Landlord Not Responsible for Attack on Tenant in Apartment

May 11, 2012

LVT Number: #24084

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after she was attacked in her apartment, located in a two-family home. The attacker got into the apartment from the outside by forcing open its locked rear kitchen door. Although tenant claimed that landlord failed to provide adequate security, tenant's friend had replaced landlord's kitchen door lock with one purchased by tenant before the attack. The court granted landlord's request to dismiss the case without a trial. Tenant appealed and lost.

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after she was attacked in her apartment, located in a two-family home. The attacker got into the apartment from the outside by forcing open its locked rear kitchen door. Although tenant claimed that landlord failed to provide adequate security, tenant's friend had replaced landlord's kitchen door lock with one purchased by tenant before the attack. The court granted landlord's request to dismiss the case without a trial. Tenant appealed and lost. A landlord is not the insurer of tenant's safety and need only take minimal precautions to protect tenants from foreseeable harm, including foreseeable criminal conduct by others. Tenant claimed that landlord should have provided an additional deadbolt lock for the door, but there was no proof that the lock landlord did provide and which tenant replaced wasn't working properly. There was no negligently maintained entrance.

Ferguson v. Antaeus Realty Corp.: NYLJ, 4/16/12, p. 29, col. 1 (App. Div.2 Dept.; Florio, JP, Balkin, Lott, Miller, JJ)

Topics

More like this