Whilе raking leaves from a mobile home lot she rented iron Cooper & Sugrue Properties, Inc., Lonard stepped into a hole coverec up by leaves and fell, sustaining injuries to her wrist. She brought this actiоn for damages claiming that Cooper & Sugrue failed to exercis( ordinary care to keep the property in a safe condition. Lonard appeal! from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Coope: & Sugrue.
Lonard testified that she could not see the hole before sh< stepped into it because it was covered up by leaves which had fallei from trees on the wooded lot. After she fell, Lonard discovered tha the hole was one in a line of similar square holes four to five inche wide, all of which were covered with leaves. According to evidenc presented by Lonard, the holes contained remains of broken woode]
“It has often bеen held that the true basis for a landlord’s liabilty to a tenant for injuries resulting from a defective or hazardous londition existing on the premises is the landlord’s superior knowledge of the condition and of the dangеr resulting from it. [Cits.] This s merely a manifestation of the general rule regarding the liability of oroprietors for injuries to invitees occurring on the premises. [Cits.]” Richardson v. Palmour Court Apts.,
In the absence of any evidence that Cooper & Sugrue had any ictual knowledge of the hazard, Lonard’s cause of action must be dedicated on the claim that Cooper & Sugrue had superior construcive knowledge of the hazard. In general, there are two classes оf cases upporting claims that a defendant had constructive knowledge of a lefect. The first class involves a claim that the defendant had a duty o exercise reasonable care to inspect and keep the premises safe and hat the defect had existed for a sufficient period of time to afford the lefendant a reasonable opportunity to conduct such an insрection
There was evidence that an employee of Cooper & Sugrue made a visual inspection of the lot on the day Lonard occupied it and that, at Lonard’s request, another employee graded an uneven portion of the lot and delivered top soil for a garden in areas away from the areа where Lonard fell. Neither of these employees saw any hazardous condition of the property. There is no evidence in the record which could support a claim that a Cooper & Sugrue employee had the means and opportunity to have easily seen and removed the latent hazard on the lot.
Although the record shows that Cooper & Sugrue conducted £ general visual inspection of the lot at the time Lonard took possession, the inspection was not sufficient to discover the fence post hol( covered by leaves. The mere presence of leaves on the heavily woodec lot provided no indication of the hazard. There is no evidence that prior to Lonard’s fall, anyone had ever tripped or fallen in the area o the hazard. Even if we construe the record to shоw that this hazarc had existed on the property since Cooper & Sugrue acquired it ir 1983, there is no evidence to support a claim that Cooper & Sugrue failed to exercise ordinary care in inspecting the property and keeping it in good repair.
“Ordinary care in the fulfillment of the landlord’s duty to keej the premises in repair does not . . . embrace an affirmative duty t< make such an inspeсtion of the premises as will disclose the existenc of any and all latent defects which may actually exist therein. Thi would be but to place upon the landlord an absolute duty ... to ren premises free from latent defects. It follows that a proper applicatioi of the landlord’s duty to keep the premises in repair does not, unde any theory, result in making the landlord liable for a latent defect ii the premises, simply because it existed at the time of the lease.” Eli jah A. Brown Co., supra at 751. “[T]here exists no absolute duty o inspection upon a landlord to discover defects in the premises prior t leasing thеm, for the reason that ordinary diligence, which is the mea sure of the duty imposed upon the landlord in such case, does nc require an inspection where the landlord has no reason to think a inspection is necessary.” Spires v. Fitzsimmons,
Accordingly, there was no evidence to support Lonard’s claim ;hat Cooper & Sugrue had superior constructive knowledge of the íazard on the basis that an employee of the defendant could have sasily seen and removed it or because Cooper & Sugrue failed to con-luct an inspection of the property sufficient to have revealed the hazard. Hughes v. Winn-Dixie Stores,
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
Although there was testimony from one of Lonard’s neighbors that Cooper & Sugrue amoved a fence from Lonard’s lot after she moved in, this fence was constructed with angled on posts which could be driven into the ground with a hammer. The trial court correctly oncluded that the removal of this fence did not create the fence post hole which Lonard tepped into.
We do not deal here with a landlord’s liability for defective construction where the tructure was built by the landlord in person or under the landlord’s supervision or direction, ee Flagler Co. v. Savage,
The landlоrd’s duty to inspect for defects in this case pertains to the period prior to íe lease of the premises. As to the duty to inspect for defects in the premises which may rise during the term of the lease, “[a] tenant is entitled to exclusive occupancy during the irm of the tenancy, and it is [the tenant’s] duty, if the premises get out of repair, to notify íe landlord of their defective condition. [Unless otherwise agreed,] [t]he landlord is under a duty to inspect the premises while the tenant is in possession in order to keep informed as i their condition.” Ross v. Jackson,
Crownover,
Lonard also contends the trial court erroneously failed to unseal and consider certain position testimony in ruling on the motion for summary judgment. Although the trial urt’s order granting summary judgment indicates the entire record and all depositions were