Locked-Out Tenant Gets Injured Climbing Through Window

May 31, 2005

LVT Number: 18122

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after he was seriously injured at the building. Tenant lived in a second-floor boarding room in a two-family house. One night tenant came home and found the door to his room padlocked. Landlord had installed the lock because tenant owed back rent. Tenant then tried to climb window guard rails and a gutter outside the house to get into the room through an open second-floor window. Tenant slipped and fell, and suffered serious injuries. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled against landlord.

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after he was seriously injured at the building. Tenant lived in a second-floor boarding room in a two-family house. One night tenant came home and found the door to his room padlocked. Landlord had installed the lock because tenant owed back rent. Tenant then tried to climb window guard rails and a gutter outside the house to get into the room through an open second-floor window. Tenant slipped and fell, and suffered serious injuries. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled against landlord. Landlord appealed and won. Tenant assumed the risk of injury by trying to climb through the window. Legally, landlord wasn't responsible for tenant's injuries.

Sy v. Kopet: NYLJ, 5/16/05, p. 29, col. 2 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Miller, JP, Cozier, Rivera, Skelos, JJ)

Topics

More like this