OUT-OF-POSSESSION LANDLORD DID NOT DEMONSTRATE IT DID NOT CREATE THE DANGEROUS CONDITION, SUMMARY JUDGMENT PROPERLY DENIED.
The Second Department determined defendant out-of-possession landlord did not demonstrate it did not cause the alleged radiator-defect which injured plaintiff. Therefore the landlord's motion for summary judgment was properly denied:
“[A]n out-of-possession landowner is generally not responsible for injuries that occur on its premises unless the landowner has retained control over the premises and is contractually or statutorily obligated to repair or maintain the premises or has assumed a duty to repair or maintain the premises by virtue of a course of conduct” … . However, ” liability may attach to an out-of-possession owner who has affirmatively created a dangerous condition or defect'” … .
Here, the defendant failed to establish its prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. Although the defendant demonstrated that it did not owe a duty to provide the plaintiff with a radiator cover …, the defendant failed to establish that it did not cause the radiator to become and remain in a defective, broken, and overheated condition. Gowen v Gabrielle Realty Holdings, LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op 04695, 2nd Dept 6-15-16
NEGLIGENCE (OUT-OF-POSSESSION LANDLORD DID NOT DEMONSTRATE IT DID NOT CREATE THE DANGEROUS CONDITION, SUMMARY JUDGMENT PROPERLY DENIED)/LANDLORD-TENANT (OUT-OF-POSSESSION LANDLORD DID NOT DEMONSTRATE IT DID NOT CREATE THE DANGEROUS CONDITION, SUMMARY JUDGMENT PROPERLY DENIED)/OUT-OF-POSSESSION LANDLORD (OUT-OF-POSSESSION LANDLORD DID NOT DEMONSTRATE IT DID NOT CREATE THE DANGEROUS CONDITION, SUMMARY JUDGMENT PROPERLY DENIED)