Tenant Attacked and Robbed in Building

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after she was attacked and robbed in landlord's building. Landlord claimed that it wasn't responsible because the attack wasn't foreseeable, and asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial. The court ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. Landlord had a common-law duty to take minimal security precautions to protect tenants and the public from foreseeable criminal activity. Tenants in the building had complained of continuously broken locks on the exterior doors of the building. They said that, despite these complaints, the locks weren't repaired. Police reports and other published accounts showed there was prior violent criminal activity near the building, including attacks on female tenants by persons who gained access to the buildings. Landlord claimed that the attack on tenant wasn't like the prior attacks in the area, but the fact that this crime may be somewhat different than some other crimes didn't mean it wasn't foreseeable. A trial was needed to determine if landlord was responsible.

Ungruhe v. Blake-Riv Realty LLC: NYLJ, 12/15/11, p. 24, col. 5 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Mazzarelli, JP, Andrias, Renwick, Freedman, Manzanet-Daniels, JJ)