Tenant Claims Landlord Responsible for Bathroom Ceiling Collapse

Tenant sued landlord for negligence after he was struck by a piece of ceiling that fell in the bathroom. Tenant had complained repeatedly to landlord about mold and other conditions indicating there was a leak. The building super had repainted and replastered the ceiling three times before the accident occurred in 2019. Landlord claimed it had no actual or constructive knowledge of a leaky condition in tenant's bathroom ceiling after the super last made repairs. But the court denied landlord's request to dismiss the case without trial. The court noted that a ceiling collapse didn't ordinarily occur in the absence of negligence, and landlord hadn't shown that tenant's own intentional action caused the ceiling to fall or that any voluntary action by tenant contributed to the collapse. 

Duley v. S&N Rugova Props. LLC: Index No. 35012/19, App. No. 3939, Case No. 2024-00097 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 3/20/25; Manzanet-Daniels, JP, Kern, Kapnick, Gonzalez, Scarpulla, JJ)