Individual Condominium Owners Are Not Responsible for Conditions in the Common Elements of the Condominium, Which Are Under the Control of the Board of Managers—In a Case Stemming from a Slip and Fall in a Vestibule (a Common Element) the Individual Owners’ Motions for Summary Judgment Were Properly Granted

Plaintiff slipped and fell in a vestibule, one of the common elements of a condominium.  The common elements of a condominium are under the control of the board of managers, not the individual condominium owners.  Therefore the condominium owners’ motions for summary judgment were properly granted:

As a general rule, liability for a dangerous or defective condition on real property must be predicated upon ownership, occupancy, control, or special use of that property … . “[C]ondominium common elements are solely under the control of the board of managers” … . Here, the defendants, moving separately, each established their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by demonstrating that as individual unit owners of the condominium, they had no duty to maintain the vestibule where the accident occurred, as it was one of the condominium’s common elements … . In opposition, the plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact as to, inter alia, whether the defendants created the alleged wet condition that caused the plaintiff to slip and fall … . O’Toole v Vollmer, 2015 NY Slip Op 05655, 2nd Dept 7-1-15