner he is in fault-for its construction or continuance, and that the bare ownership will not produce this result. Finch, J., said: " How can it be said that they (the defendants) suffered it (the nuisance) to continue, and so failed in their duty if they had no knowledge, actual or constructive, of the defect, and were out of possession and control?"
" It is quite certain that the plaintiff in this case was bound to' establish some fault of omission or commission on the part of the landlord tending to the injury, and barely showing him to be the owner is not enough. There was no fault of commission. There could be no fault of omission unless the landlord was bound to repair the defect, had. actual or constructive notice of its existence, or was bound at his peril to discover and to remove it" In Walsh v. Mead, 8 Hun, 387, Daniels, J., said: "The erection and maintenance of a nuisance is a wrong, and by leasing the building affected by it to another person, the owner continues it, and stipulates for the enjoyment of the profit from it." ' In 1 Thompson on Negligence, 317, the learned author has concisely stated the law of nuisance in harmony with all these cases.
Now within these authorities, what ground is there for imposing liability upon these defendants for this nuisance? They did not-create it, and had no connection whatever with those who did create it. They were not bound by the lease to repair the pier. They did not demise the pier with the nuisance thereon, and they had no notice, actual or presumptive, of the existence of the nuisance. None of the grounds of liability exist which are mentioned by Judge Folger, in Clancy v. Byrne. They were simply entitled to the rent; it is mot even proved that they actually received any. But it has never been held in any case that the receipt of rent imposes responsibility upon a landlord for a nuisance for which he is not otherwise responsible. Landlords always are entitled to rent, and if the mere receipt of rent would make them responsible for a nuisance upon the demised premises, then they would always be responsible, irrespective of other circumstances which have always been deemed necessary to create the responsibility.
The fact that the defendants, under the lease, had the right to go upon the pier and make repairs, if they should see fit to do so,, is wholly immaterial in this case. Even when an owner demises-premises and covenants to repair, the covenant cannot enure directly to the benefit of a third person not a party thereto. But. in such case the third person injured, because, for want of repairs, the demised premises have become a nuisance, has a cause of action primarily against the tenant But, because the tenant in case of a recovery against him could sue his landlord for indemnity upon the covenant, to prevent circuity of action, the person injured may bring his action against the landlord, not because the landlord owed him any duty to repair, but because he owed that duty to his tenant It would have been wholly immaterial if these defendants, owners of the pier, had let it without reserving any right to go upon it for repairs, and even if they could not have gone upon it for repairs without being trespassers. Fish v. Dodge, 4 Denio, 311; Swords v. Edgar, supra. There is no case which holds that whether the landlord can or cannot go upon the demised premises to make repairs is a material circumstance affecting his liability for a nuisance existing thereon.
It was held in Clancy v. Byrne, supra, that a lessee who has covenanted with his landlord to repair is not responsible to a stranger for a nuisance upon the demised premises while in the possession of a sub-tenant to whom he had let them. As he had made no covenant to repair with his tenant, and was not bound to indemnify him, the person injured could not maintain an action against him, although he had covenanted with his landlord to repair. Here, according to the law of that case, if these owners had even been under a covenant with their predecessors in the title, or with any other person but Phelon, to keep this pier in repair, their breach of the covenant and failure to discharge their duty to their covenantee would not have made them liable for the death of the child; and with much less reason can such a liability spring from a mere stipulation in a lease made by one for whose "acts they are in no way responsible which merely put it in their power to make the repairs. In cases where it is said that a landlord bound to make repairs upon demised premises is responsible for a nuisance thereon, the obligation to make the repairs was one existing between him and the tenant Russell v. Shenton, 2 Gale & Davison, 573. The whole argument on this point is summed up in the statement that, as there was here no breach by the defendants of any duty due from them to the tenant, the stipulations in the lease do not concern a stranger thereto.
There is no authority from the reported decisions or from the text books which imposes upon the landlord, not otherwise liable for a nuisance upon demised premises, the duty of active vigilance to ascertain their condition. A landlord has never been held responsible for a nuisance because he did not himself obtain notice of its existence. But it has always been held to be the duty of any person seeking to enforce the landlords' responsibility for a nuisance to show that he had such notice.
There are two cases to which I have not yet referred which are so like this in all material particulars that they ought to be received as conclusive authority for the defense of this action. In Woram v. Noble, 41 Hun, 398; 1 N. Y. State Rep., 499, a case entirely similar to this, the action was brought to recover damages for an injury sustained in consequence of a defective coal hole; and it appeared that the defendant became the owner of the premises in September, 1883, subject to a lease to a tenant, expiring May 1, 1884, which required the tenant to make all repairs ; that the coal hole was then in the sidewalk, but it had not been constructed by the defendant, nor did he have any notice or knowledge of its defective condition, although the tenant had noticed the depression in the stone about a year previous to the accident; and it was held that the defendant could not, in the absence of any evidence to show that he was responsible for the condition of the coal hole or had knowledge of its defective con dition, be held liable for the injury sustained by the plaintiff. The judge writing the opinion said: "We find no special decision and no principle enunciated in any elementary work that will furnish a basis for a recovery against the defendant in this action. He did not construct the work that became a nuisance, and he did not continue it in any legal sense." There, as here, the defendant became the owner subject to a lease, and the nuisance existed at the time he became such owner, and it was held that he could not. be made liable for the accident without proof of notice to him of the existence of the nuisance. In Conhocton Stone Road v. The Buffalo, N. Y. & Erie R. R. Co., 51 N. Y., 573, the action was brought to recover damages for injuries to the plaintiff's road-bed, caused by the same being washed and flooded in the years 1864 and 1865, by reason of an embankment and bridge built over a creek by a prior owner of defendant's road in 1851 or 1852.. The defendant became the owner of the embankment, bridge and of its road by purchase at a foreclosure sale in 1857,. and in February, 1863, it leased its road, including the-embankment and bridge, to the Erie Railway Company, which took possession of the road and had possession under its lease at the time of the damage complained of by the plaintiff; and the general rule was affirmed that in order to maintain an action for damages resulting from a nuisance upon defendant's land, where such nuisance was erected by a prior owner before conveyance to defendant, it is necessary to show that before the commencement of the action he had notice or knowledge of the existence of the nuisance, but that it is not necessary to prove a request to abate it. Judge Lott writing the opinion, said: " Where persons succeeding to the ownership of land, on which a nuisance had previously been erected, have been held liable for damages resulting from its subsequent continuance, it appeared either that it was after notice of its existence or that the question of such notice had not been raised at the trial." That case is a most emphatic authority for the defendants here. There the defendant became the owner of the premises with the nuisance existing thereon, and actually leased them in the same condition to another company which was in possession at the time of the damage complained of; and yet in the absence of proof that the defendant had notice of the nuisance, it was held not to be liable for damages caused thereby.
It is frequently said that a landlord who has demised premises-with a nuisance thereon continues liable for the nuisance although he did not create it, because it was a misfeasance to demise them in that condition. But it will be found that all or nearly all the cases in which this has been said are cases in which at the time of the demise the landlord had notice of the nuisance. In the case last cited the defendant demised the premises with the nuisance thereon, and yet it was held not to be hable because there was no proof of notice.
I will now notice the principal cases which are supposed to be in conflict with some of the views I have expressed and with the conclusion I have reached. In Brown v. The Cayuga & Susquehanna R. R. Co., 12 N. Y., 486, the predecessor of the defendant had constructed its road across a stream of water in such a manner as to cause the stream to overflow and damage the lands of the plaintiff. Upon the trial the defendant insisted that inasmuch as it had no agency in building the obstruction in the strearft or in making the excavation through the bank, but that had been done by the old company, it was not liable, and upon this ground it moved for a nonsuit, which was denied. Upon the appeal it was held that the defendant could not have the benefit of the point that there had been no request to abate the nuisance because it was in no way taken at the trial; and hence the case was treated as if the request had actually been made and proven. The point decided, as stated in the head note, is that " the successor to the title and possession of property who omits to abate a nuisance erected thereon by another, after notice to so do, is liable for the damage caused by its continuance." Judge Denio, writing one of the opinions, held that an action on the case will lie against one who continues a nuisance by which damage is occasioned to the plaintiff without notice first given to remove it He cited no authority sustaining his views, but cited authorities in conflict with them, holding that they were not binding upon the court. But it is expressly stated that the court did not pass upon the question whether the defendant was liable without notice tO' remove the obstruction and restore the bank of the stream; and the views of Judge Denio, besides having the support of no authority in this country or England, were distinctly repudiated in Conhocton Stone Road v. Buffalo, N. Y. & Erie R. R. Co., supra. In McCarthy v. Syracuse, 46 N. Y., 194, damage was caused by a defective city sewer which it was the duty of the city to keep in repair, and it was held liable for the damage without notice of the defect in the sewer, because it had omitted to discharge that duty. That case bears no analogy to this.
In Irvine v. Wood, 51 N. Y., 224, the action was against lessor and lessee to recover for injuries sustained by the plaintiff from a-defective coal hole in the street. The plaintiff recovered against, both defendants, and both appealed, but the lessor abandoned his appeal, and the case was argued only on behalf of the lessee wlm had maintained and used the coal hole in. its defective condition, and it was held that he was liable. The main litigation at the trial was as to the liability of the lessee which rested upon plain principles of law; and the case is authority only as to such liability. Ho point or claim was made at the trial that the landlord had no notice of the defective condition of the coal hole, or that he could be made liable for the accident only upon proof of such notice,, and no such point was before the court upon the appeal In Swords v. Edgar, supra, as stated above, the action was against the landlord who demised the pier when it was in a defective and dangerous condition; and the case is a valuable authority for the-views I have expressed In Beck v. Carter, 68 N. Y., 283, and Clifford v. Dam, 81 N. Y., 52, the actions were in each case against the defendant,- who had himself created the nuisance. While in Bellows v. Sackett, 15 Barb., 96, some things were said by the judge writing the opinion which are not now the law, the case was properly decided, because there the defendant, the landlord, erected the nuisance and demised the premises with the nuisance thereon. Rex v. Pedly, 1 Ad. & El., 822, is much relied upon by the plaintiff as an authority in his favor. There the defendant purchased premises which were in the occupancy of tenants under a demise for short periods of time from the prior owner, and a nuisance arose thereon after the purchase and after the defendant began to receive the rents. The defendant,, the periods being short, was treated as having re-let the premises to the tenants with the nuisance thereon, and it was held that he thereby became liable for the nuisance, and upon that ground the decision can stand in harmony with all the cases I nave cited. But the court seems to have gone further and affirmed a proposition, not necessary for the decision, that such a reversioner is liable to be indicted for the continuing of the nuisance, if the original reversioner would have been liable, though the purchaser has had no opportunity of putting an end to the tenant's interest, or abating the nuisance. That proposition is unsound, and as to that the case has been overruled and distinctly repudiated in England. In Rich v. Basterfield, 4 Mann., Gra. & Scott, 784, the case of Rex v. Pedly, was largely criticised, and Oresswell, J., writing the opinion, said of it, that " if King v. Pedly is to be considered as a case in which the defendant was held because he had demised the buildings where the nuisance existed; or because he had re-let them after the user of the buildings had created the nuisance, or because he had undertaken the cleansing, and had not performed it, we think the judgment right, and that it does not militate against our present decision. But if it is to be taken as a decision that a landlord is responsible for the act of his tenant in creating a nuisance by the manner in which he uses the premises demised, we think it goes beyond the principles to be found in any previously decided cases, and we cannot assent to it."
In Todd v. Flight, supra, Rex v. Pedly was cited as holding that if the defendant demised the privy either when it had become a nuisance, or if he had the duty of cleansing it after it became a nuisance, he might be indicted for the nuisance. In Russell v. Shenton, supra, it was said by Lord C. J. Denman, in reference to Rex v. Pedly, that " it was an indictment against the owners of houses and privies which had been built for the very purpose of being so used as to create a nuisance unless the owner took effectual means to prevent it. These means not having been adopted, the owner who received rents for both was held liable for the public nuisance." In the case of Gandy v. Jubber, 5 Best & Smith, 78, the owner of premises attached to which was an area let the same to a tenant from year to year and died, having devised the property, with an iron grating over the area improperly constructed and out of repair so as to amount to a nuisance, to the defendant, who, having no notice of the nuisance, suffered the tenant to remain in occupation of the premises upon the same terms as before, receiving rent; and it was held that he was liable for damage caused by the nuisance, on the ground that he had re-let the premises with the nuisance thereon. That case is in' no way an authority for the plaintiff ; but by implication the point decided strongly favors the contention of the defendants. It is clear that the court was of the opinion that the defendant would not have been liable but for the fact that he had let the premises with the nuisance thereon. That case went by appeal to the Exchequer chamber, and is again reported in the same volume, at page 485 ; and it was there strenuously contended on behalf of the defendant that he was not liable because he could not be treated as having demised the premises with the nuisance thereon, and because he had no notice of the nuisance. The court took the case under consideration and finally recommended the plaintiff to accept a stet processus — substantially a final stay oi proceedings— and the plaintiff accepted it, evidently induced so to do because of information that the judgment would go against him. In the course of the argument in the Exchequer chamber, Chief Justice Erie said of the landlord's liability, "if he lets the premises with a nuisance, all parties agree that he is responsible." The reasons why the Exchequer chamber recommended that the plaintiff should accept a stet processus do not appear in the report. But in 9 B. & S., 15, there is what purports to be the undelivered opinion of the court in that case, showing that the court had unanimously come to the conclusion to reverse the judgment of the Queen's Bench, and in the opinion the case of Rex v. Pedly was again criticised, explained and limited as in prior cases. One question in the case was whether a landlord who has the power to determine a tenancy from year to year by giving notice, and who does not exercise it, is to be held as thereby re-letting the premises.
In the opinion published in 9 B. & S., the ground on which the Exchequer chamber differed from that of the Queen's Bench distinctly appears as follows: "We agree'that to bring liability home to the owner, the premises being let, the nuisance must be one which was in its very essence and nature a nuisance at the time of the letting, and not something which was capable of being thereafter rendered a nuisance by the tenant, and that it is a sound principle of law that the owner of property receiving rent should be liable for a nuisance existing on his premises at the date of the demise; but that wherein we differ is that a landlord from year to year having the power to give the ordinary notice to quit, and not giving it, is. thereby to be held as reletting the premises, and that such failing to give notice is equivalent to a re-letting." That case then is an authority that, upon such facts as we have here, devisees of premises under a lease for a term, with no power in the devisees to terminate the lease during the term, such devisees are not liable, although they received rent, for a nuisance which they did not cause, create or authorize. In Salmon v. Bensley, Ryan & Moody, 189, a Nisi Prius case of very doubtful authority, it was held that a notice to remove the nuisance left at the premises is evidence against a subsequent occupier. That case has no bearing upon this because the defendants were not subsequent occupiers; they never occupied, and did not continue the nuisance. The pier remained in the occupancy of Phelon. Besides, there is no question of notice in this case, as the court held, as matter of law, that the defendants were responsible if the nuisance existed at the time of the demise to Phelon.
In Wood's Landlord & Tenant, 618, the author says : "Where a nuisance results from such want of repair, and there is no covenant to repair on the part of either landlord or tenant, an action may be maintained against either of them therefor." But he was speaking of repairs which the landlord was bound by some law to make. But there is no general law and no rule of law which imposes upon the landlord the duty to make repairs upon premises in the occupancy of his tenant. At page 917 the learned author states the proper rule in harmony with all I have said. There he says: " The landlord's right to possession being suspended during the term, it follows that his liabilities in respect to the possession are also suspended in respect to such matters or defects in the premises as existed when the premises were let arising from the manner of use or defective construction. If a nuisance existed upon the premises at the time of the demise, the landlord as well as the tenant is liable for the damages resulting therefrom, although it only becomes a nuisance by the act of the tenant in using it for ordinary purposes. And if the tenant creates a nuisance upon the premises during, the term by an unusual or extraordinary use thereof, although the landlord cannot be made chargeable for the consequences in the first instance, yet if he subsequently renews the lease with the nuisance thereon, he becomes chargeable therefor the same as though the nuisance had existed at the time of the original demise; and when a person is in possession as a tenant from year to year, each year* is treated as a re-letting, so that the landlord becomes chargeable for a nuisance created by the tenant during,a previous year which is in existence at the commencement of the new year; " and there is more to the same effect, as there is also in Wood's Law of Nuisance, 78, 141.
If Phelon had been the mere servant or agent of the defendants, and has caused or permitted this or any other nuisance upon the pier, then the defendants would have been responsible for it, and the cases of Clarke v. Fry, 8 Ohio St, 358, and Eilis v. Sheffield Gas Co., 2 Ellis & Black., 767, would have been in point.
It is said that many of the cases I have cited were nuisances created by damming, obstructing, polluting and diverting streams, and that they are not therefore applicable. Why are they not applicable ? They were all decided by the application of the general law of nuisance, and it has never been suggested in any case that there is any law of nuisance peculiar to such cases, and that they are not to be governed by the same rules that apply to other nuisances. They announce general rules in terms applicable to all cases of nuisance.
If it is at all material, it is a mistake to assume that the children of Mrs. De Dion first became owners of this pier upon the death of their mother. Under the will of their grandfather, John Gardner, they had vested remainders therein long before the death of their mother and long before the pier was out of repair. They took no new title upon the death of their mother. The estate which was before in them was simply enlarged by the disappearance of the precedent estate. Were they bound in some way to divest themselves of the estate which they had long had,'in order to escape responsibility for a nuisance which they had not created or authorized ? Or if they did not or could not do that, were they bound to go upon the pier and possibly expend in repairs more than the entire income therefrom to escape responsibility for the nuisance ? And were they bound to do this at the peril of great damages, without notice of the nuisance, while the pier was in the possession of a tenant who had hired it from a stranger to them at a small rent because it.was out of répair, and who was under a duty to the public to keep it safe and in repair ? If the children of Mrs. De Dion had, upon the death of their mother, demised this pier without any covenant to repair, and it had become out of repair and a nuisance during the term of the demise, they would not have been responsible for the nuisance; and why should a greater responsibility be cast upon them because the pier came to them subject to the demise ? What have they done to incur the responsibility ? If they had demised the pier knowing it was out of repair, they would have been guilty of continuing the nuisance, and upon that ground would have been responsible for it. But they have done nothing. They neither created, authorized or continued the nuisance, and they were not bound by contract or the law to discharge a duty which rested upon the tenant.
I am confident that a holding that the defendants are liable to the plaintiffs for the consequences of this nuisance would be a departure from the law of nuisance as universally approved in the books.
I have not thus far alluded to the claim of the defendants, that they may find protection in the fact that a receiver had been appointed of the rents. It is not necessary to determine whether that fact furnishes them an independent defense. The pier and other property came to them as tenants in common. One was a lunatic, and a partition on that account became important, if not necessary. An action was commenced by one tenant in common against the other two, and a receiver was appointed to take the rents which accrued after the death of their mother. The receiver thus appointed was not their agent. If he had created any nuisance, or done any other wrong, they would not have' been responsible for it He was the agent and officer of the court, bound to obey its directions, and subject to its control. It ordered him to take and retain sufficient of the rents, otherwise payable to the defendants, to make necessary repairs. Under such circumstances, with a tenant bound to make the repairs, and a receiver also bound to make them, could the owners, one a lunatic and the other two residing in Europe, without any notice of the nuisance, be charged with any responsibility therefor on the theory of fault or delictum on their part?
The principles here involved are very important, and I have deemed a pretty thorough examination of this case quite proper. My conclusion is that this action, upon the facts now appearing, ' cannot be maintained, and that the judgment should be reversed, and a new trial granted.