Kunst v. Pass, 1998 MT 71 (1998)

Citation: Kunst v. Pass, 1998 MT 71 (1998)
Parent Document: Kunst v. Pass, 1998 MT 71 (1998)
Jurisdiction: Montana (state)
Effective Date: 1998-03-31
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/884766/kunst-v-pass/ ↗

Full Text

1,362 chars

¶30 In our view "aggrieved party" includes third persons foreseeably on the
property, such as the tenant's guest, who suffers injuries when the landlord
breaches the duties embodied in the Act. This Court is not alone in its
interpretation of the Act. Based upon precisely the same reasoning, the
Oregon Supreme Court has also held that a tenant's guest has a cause of action
against a landlord pursuant to Oregon's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act
for injuries resulting from the landlord's violation of its statutory duties.
Humbert v. Sellars (Or. 1985), 708 P.2d 344, 347. The pertinent portions of
Oregon's Act are substantially identical to Montana's Act. Upon interpreting
the meaning of "aggrieved party" in the Oregon Act, the Oregon Supreme
Court similarly held:
     An aggrieved party includes a tenant's guest who is injured by
     a landlord's failure to maintain the premises in a habitable
     condition, if the tenant herself could recover damages for the
     same injury. The measure of a "habitable condition" may be
     what is habitable by those who reside in the premises, but when
     the measure is breached, ORS 91.725 recognizes that others
     may suffer the consequences. The [tenant's guest] therefore has
     a cause of action if she is injured because of the [landlord's]
     breach of the act. Humbert, 708 P.2d at 347.

Other Sections in This Document (71)

Full Text