Landlord Not Responsible for Tenant's Burn Injury

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after she suffered a burn injury to her head when she used a match to try to light a burner on the top of her gas stove because the stove’s igniter didn’t work. The court denied landlord’s request to dismiss the case without a trial. Landlord appealed and won. Tenant herself had bought the stove and had it installed. Tenant’s lease required landlord to repair and maintain any appliance provided by landlord but imposed no duty on landlord to repair or maintain appliances supplied by tenant herself. So landlord wasn’t liable for tenant’s injuries. Tenant also claimed that the accident was related to a condition created by landlord in the course of a gas pipe replacement project in the building. But landlord showed that the project was performed by a licensed contractor in accordance with permits, and was inspected and certified as safe when completed two years before the accident. The project didn’t involve any work on tenant’s stove, except to assure that there was gas service to the stove and that it was safe with no leaks when the project was done.

Kaplan v. Tai Properties, LLC: 45 N.Y.S.3d 792, 2017 NY Slip Op 00729 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 2/2/17; Sweeny, JP, Acosta, Moskowitz, Kapnick, Kahn, JJ)