Landlord Not Responsible for Dog Bite at House Leased by Tenants

A visitor to a house rented by tenants sued tenants and landlord for negligence after tenants' dog bit the visitor and injured her. Landlord claimed that he wasn't responsible for the visitor's injuries and asked the court to dismiss the case against landlord. The court ruled for landlord. The visitor appealed and lost. To be strictly liable for injuries caused to the visitor by tenants' dog, the visitor had to show that: (a) landlord had notice that tenants kept a dog; (b) landlord knew or should have known that the dog had vicious propensities; and (c) landlord had sufficient control of the premises to allow landlord to remove or confine the dog. Here, landlord showed that, at the time of the incident, he wasn't aware that a dog with vicious propensities was being kept at the house.

Logie v. Lester: 93 N.Y.S.3d 894, 2019 NY Slip Op 01752 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; 3/13/19; Mastro, JP, Roman, Cohen, Connolly, JJ)