7 S.E.2d 595 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1940
Where a portion of rented premises has become defective and under certain conditions is dangerous, it becomes the duty of the tenant, in the exercise of ordinary care for his own safety, to abstain from using that portion of the premises which he knows to be dangerous. Where it appears that he knows, or in the exercise of ordinary care should know, that such condition is existing at the time he uses that portion of the premises, and such use results in his injury, he is guilty of negligence barring a recovery from the landlord for the injury, although it may appear that the landlord had been notified of such defective condition and had failed after a reasonable time to make the necessary repairs.
It is alleged that the defendant landlord occupied a room in the rented premises and that he had knowledge that the porch roof of the house had become old and leaked when it rained, causing the floor of the porch to become soaked with water and very slick and dangerous to walk on. Where a landlord occupies a room in the rented premises he is presumed to have knowledge of the defective and leaky condition of the roof, and notice by the tenant to repair is not necessary. Guthman v. Castleberry,
It is true that the tenant has the right to use such parts of the premises as are apparently in good condition, but the plaintiff here was using a part of the premise which he knew was in bad condition, and which he knew, or should have known, was at the time and under the circumstances dangerous and likely to produce injury to any one using the same. It therefore affirmatively appears from the allegations of the petition that the injury sustained by the plaintiff was the result of his own failure to exercise ordinary care for his own safety. SeeJackson v. Davis,
The court properly sustained the general demurrer to the petition.
Judgment affirmed. Sutton and Felton, JJ., concur.