Landlord Not Responsible for Tenant's Slip and Fall

Tenant sued landlord for negligence, after she slipped and fell on a wet staircase in her apartment building. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and won. Landlord didn't have actual notice of a wet condition on the staircase. It also didn't have constructive notice. The water condition didn't exist for a sufficient period of time to discover and fix the problem. While there was no proof of when the stairs were last inspected or cleaned by the building super before tenant's accident, the water condition wasn't there long enough to give landlord notice. Tenant saw no water on the staircase when she left the building, and slipped when she came back an hour later. And, although tenant had complained about a wet condition on the stairs three times between 2009 and 2013, there was no proof of a recurring condition unaddressed by landlord.

Perez v. River Park Bronx Apartments, Inc.: Index No. 7739-21864/14, 2019 NY Slip Op 00196 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 1/10/19; Richter, JP, Manzanet-Daniels, Gische, Kapnick, Gesmer, JJ)