24 Cal. 2d 114 | Cal. | 1944
The plaintiff brought this action to recover damages which it claims to have sustained in consequence of its merchandise being injured by the defendants’ negligence. The damage for which compensation is sought allegedly occurred on January 24, 1941, during a heavy rainstorm, and was caused by rain water seeping through the walls and ceiling of certain premises occupied by the plaintiff as a tenant in a building owned by the defendants. The action is based upon the alleged negligence of the defendants in caring for the roof of their building following certain fire damage to a portion thereof. The case was tried by the court sitting without a jury, the plaintiff prevailed therein, and its damages were assessed at the sum of $1,750. From a judgment entered accordingly in favor of the plaintiff, the defendants prosecute this appeal.
The building in question is a four-story loft structure, the back part of which is divided from the front part by a brick fire wall. As of January 1, 1941, the plaintiff was renting on a month to month basis one of two adjoining lofts, separated by a thin stucco partition, on the second floor of the front portion of said building, and it continued to remain as such tenant for several months thereafter. This loft constituted the plaintiff’s place of business for the manufacture of numerous pharmaceuticals used in its beauty supply trade, and various chemicals, cellophane labels, bottles and other essential equipment were kept on the premises. On January 4, 1941, a fire started in the hallway on the second floor, spread upstairs through the freight elevator passageway to the fourth or top floor, which the defendants had retained for their own use, and consumed a large area of the roof over the rear portion of the building. Except for some smoke
The defendants from the commencement of this suit have contended, and now,, contend, that in no event would the series of happenings above recited give rise to a cause of action in favor of the plaintiff. In this connection the defendants rely on the following undisputed facts: Plaintiff was their tenant on a month to month rental basis; there was no written lease and no contract imposing on the defendants the duty to restore or repair the demised premises or any part of the remainder of the building; and there was no agreement for the restoration or repair of any part of the building that might be destroyed or damaged by fire. But in this case the matter is not one of contract or of breach of a landlord’s covenant; nor does it contemplate any theory of statutory liability. Rather the plaintiff’s claim rests wholly upon the tort concept of the duty imposed upon a landlord to use reasonable care in keeping in suitable condition such portions of the premises as are subject to his control. Thus the basic principle of law is stated in 15 Cal.Jur. 706, section 116: The rule that there is no implied obligation upon the landlord, in the absence of statute, to keep the demised premises in repair or fit for occupation, applies only to the premises actually leased, and does not operate to free the landlord from liability to the tenant for injuries arising from de
With this point of law decided against the defendants, there remains for consideration their argument as to the insufficiency of the evidence to support the trial court’s decision of the issues of fact in this ease. The judgment in favor of the plaintiff rests upon the following finding: “That it is true that on or about the 4th day of January, 1941, defendants, and each of them, did suffer damages to said building due to a fire on a portion of said building occupied other than by the plaintiff herein, and that the said defendants, and each of them, thereafter failed and neglected to repair said damage to said building, and as a direct and proximate result of such negligence and failure upon the part of the defendants, and each of them, to make the necessary repairs to the damaged portion of said building, that on or about
Turning to the testimony, witnesses on behalf of the plaintiff attested to the following facts: That as the result of the fire on January 4, 1941, the roof on a portion of the defendants’ building adjacent to the part occupied by the plaintiff was partially destroyed, but there was no damage, other than smoke, to the plaintiff’s loft; that the waterproof tarpaulin installed as a temporary covering on January 7, 1941, did not at all times extend over a large part of the burned section of the roof and from the hallway on the second floor, one on occasion could see light through to the skyline; that the tarpaulin as used was not securely nailed in place and rain would cause it to collapse, a condition unavailingly called to the defendants’ attention; that following the fire damage to the freight elevator in the building, the plaintiff moved part of its bulky merchandise to certain allotted space on the ground floor; that until the severe storm on January 24, 1941, no water damage was sustained by the plaintiff, but on that date the heavy downpour, beating on the damaged roof of the defendants’ building with its temporary canvas covering, caused a steady stream of water to come through the walls and ceiling of the plaintiff’s loft and forced even weighted merchandise on the shelves to topple to the floor; that six or eight people were required to shovel out the water which flooded the plaintiff’s second-story loft; that at the same time the rain water entered the ground floor space occupied by the plaintiff, stood there two feet deep and soaked through various cartons of merchandise stored there; that a few days after the storm the defendants agreed to make some arrangement to take care of the plaintiff’s damage, but that this promise never materialized; and that the permanent repair of the roof was not completed until March, 1941, though started some four or five weeks earlier. The record also includes as ex-
The defendants finally urge that the damages awarded were excessive, but this contention is not substantiated by the record. As shown by the above-quoted finding of
The judgment is affirmed.
Gibson, C. J., Shenk, J., Edmonds, J., Carter, J., Traynor, J., and Sehauer, J., concurred.