Goodman v. Dan Rich, L.L.C.

Citations

• 2021 Ohio 690

Syllabus

Summary judgment de novo personal injuries trip and fall patio paver landlord tenant negligence open and obvious negligence per se Landlord-Tenant Act 5321.04(A)(1) R.C. 5321.04(A)(2) expert statutory duty Residential Code of Ohio fit and habitable. Trial court's decision to grant summary judgment in favor of landlord-appellees was affirmed on claims arising from a tenant-appellant's trip-and-fall on a patio paver. Open-and-obvious doctrine applied to bar common-law negligence claims when appellant had previously fallen on a patio paver and had knowledge that the patio contained some loose pavers. Summary judgment also was warranted on the negligence per se claims for violations of Ohio's Landlord-Tenant Act because appellants failed to demonstrate that appellees breached a statutory duty imposed under R.C. 5321.04(A)(1) or R.C. 5321.04(A)(2). A court interprets statutory provisions as a matter of law, and the code provisions cited by plaintiffs' expert were not applicable to the brick-and-paver patio on which the appellant allegedly fell. Also, the record demonstrated that appellants continued to routinely use the patio and that the premises remained fit and habitable.