TT&H Attorneys Ryan Palmer and Shawn Brothwell Win Summary Judgment in Delaware County Premises Liability Action

Ryan Palmer and Shawn Brothwell of  TT&H’s Ambler, PA office recently won summary judgment in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. The premises liability case involved a claim brought by a hired cleaning person who was leaning on the railing of a shared front porch of an apartment house. The railing gave way and the individual fell off of the front porch to the ground, allegedly injuring herself. She asserted negligence claims against the landlord/owner of the property, as well as the resident tenants.

The property was owned by a Co-Defendant College and was used to house its faculty members. The faculty members of the College occupied the apartment on the second and third floors of the home, and had hired the Plaintiff to clean their apartment. The Co-Defendant neighbor occupied the apartment on the first floor of the home. The front porch of the property was a common area shared by the tenants as a means of ingress and egress. The Plaintiff alleged negligence on the part of the landlord and tenants in failing to maintain the property and creating a dangerous condition on the porch. The Co-Defendant College maintained that it was not liable as a landlord out-of-possession, thereby suggesting that the tenants of the apartments were liable for the Plaintiff’s injuries.

On behalf of two of the tenants, Attorneys Palmer and Brothwell moved for summary judgment. In doing so, they relied largely on the “reserved control exception,” which dictates that a landlord out-of-possession reserves control over any common areas in a multi-tenanted building and is bound to keep such common areas safe for tenants and their invitees. The TT&H attorneys successfully demonstrated that the porch of the property was a shared common area used by the residents of both apartments, and that the College definitively maintained control over the entire property, including the subject porch. Agreeing with these well-reasoned arguments, the Court granted the Motion and dismissed the Complaint against TT&H’s clients.

Questions about this case can be directed to Ryan Palmer (267) 861-7571 or rpalmer@tthlaw.com, or to Shawn Brothwell (267) 861-7572 or sbrothwell@tthlaw.com.