Landlord Not Responsible for Attack on Tenant

Tenant sued landlord after she was attacked by an intruder who had gained access to the building when she opened the front building door for him. The intruder then pushed his way into tenant’s apartment while tenant tried to lock the deadbolt. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and won. The case should have been dismissed because tenant failed to present any proof of a defect in building security that caused the attack. Tenant admittedly opened a perfectly functioning lock to allow her attacker access to the building. Tenant also claimed that one of her apartment door locks didn’t work. But tenant had asked the super to disable one of her two apartment door locks after she had locked herself out and refused to allow the locksmith to replace the lock that day because of the cost.

Van Liew v. Heights Management Company, LLC: NY Slip Op 06370, 2012 WL 4449806 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 9/27/12; Friedman, JP, Acosta, Abdus-Salaam, Manzanet-Daniels, Roman, JJ)