Tenant's Guest Got Shot in Apartment

August 31, 1996

LVT Number: 10892

Tenant sued landlord for breach of the warranty of habitability when her guest was struck by a bullet discharged from a gun in the apartment above tenant's. The guest also sued landlord for negligence. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled against landlord, and landlord appealed. The appeals court reversed and dismissed the case. Landlord neither knew nor had reason to know that other tenants had a gun and had no duty to take precautions. There had been no criminal activity in the building in over 10 years.

Tenant sued landlord for breach of the warranty of habitability when her guest was struck by a bullet discharged from a gun in the apartment above tenant's. The guest also sued landlord for negligence. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case. The court ruled against landlord, and landlord appealed. The appeals court reversed and dismissed the case. Landlord neither knew nor had reason to know that other tenants had a gun and had no duty to take precautions. There had been no criminal activity in the building in over 10 years. Also, there was no breach of the warranty of habitability since landlord hadn't condoned illegal acts and tenant didn't have to vacate apartment because of landlord's negligence.

Barksdale v. Henry: 644 NYS2d 591 (1996) (App. Div. 3 Dept.; Mikoll, JP, Mercure, Crew, Yesawich, Peters, JJ)

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