Court Opinion

ID: 9749554
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:50:21.880555+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:51.758358
License: Public Domain

Singley, J.,
dissenting:
I agree with the majority’s conclusion that paragraph 2 of the lease, which imposes on the landlord responsibility for keeping water and heating pipes in good order and repair will support a claim for damages caused by leakage of water, if the landlord has notice of the defect and has been given reasonable opportunity to make repairs. This is the rule of the cases on which the majority relies, Sacks v. Pleasant, 253 Md. 40, 251 A. 2d 858 (1969) ; McKenzie v. Egge, 207 Md. 1, 113 A. 2d 95 (1955) ; and Robinson v. Heil, 128 Md. 645, 98 A. 195 (1916), cited by the appellant; see also, 4 Thompson, Real Property (Perm. Ed.), § 1556.
I cannot join my colleagues in the conclusion that in this case, a landlord which had no notice and no oppor*556tunity to repair, must respond in damages. Their reading of paragraph 11 of the lease as imposing on the landlord an obligation tantamount to that of an insurer is, in my view unwarranted by the lease contract.
While the cause of the breakage was never explained, a reasonable inference can be drawn from the evidence that the pipe was broken during a weekend by the wilful or negligent act of an unidentified person who had or gained access to a portion of the premises leased to another tenant. To adopt the lower court’s postulate that the landlord was under a contractual duty to “have some routine that might detect these conditions before the leak starts to do damage” would appear to impose on a landlord a duty which transcends traditional concepts of reasonable care, Restatement, Torts 2d (1965), § 357, Comment d and is virtually impossible of performance.
I readily concede that paragraph 11 of the lease is no model of lucidity, but in my view the obscurity is primarily caused by a mistake in punctuation, possibly the result of an error in transcription, and only minimally the result of inept phraseology.
I would read paragraph 11 in this fashion:
“11. And, furthermore, that the Landlords shall not be liable for any loss of or damage to any property in or about the demised premises, which shall be brought about by other tenants or occupants of parts of the building [,] or any person or persons whomsoever [;] other than that resulting from falling plaster, steam, gas, electric, water, rain or snow which may leak from any part of said building or from the pipes, appliances or plumbing on the premises or from the street or subsurface, or from any other place or cause, except and unless the Tenants shall have given the Landlords prior notice in writing and the Landlords shall fail or neglect to make necessary repairs to or remedy the condition.” (Emphasis supplied.)
*557It is, of course, the italicized phrase “except and unless” which is an unfortunate choice of words. I would read this “but only if”, because it is clear to me that the condition contained in the last clause of the paragraph is intended to apply to the exception which follows the word “whomsoever”.
It is perfectly apparent from the record that the tenant read the lease in this manner, since it went to great lengths to prove at trial that it had complained in writing about flaking paint, worms falling from woodwork, faulty radiators, broken windows, sprinkler failure and other leaks- — none of which mounted up to compliance with the notice required by paragraph 11.
For these reasons, I would reverse the judgment entered below.