Landlord Responsible for Ceiling Collapse on Tenant

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after a portion of her bathroom ceiling fell on her. Tenant asked the court to decide that landlord was responsible without a trial. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord and its managing agent had actual notice of a recurring leak in tenant’s bathroom ceiling and therefore were responsible for injuries to tenant when a portion of the ceiling fell on her. Tenant and her family made numerous complaints to landlord for two or three years before the ceiling collapsed, and landlord had performed repairs to the ceiling on four or five occasions. Tenant had again complained to landlord three days before the incident about a bathroom ceiling leak and a hole that had developed.

Toussaint v. Ocean Avenue Apartment Associates, LLC: 2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 07180, 2016 WL 6465083 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; 11/2/16; Leventhal, JP, Maltese, LaSalle, Brathwaite, Nelson, JJ)