Tenant Claims Intruder Entered Building Through Defective Door

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after she was sexually assaulted in her apartment. The attack happened during a robbery in the apartment. Tenant claimed that landlord maintained inadequate security because the front door lock and intercom system hadn't worked for several years, and landlord was on notice of criminal activity in the building. Tenant lived in the apartment with her parents. Tenant's father had answered a knock at the apartment door, and the attackers pushed their way in. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial, arguing that there were no questions of fact. Landlord claimed that the cause of the attack was the fact that tenant's father opened the door. The court ruled for landlord and dismissed the case. Tenant appealed and won. Tenant and other witnesses testified that tenant's father never took the security chain off the door when he opened it to see who was there. Tenant's father had said he opened the door, but his understanding of questions put to him in English was in doubt. So there were questions of fact concerning landlord's negligence that required a trial.

Madera v. NYCHA: NYLJ, p. 27, col. 2 (9/13/99) (App. Div.1 Dept.; Sullivan, JP, Mazzarelli, Lerner, Rubin, Saxe, JJ)