Landlord Who Had No Notice of Lead Paint Condition Not Responsible for Injuries

Tenant sued landlord, claiming his child was injured by exposure to lead paint in his apartment. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial.  The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and won. Landlord showed that he didn’t have actual or constructive notice of a hazardous lead paint condition in the apartment prior to inspection by the health department and tenant had never complained about chipping or peeling paint. And Real Property Law Section 235-b didn’t raise a presumption that landlord had notice of a dangerous condition. That law provides only that landlord warrant the apartment is habitable. Landlord also didn’t have a duty to test for the existence of lead in the apartment based solely upon the general knowledge of the dangers of lead-based paints in older homes. 

Taggart v. Fandel: 2017 NY Slip Op 02177, 2017 WL 1115423 (App. Div. 4 Dept.; 3/24/17; Smith, JP, DeJoseph, Nemoyer, Troutman, Scudder, JJ)