Landlord Who Had No Notice of Lead Paint Condition Not Responsible for Injuries

LVT Number: #27605

Tenant sued landlord, claiming his child was injured by exposure to lead paint in his apartment. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial.  The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and won. Landlord showed that he didn’t have actual or constructive notice of a hazardous lead paint condition in the apartment prior to inspection by the health department and tenant had never complained about chipping or peeling paint. And Real Property Law Section 235-b didn’t raise a presumption that landlord had notice of a dangerous condition. That law provides only that landlord warrant the apartment is habitable. Landlord also didn’t have a duty to test for the existence of lead in the apartment based solely upon the general knowledge of the dangers of lead-based paints in older homes. 

 

 

 

Taggart v. Fandel: 2017 NY Slip Op 02177, 2017 WL 1115423 (App. Div. 4 Dept.; 3/24/17; Smith, JP, DeJoseph, Nemoyer, Troutman, Scudder, JJ)