Tenant Robbed Outside Apartment

Facts: Tenant was robbed and severely beaten outside her apartment when she came home from work one night. She sued landlord for negligence, claiming that landlord hadn't repaired a defective front door in the building. After a trial, a jury ruled for tenant and awarded her a substantial sum of money. Landlord asked the court to set aside the jury's verdict. The court ruled for landlord and dismissed tenant's complaint. Tenant appealed. Court: Tenant wins. There was no basis to overturn the jury's decision. Tenant had presented evidence from which the jury could find that the defective front door was an ongoing problem that hadn't been fixed. Tenant also showed that the broken front door was the only way of getting into the building on the night she was attacked, and that landlord knew that repairs were needed and that there were crime problems around the building. Tenant was able to identify the attacker, who wasn't another tenant. So there was a strong possibility that he was an intruder, not a guest in the building. The amounts awarded by the jury were reasonable, except for the $420,000 award for future medical expenses. A new trial was ordered on that issue unless tenant agreed to accept $61,000 for future medical expenses.

Brewster v. Prince Apts. Inc.: NYLJ, p. 28, col. 1 (9/20/99) (App. Div.1 Dept.; Rosenberger, JP, Tom, Mazzarelli, Saxe, JJ)