Mark & Galusha, Landlord Tenant Attorneys - Basking Ridge, Somerset County, New Jersey
Information is the key to any good landlord/tenant relationship.  Being fully informed of your rights as a tenant and what exactly a landlord’s duties and obligations are will help to make sure you are treatly properly and fairly as a tenant. 

In Meier v. D’Ambose, Plaintiff’s negligence and wrongful death complaint was dismissed by the trial court.  The plaintiff’s brother had died of smoke inhalation from a furnace fire that occurred as a result of a deteriorated flue pipe in the house that he was renting from the defendant landlord.  The trial court ruled the landlord did not breach any duty he owed to the tenant; having the property inspected at the beginning of the tenancy and then repairing the furnace when the tenant complained about the lack of heat had fulfilled his duty of care.  The court also noted the landlord could not be liable since the deteriorated flue pipe was a latent defect and there was no notice of its condition.

The case was recently brought to the Appellate Division where the court was to determine if a landlord had a duty to maintain and inspect the furnace in the leased house to prevent a dangerous condition.  The Appellate Court determined such a duty does exist and reversed the trial court’s summary judgment decision. 

The Appellate Court concluded that “it is appropriate to impose a duty upon the lessor to maintain and inspect the furnace.  In the absence of a lease provision to the contrary, which might affect responsibility for maintaining the furnace and hence potential liability as between landlord and tenant, we hold that defendant landlord had a duty to the decedent to maintain the furnace and, thus, to inspect it periodically to ensure that it was in safe operating condition and not creating a fire hazard.  Fulfillment of that duty did not require notice of a defect.”  The Appellate Division also noted how “the catastrophic result in this case demonstrates the serious consequences that can result when a furnace is not maintained….The attendant risk of failing to maintain or inspect for dangerous defects is substantial and unacceptable.”

Mark & Galusha, Lawyers handling landlord tenant matters in Bridgewater, Somerset County, New Jersey

If you are a tenant seeking to redress mistreatment by your landlord, please contact Mark & Galusha, your landlord tenant attorneys in Bridgewater and Basking Ridge, New Jersey. For your free consultation with a lawyer from our Firm, contact us at 908-626-1001 or 973-440-2311, or tell us your story by clicking the "contact us" page.