Bleam v. Gateway Professional Center Associates

636 A.2d 172, 431 Pa. Super. 145, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3950
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 3, 1993
Docket695
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 636 A.2d 172 (Bleam v. Gateway Professional Center Associates) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bleam v. Gateway Professional Center Associates, 636 A.2d 172, 431 Pa. Super. 145, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3950 (Pa. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

BECK, Judge.

In this case we decide that a lessor-possessor of land may be held liable to a lessee for injuries caused by a dangerous condition upon a part of the land over which the lessor has retained control, if the lessor by the exercise of reasonable care could have discovered the condition and the unreasonable risk involved, and made the condition safe. Because there were disputed material facts on this issue, we reverse the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the landowner.

Appellant Nancy Bleam slipped and fell in the parking lot of the building in which she leased office space. Appellee Gateway Professional Center Associates (“Gateway”) owned the building. Sometime after the “slip and fall” incident, Bleam filed a complaint against Gateway alleging that she was injured in the fall and demanding damages on account of Gateway’s negligent maintenance of the parking lot. Gateway moved for summary judgment which the trial court granted; this timely appeal ensued. We reverse.

The trial court set forth the relevant facts in its opinion: Sometime in the morning of December 30, 1987, plaintiff arrived at defendant’s property in order to conduct her business. As she drove onto the defendant’s parldng lot, she observed that, due to a freezing rainstorm earlier that morning, much if not all of the entire parking lot was [147]*147covered with a sheet of ice. Moreover, there were certain patches of snow/ice from a previous snowstorm which had not been totally removed by the defendant. Although there were approximately 150 parking spaces for plaintiff to choose from, she selected one of the parking spots that had the old snow/ice remaining. Plaintiff then went into her office in the defendant’s building and sometime later departed for lunch with an acquaintance. As she got to the driver’s door of her car, after having taken two steps on this accumulation of old snow/ice, she fell injuring herself.

Trial court opinion at 2.

Summary judgment is proper when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Pa.R.Civ.P. 1035(b). See Denlinger, Inc. v. Dendler, 415 Pa.Super. 164, 608 A.2d 1061 (1992). In making this determination, we must view the record in a light most favorable to the non-moving party, accepting as true all well-pleaded facts and all reasonable inferences that can be drawn therefrom. Id. Any doubt regarding the existence of a genuine issue of material fact must be resolved in favor of the non-moving party. Id. See also Ott v. Unclaimed Freight Co., 395 Pa.Super. 483, 577 A.2d 894 (1990).

In support of its motion for summary judgment, Gateway filed a copy of the transcript of Bleam’s deposition testimony. The deposition unambiguously demonstrated that Bleam was aware of the icy condition of the space in which she parked.1 In opposition to Gateway’s motion, Bleam filed the transcript of a deposition taken of Dr. Robert Laurenzano, one of two general partners of Gateway. Dr. Laurenzano testified that Gateway has always been responsible for snow and ice remov[148]*148al in the parking lot, and that the tenants depend upon Gateway for that service. He additionally testified that he was aware of the icy condition of the lot on the day of Bleam’s fall and that the company with which Gateway had contracted for snow removal at that time did not perform the job to his satisfaction.

We must first determine the law of the Commonwealth that pertains to Gateway’s potential liability. Only then will we be able to review the trial court’s conclusion that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that Gateway is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Pennsylvania courts repeatedly have recognized the validity of the principles set forth in Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 355-362 governing the liability of lessors to persons who enter upon that land. See Leary v. Lawrence Sales Corp., 442 Pa. 389, 275 A.2d 32 (1971); Deeter v. Dull, 420 Pa.Super. 576, 617 A.2d 336 (1992); Kobylinski v. Hipps, 359 Pa.Super. 549, 519 A.2d 488 (1986). Section 360 in particular responds to situations in which a person is injured in an area the control of which has been retained by the lessor.

§ 360. Parts of Land Retained in Lessor’s Control Which Lessee is Entitled to Use
A possessor of land who leases a part thereof and retains in his own control any other part which the lessee is entitled to use as appurtenant to the part leased to him, is subject to liability to his lessee and others lawfully upon the land with the consent of the lessee or a sublessee for physical harm caused by a dangerous condition upon that part of the land retained in the lessor’s control, if the lessor by the exercise of reasonable care could have discovered the condition and the unreasonable risk involved therein and could have made the condition safe.

Restatement (Second) of Torts § 360 (1965).

The trial court, however, relied instead upon sections 342, 343 and 343A of the Restatement, which govern the duty of possessors of land generally.2 The trial court’s application of [149]*149§§ 342, 343 and 343A led to its conclusion that, regardless of her status as a licensee or invitee, Bleam’s admission that she was aware of the ice on the ground where she parked precluded recovery against Gateway. We find that reliance upon these sections was erroneous, given the more specific applicability of § 360.3

While we find no precedential case that is directly on point with the facts of this appeal, we are guided by the principles [150]*150espoused in Kobylinski, supra.4 There, plaintiff sued on behalf of the decedent, who died when he fell down an exterior stairwell upon arriving as a guest at defendant Hipps’s house. Hipps leased the house from its owner, co-defendant Schmidt. At trial, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of plaintiff, for which the lessor, Schmidt, was found to be 75% liable. Schmidt moved for judgment n.o.v. which was denied; following the entry of judgment against him, Schmidt appealed.

On appeal, lessor Schmidt claimed that the trial court erred by failing to fully instruct the jury with regard to a landlord’s duty to persons who enter upon his property. The trial court had told the jury that “[a] landlord may be liable for bodily harm sustained by a third party as a result of a defect or dangerous condition existing at the time of the lease.” Kobylinski, supra, 359 Pa.Super. at 553, 519 A.2d at 490. Schmidt contended, and a panel of this court agreed, that the instruction was insufficient and misleading. The Court noted that in fact, the general rule in Pennsylvania is that a landlord out of possession is not responsible for injuries suffered on the leased premises. Id.

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Bleam v. Gateway Professional Center Associates
636 A.2d 172 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
636 A.2d 172, 431 Pa. Super. 145, 1993 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3950, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bleam-v-gateway-professional-center-associates-pasuperct-1993.