Opinion ID: 1217183
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: defendant stearns

Text: In granting defendant Stearns' motion for directed verdict, the trial court concluded that Stearns had not violated the common-law duty owed by a landlord to a tenant. Under the common-law rule, a landlord is generally not liable to the tenant for any damage resulting from dangerous conditions existing at the time of the leasing. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 356 comment a (1965); W. Prosser, Handbook of the Law of Torts § 63 (4th ed. 1971). However, there are a number of exceptions to the general rule depending on whether (1) there is a hidden dangerous condition on the premises of which the landlord is aware but the tenant is not; (2) the land is leased for purposes involving admission of the public; (3) the premises are still in the control of the landlord; and, (4) the landlord has negligently repaired the premises. Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 357-362 (1965); Prosser, supra at § 63. Rather than attempt to squeeze the facts of this case into one of the common-law exceptions, plaintiff instead has brought to our attention the modern trend of the law in this area. Under the modern trend, landlords are simply under a duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances. The Tennessee Supreme Court had the foresight to grasp this concept many years ago when it stated: The ground of liability upon the part of a landlord when he demises dangerous property has nothing special to do with the relation of landlord and tenant. It is the ordinary case of liability for personal misfeasance, which runs through all the relations of individuals to each other. Wilcox v. Hines, 100 Tenn. 538, 46 S.W. 297, 299 (1898). Seventy-five years later, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire followed the lead of Wilcox. Sargent v. Ross, 113 N.H. 388, 308 A.2d 528 (1973). The Sargent court abrogated the common-law rule and its exceptions, and adopted the reasonable care standard by stating: We thus bring up to date the other half of landlord-tenant law. Henceforth, landlords as other persons must exercise reasonable care not to subject others to an unreasonable risk of harm... . A landlord must act as a reasonable person under all of the circumstances including the likelihood of injury to others, the probable seriousness of such injuries, and the burden of reducing or avoiding the risk. Id. at 534 (Citations omitted). Tennessee and New Hampshire are not alone in adopting this rule. As of this date, several other states have also judicially adopted a reasonable care standard for landlords. Cummings v. Prater, 95 Ariz. 20, 386 P.2d 27 (1963); Brennan v. Cockrell Investments, Inc., 35 Cal. App.3d 796, 111 Cal. Rptr. 122 (1973); Young v. Garwacki, 380 Mass. 162, 402 N.E.2d 1045 (1980); Curry v. New York City Housing Authority, 77 A.D.2d 534, 430 N.Y.S.2d 305 (1980); Stephenson v. Warner, 581 P.2d 567 (Utah 1978); Pagelsdorf v. Safeco Insurance Co. of America, 91 Wis.2d 734, 284 N.W.2d 55 (1979). See also Mansur v. Eubanks, 401 So.2d 1328 (Fla. 1981) (holding residential landlord has duty to reasonably inspect and repair in order to deliver a reasonably safe dwelling to tenant); Shroades v. Rental Homes, Inc., 68 Ohio St.2d 20, 427 N.E.2d 774 (1981) (abrogation of this [landlord] immunity has been advocated by legal commentators, and the overwhelming majority of states have abolished, either in whole or in part, the traditional immunity.). In commenting on the common-law rule, A. James Casner, Reporter of Restatement (Second) of Property  Landlord and Tenant, has stated: While continuing to pay lip service to the general rule, the courts have expended considerable energy and exercised great ingenuity in attempting to fit various factual settings into the recognized exceptions. Restatement (Second) of Property  Landlord and Tenant ch. 17 Reporter's Note to Introductory Note (1977). We believe that the energies of the courts of Idaho should be used in a more productive manner. Therefore, after examining both the common-law rule and the modern trend, we today decide to leave the common-law rule and its exceptions behind, and we adopt the rule that a landlord is under a duty to exercise reasonable care in light of all the circumstances. [3] We stress that adoption of this rule is not tantamount to making the landlord an insurer for all injury occurring on the premises, but merely constitutes our removal of the landlord's common-law cloak of immunity. Those questions of hidden danger, public use, control, and duty to repair, which under the common-law were prerequisites to the consideration of the landlord's negligence, will now be relevant only inasmuch as they pertain to the elements of negligence, such as foreseeability and unreasonableness of the risk. We hold that defendant Stearns did owe a duty to plaintiff Stephens to exercise reasonable care in light of all the circumstances, and that it is for a jury to decide whether that duty was breached. Therefore, we reverse the directed verdict in favor of defendant Stearns and remand for a new trial of plaintiff's negligence action against defendant Stearns. Plaintiff has also argued that defendant Stearns was negligent per se because he violated the Uniform Building Code contained in a Boise ordinance. As we held earlier herein, violation of the ordinance constitutes negligence per se. See Part III. B., supra. However, defendant Stearns' contention that he may be excused from the imposition of negligence per se because he relied upon the certificates of occupancy issued by the Boise city inspectors is well-founded. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 288A (1965); 57 Am.Jur.2d Negligence § 249 (1971); see also State ex rel. McKinney v. Richardson, 76 Idaho 9, 14-15, 277 P.2d 272, 274 (1954). Whether Stearns is in fact excused is a jury question. 57 Am.Jur.2d Negligence § 249 (1971). Judgment affirmed only as to the statute of limitations; in all other respects, judgment reversed and remanded for a new trial consistent with the views expressed herein. Costs to appellant. No attorney fees on appeal. BISTLINE and HUNTLEY, JJ., concur. McQUADE, J. Pro Tem., sat but did not participate.