21 S.E.2d 497 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1942
1. The landlord must keep the premises in repair, and he is responsible to others for damages arising from defective construction, or for damages from failure to keep the premises in repair.
(a) "A landlord is not an insurer, but he is under a legal duty to keep the rented premises in repair, and is liable in damages to a person who receives injury while lawfully upon the premises and who is in the exercise of due care, if the injury arises because of the defective construction of a building erected on the premises by the landlord, or because of his failure to repair defects of which he knows or in the exercise of reasonable diligence ought to know."
(b) A landlord is liable for injuries to the tenant arising from latent defects *657 unknown to the tenant, existing at the time of the lease, provided the landlord actually knew, or in the exercise of ordinary care on his part might have known, of their existence.
(c) "Where the landlord is notified of defective premises and he undertakes to repair the same, he must properly repair such premises, and he will be liable in a proper case for his negligence in repairing the same."
(d) "A landlord making repairs on the rented premises, either voluntarily or in compliance with his statutory obligation, is required to use due care to leave the repaired portion free from defects; and for personal injuries received by the tenant, or one lawfully on the premises as the guest of the tenant, from negligence in making repairs, when the injured person had no notice of such defective condition and was in the exercise of due care, the landlord is liable."
2. A member of a tenant's family stands in his shoes and is controlled by the rules governing the tenant as to the right of recovery for injuries arising from the landlord's failure to properly repair or keep the premises in repair. However, a child of three years of age is conclusively presumed to be incapable of contributory negligence, and any negligence of the tenant in failing to prevent the child from using the alleged defective portion of the premises would not be imputable to the child in an action maintained in its own behalf.
3. The petition set out a cause of action against the landlord for failure on her part to properly repair the steps in question by putting them in a safe and usable condition, and for failure to keep the steps in repair, after notice to her from the tenant that the steps needed to be repaired. Consequently, the court did not err in overruling the defendant's general demurrer.
4. Paragraph 12 of the petition as amended was subject to the special demurrer on the grounds that it was not alleged when the former tenants referred to occupied the premises, when they vacated the same, and when and how they notified the landlord of the defect in the steps complained of, and the court erred in overruling the special demurrer in this respect, but direction is given that the plaintiff be allowed to amend to meet the special demurrer in this respect; otherwise, the paragraph will be stricken.
The defendant demurred generally to the petition on the ground that it failed to set out a cause of action against her, for numerous reasons assigned, and also demurred specially to paragraph 12 of the petition on the ground that a notice by prior tenants would not in law be such a notice to the landlord as would bind her or place any duty upon her to inspect or repair the defects now complained of, or authorize her to enter upon the premises of the present tenant for such purpose; and on the further ground that it was not alleged when said tenants occupied the premises, when they vacated the same, or when or how they notified the landlord of the defects in the steps complained of. The court overruled the demurrer, and the exception here is to that judgment.
1. The landlord must keep the premises in repair (Code § 61-111), and he is responsible to others for damages arising from defective construction or for damages from failure to keep the premises in repair (§ 61-112). "A landlord is not an insurer, but he is under a legal duty to keep the rented premises in repair, and is liable in damages to a person who receives injury while lawfully upon the premises and who is in the exercise of due care, if the injury arises because of the defective construction of a building erected on the premises by the landlord, or because of his failure to repair defects of which he knows or in the exercise of reasonable diligence ought to know."Ross v. Jackson,
2. A member of a tenant's family stands in his shoes and is controlled by the rules governing the tenant as to the right of recovery for injuries arising from the landlord's failure to properly repair or keep the premises in repair. Crossgrove v.Atlantic Coast Line R. Co.,
3. The petition set out a cause of action against the landlord for failure on her part to properly repair the steps in question by putting them in a safe and usable condition, and for failure to keep the steps in repair, after notice to her from the tenant that the steps needed to be repaired. Consequently the court did not err in overruling the defendant's general demurrer. *661
4. Paragraph 12 of the petition as amended was subject to the special demurrer thereto on the grounds that it was not alleged when the former tenants referred to occupied the premises, when they vacated the same, and when and how they notified the landlord of the defect in the steps complained of, and the court erred in overruling the special demurrer in this respect, but direction is given that the plaintiff be allowed to amend to meet the special demurrer in this respect; otherwise the paragraph will be stricken.
Judgment affirmed, with direction. Stephens, P. J., concurs.Felton, J., concurs specially.