Court Opinion

ID: 9691585
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 20:41:49.780894+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:22.333811
License: Public Domain

ROBERT L. BROWN, Justice, concurring. Like the majority, I am reluctant to consider such a sweeping change in our common law as completely abandoning the doctrine of caveat lessee for landlords without fully developed facts and briefing accompanied by appropriate amicus curiae briefs. I am also reluctant to consider adopting exceptions to the doctrine such as the retention-of-control and latent defect exceptions without comparable briefing. Yet, it has been almost thirty years since the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act was first proposed in 1972. The uniform act provided that states should require residential landlords to comply with applicable building and housing codes which affect health and safety, make repairs and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition, maintain common areas, and make available basic plumbing, water, sanitation, and utility services. See Case Note. Propst v. McNeill: Arkansas Landlord-Tenant Law, A Time for Change, 51 Ark. L. Rev. 575 (1998). Undoubtedly, this uniform act or some variation of it has been proposed to the General Assembly on several occasions over the past three decades, but no action has been taken by that body. This is so even though this court said in Propst v. McNeill, 326 Ark. 623, 626, 932 S.W.2d 766, 768 (1996), that because of the policy considerations inherent in the issue of landlord liability, “there is merit in the argument that such matters might be dealt with better in the legislative arena.” Three legislative sessions have occurred since the Propst decision, but, again, no action has been taken. Because the General Assembly has not seen fit to act on this issue, it is appropriate that this court revisit the issue of landlord liability at the next appropriate opportunity. On two occasions in the last decade, justices of this court have shown a willingness to limit the rule of caveat lessee or adopt one of the exceptions to it. See Eoff v. Warden, 330 Ark. 244, 953 S.W.2d 880 (1997) (Newbern and Corbin, JJ., dissenting on basis that retention-of-control exception should be considered); Bartley v. Sweetser, 319 Ark. 117, 890 S.W.2d 250 (1994) (Newbern, J., concurring on basis that landlord-tenant relationship is a special relationship giving rise to a duty of care). In the past when the General Assembly has refused to act, this court has made a significant change in its common law. See, e.g., Parish v. Pitts, 244 Ark. 1239, 429 S.W.2d 45 (1968). In Parish, the issue was tort immunity for political subdivisions. Because the General Assembly had refrained from addressing the issue, though called upon to do so by this court in Kirksey v. City of Fort Smith, 227 Ark. 630, 300 S.W.2d 257 (1957), we abolished tort immunity for political subdivisions in the Parish decision. We acted similarly in Shannon v. Wilson, 329 Ark. 143, 947 S.W.2d 349 (1997) (alcohol vendor’s liability for selling alcohol to minors may he submitted to jury on issue of whether sale was proximate cause of resulting injury); Jackson v. Cadillac Cowboy, Inc., 337 Ark. 24, 986 S.W.2d 410 (1999) (alcohol vendors owe duty of care to intoxicated persons, knowing they will drive a motor vehicle). In both cases, we had previously urged the General Assembly to meet the issue of dramshop liability head-on, and no action was taken. It was only after those two decisions were handed down that legislation was enacted. See Act 1596 of 1999, now codified at Ark. Code Ann. § 16-126-101 to 106 (Supp. 2001). The issue of landlord liability for negligence to guests and tenants deserves attention either by the General Assembly or, failing that, by this court.