Favreau v. Miller, 591 A.2d 68 (1991)

Citation: Favreau v. Miller, 591 A.2d 68 (1991)
Parent Document: Favreau v. Miller, 591 A.2d 68 (1991)
Jurisdiction: Vermont (state)
Effective Date: 1991-03-29
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1996620/favreau-v-miller/ ↗

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The first error was in charging that the age of a building was a factor which lowers the degree of care that a landlord must exercise. The charge states explicitly that apartments in old buildings do not have to be as safe as apartments in new buildings. The majority accepts this specific, unique emphasis on the age of the building as simply an application of the principle that reasonable care is determined in light of “all the circumstances,” quoting Sargent v. Ross, 113 N.H. 388, 391, 308 A.2d 528, 530 (1973). The more relevant quote from Sargent comes later in the opinion: “A landlord must act as a reasonable person under all of the circumstances including the likelihood of injury to others, the probable seriousness of such injuries, and the burden of reducing or avoiding the risk.” Id. at 397, 308 A.2d at 534. This statement of the law has been generally accepted. See Smith v. Arbaugh’s Restaurant, Inc., 469 F.2d 97,100 (D.C. Cir. 1972) (“A landowner must act as a reasonable man in maintaining his property in a reasonably safe condition in view of all the circumstances, including the likelihood of injury to others, the seriousness of the injury, and the burden of avoiding the risk.”); Moloso v. State, 644 P.2d 205, 219 (Alaska 1982) (landowner *235must act as reasonable person in maintaining property “‘in view of all the circumstances, including the likelihood of injury to others, the seriousness of the injury, and the burden on the respective parties of avoiding the risk’”) (quoting Webb v. City & Borough of Sitka, 561 P.2d 731 (Alaska 1977)); Becker v. IRM Corp., 38 Cal. 3d 454, 468, 698 P.2d 116, 125, 213 Cal. Rptr. 213, 222 (1985) (en banc) (landlord “must act toward his tenant as a reasonable person under all of the circumstances, including the likelihood of injury, the probable seriousness of injury, [and] the burden of reducing or avoiding the risk”); Stephens v. Stearns, 106 Idaho 249, 258, 678 P.2d 41, 50 (1984) (quoting Sargent, 113 N.H. at 397, 308 A.2d at 534); Young v. Garwacki, 380 Mass. 162,169, 402 N.E.2d 1045,1049 (1980) (quoting Sargent); Basso v. Miller, 40 N.Y.2d 233, 241, 352 N.E.2d 868, 872,386 N.Y.S.2d 564, 568 (1976) (quoting Arbaugh’s Restaurant, 469 F.2d at 100).

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