Ohio Supreme Court Ruling on Tenant-Landlord Law

[Pam R.]

Read this in the paper today, and thought Ohio landlords would be interested. In a nutshell, a guest left a tenant's apartment, went down the common area stairs, where ALL the lights were burned out, tripped on the bottom stair, and crashed through a plate glass window. The article in the paper mentioned the doctors said she will never get rid of the scars on her arms and face. She was 16 when it happened.

The first court granted a summary judgement to the Landlord. To paraphrase - since the guest was a guest and not a tenant, the landlord's statutory obligations did not extend to her.

The Ohio Supreme Court disagreed, saying that the statuary obligations to the tenant extend to the guests as well. (again paraphrasing) They didn't find the landlord liable, but she can now file suit again.

I was a little surprised...not by the Supreme Court decision (that seems commonsense to me - safety measures apply to everybody) - but that the initial court actually issued a summary judgement - the guest didn't even qualify to bring suit. Interesting.

http://www.courtnewsohio.gov/cases/2014/SCO/0212/121600.asp#.Uv19zvldUfU