Martin v. Johnson-Lemon

516 S.E.2d 66, 271 Ga. 120, 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 1768, 1999 Ga. LEXIS 361
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedMay 3, 1999
DocketS98G1494
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 516 S.E.2d 66 (Martin v. Johnson-Lemon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martin v. Johnson-Lemon, 516 S.E.2d 66, 271 Ga. 120, 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 1768, 1999 Ga. LEXIS 361 (Ga. 1999).

Opinions

Sears, Justice.

We granted certiorari in this case to consider whether, in reversing the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendant landlord in this wrongful death action, the Court of Appeals errone[121]*121ously expanded the statutory bases for an out-of-possession landlord’s liability to third persons injured on leased property. We conclude that, because an out-of-possession landlord’s tort liability to third persons is determined under the bases set forth in OCGA § 44-7-14, the Court of Appeals erred by assessing liability in this case under principles not set forth in the statute, including common law principles of ordinary negligence. Therefore, we reverse.

Carl Lemon was a guest at property owned and rented, but not occupied, by appellant Martin, when he dove into a swimming pool located on the leased property, hit his head on the bottom of the pool, and was rendered unconscious. Because none of the bystanders knew how to swim, they were unable to enter the pool and rescue Carl Lemon, who drowned as a result of his injury. The swimming pool had no depth markers. Uncontroverted evidence of record shows that prior to the accident, Martin’s tenants, who had resided in the rental house for some time, had determined the approximate various depths of the pool. It also is uncontroverted that on the date of, but prior to the time of, the drowning, the tenants had demonstrated and explained the pool’s various depths to Carl Lemon. The tenants’ demonstration included showing Carl Lemon where the pool’s safety equipment was located, and where the pool’s depth reached roughly six feet and began to slope to a deeper end. Evidence of record indicates that Carl Lemon had received swimming instruction while in the United States Navy, and considered himself a good swimmer. Immediately prior to the accident, he had successfully entered the pool by diving safely into the deep end in order to retrieve flotation devices from the pool.

Carl Lemon’s widow (“Lemon”) sued appellant Martin for wrongful death, alleging that Martin negligently failed to have depth markings, and negligently failed to install safety equipment, at the pool.1 Lemon supplied an expert’s affidavit attesting that the pool should have had depth markings, as required for certain pools by DeKalb County regulations, and that such markings would have put the average person on notice of the dangers attendant to swimming in the pool. Lemon’s expert concluded that the failure to have those items at the pool deviated from a normal standard of care. Martin disputed those allegations with evidence of his own and, on cross motions, the trial court granted Martin’s summary judgment motion.

[122]*122The Court of Appeals reversed.2 The appeals court first correctly concluded that in her complaint against Martin, Lemon had pleaded, but had not proved, the DeKalb County regulations governing swimming pools. Therefore, the trial court had properly excluded the DeKalb County regulations from its consideration, as well as that part of Lemon’s expert’s affidavit that concluded Martin had failed to conform his leased pool to the DeKalb County regulations.3

The Court of Appeals then reasoned that summary judgment in Martin’s favor was inappropriate, because disputes of material fact existed regarding (1) whether Martin was liable due to his “failure to exercise ordinary care under common law negligence”; (2) whether Martin was liable for negligently creating and maintaining latent defects associated with the pool’s construction and the equipping of the pool; and (3) whether Carl Lemon knew of the pool’s latent defects before he dove into the water and nonetheless failed to exercise due care for his own safety.4

This Court granted certiorari. As explained below, we conclude that in its opinion, the Court of Appeals erroneously expanded the statutory liability of an out-of-possession landlord. Accordingly, we reverse.

1. As conceded by the parties, at all times relevant to this matter, Martin was an out-of-possession landlord. Hence, he is subject to tort liability only under the provisions of OCGA § 44-7-14, which states that:

Having fully parted with possession and the right of possession, the landlord is not responsible to third persons for damages resulting from the negligence or illegal use of the premises by the tenant; provided, however, the landlord is responsible for damages arising from defective construction or for damages arising from the failure to keep the premises in repair.

In reversing the grant of summary judgment in Martin’s favor, [123]*123the Court of Appeals erred by primarily assessing Martin’s potential liability based upon principles of common law negligence. In so doing, the Court of Appeals implicitly analyzed this case under Code section 51-3-1, which sets forth the general duty owed by an occupier of land to invitees, and is inapplicable to this matter.5 “A landlord’s [tort] liability to a third person who is injured on property which was relinquished by rental or under a lease is determined by OCGA § 44-7-14.”6 By applying the principles described in section 51-3-1 to Martin in this case, the Court of Appeals erroneously expanded the potential liability of out-of-possession landlords well beyond the intended legislative scope.

2. Under the clear language of OCGA § 44-7-14, Martin, as an out-of-possession landlord, cannot be held liable for damages in tort resulting from a third party’s use of the swimming pool, unless it is shown that the damages occurred due to Martin’s failure to repair the pool, or due to his defective construction of the pool.

(a) Regarding Martin’s statutory duty to repair, it is not alleged, and is not shown in the record, that the swimming pool ever was in a state of disrepair. A repair “contemplates an existing structure . . . which has become imperfect, and means to supply in the original structure that which is lost or destroyed, and thereby restore it to the condition in which it originally existed, as near as may be.”7 There being no allegations or evidence in this case that the pool was in need of restoration to its original condition due to loss or destruction, Martin cannot be held liable under his statutory duty as an out-of-possession landlord to keep the premises in repair.

In considering whether Martin breached his statutory duty to repair, the Court of Appeals erred by stating that Martin could be held responsible under the Code for damages resulting from “negligent maintenance” of the pool.8 By its plain and unambiguous terms, OCGA § 44-7-14 does not impose a duty of maintenance on an out-of-possession landlord, only a duty of repair. In this regard, too, the Court of Appeals erroneously expanded the scope of an out-of-possession landlord’s potential tort liability to third persons, as set forth in section 44-7-14.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
516 S.E.2d 66, 271 Ga. 120, 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 1768, 1999 Ga. LEXIS 361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-johnson-lemon-ga-1999.