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/ ↗

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¶32 The fact that a person does not enjoy a contractual landlord/tenant
relationship with the landlord is thus not dispositive. Rather, what is at issue
is whether the interests of public standards require that the standards of
habitability extend not only to tenants but to third persons in certain
circumstances. We conclude that they do. As evidence of these standards, we
turn to other areas of the law that govern the landlord's duty. For example, in
Limberhand v. Big Ditch Co. (1985), 218 Mont. 132, 706 P.2d 491, we held
that the status of the injured party does not affect a property owner's general
duty of care. Limberhand, 218 Mont. at 140, 706 P.2d at 496. Instead, a
landlord's duties under § 27-1-701, MCA, extend to all persons foreseeably
on the premises, including social guests of a tenant. Limberhand, 218 Mont.
at 145, 706 P.2d at 498, 499. Although the Residential Landlord and Tenant
Act establishes minimum duties of the landlord, nothing in the Act limits those
duties only to a tenant, and indeed we conclude that the public interests require
those duties to extend to any person foreseeably on the premises. In short, we
conclude that both Plaintiffs were members of the class the Act was designed
to protect, and Defendants' liability arose under the Residential Landlord and
Tenant Act, § 70-24-303, MCA.

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