Ruiz v. Pelson Realty Trust, 13 Mass. L. Rptr. 346 (2001)

Citation: Ruiz v. Pelson Realty Trust, 13 Mass. L. Rptr. 346 (2001)
Parent Document: Ruiz v. Pelson Realty Trust, 13 Mass. L. Rptr. 346 (2001)
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts (state)
Effective Date: 2001-05-13
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8354352/ruiz-v-pelson-realty-trust/ ↗

Full Text

1,545 chars

The other two Superior Court decision dealing with a non-tenant action brought under the warranty of habitability reach the opposite result. In Sullivan v. H.H. Gilbert Management Corporation, 7 Mass. L. Rptr. No 13, 291 (Middlesex Super. Ct. May 16, 1997) (Borenstein, J.), the plaintiff, while a guest at premises managed by the defendant, was scalded by hot water, and subsequently brought a claim alleging, inter alia, breach of the warranty of habitability. In granting defendant’s motion to dismiss, the court found that a warranty of habitability claim was not available for non-contracting parties. The court pointed out that while the landlord had a duly to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition for both tenants and other visitors, “a negligence claim brought by a guest is not a claim arising from a contractual relationship.” Id. at 292. A similar result was reached in Egenlauf v. Brown, 1996 WL 1186833, 5 Mass. L. Rptr. 59 (Mass. Super. January 5, 1996) (Sosman, J.), a slip and fall case in which the plaintiffs argued that the warranty of habitability extends to guests on the premises as well as to tenants. In rejecting this claim, the court acknowledged the landlords’ duty to all visitors to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition, but noted that ”[t]ransforming that duty into a ‘warranty’ in the absence of any underlying contract into which the warranty could be implied would be an inappropriate blurring of contract principles and tort principles.” Sullivan, 7 Mass. L. Rptr. No 13, at 292.

Other Sections in This Document (27)

Full Text