Roberts v. Fulton

27 Ohio C.C. Dec. 505, 24 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 233
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 3, 1916
StatusPublished

This text of 27 Ohio C.C. Dec. 505 (Roberts v. Fulton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roberts v. Fulton, 27 Ohio C.C. Dec. 505, 24 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 233 (Ohio Ct. App. 1916).

Opinion

GORMAN, J.

The defendant in error, Jennie Fulton, recovered, a judgment against the plaintiffs in error in the court of common pleas. She was a tenant in the premises known as No. 698 West Fifth street, occupying two rooms on the second floor thereof. She rented her rooms from one James P. Bolger, and Bolger rented the entire premises from plaintiffs in error at a rental of $70 a month. Bolger and his father before him had rented the entire building during many years prior to the time that the cause of action arose. There was no written lease between Bolger and the plaintiffs in error, nor was there a written lease between Jennie Fulton and Bolger. By verbal agreement between Bolger and plaintiffs in error, for whom Joseph L. Roberts acted as agent, they were to make certain repairs on the building, such as repairing the roof, the floors and the woodwork generally in the building, but they were to do no papering or whitewashing; those repairs were to be made by Bolger.

There was a hallway running along the two rooms occupied by defendant in error, and from this hallway there was an alcove, or small hall or vestibule, from which a door led into each of Jennie Fulton’s rooms. The only means of access to her rooms was through the large hallway into the small hallway or [506]*506vestibule and tbence into her rooms, the small hall or vestibule separating the two rooms. They were evidently so arranged that the two rooms might be rented out separately.

On the night of October 31, 1912, about three months after Jennie Fulton became a tenant in these two rooms, she had occasion to leave her rooms far the purpose of getting water from the hydrant at the end of the large hall on the floor on which her rooms were situated. As she passed out of one of her rooms into the small vestibule and just before she reached the large hall she broke through the floor, on account of the want of repair of one of the boards in the floor, and a nail protruding between the broken boards ran into her heel and resulted in serious injuries to her. She was confined to the hospital and in her house for quite a long time, and at the time of the trial the injuries were still manifest and it was probable that she was permanently injured.

It is claimed by plaintiffs in error that no liability rests upon them upon the above statement of facts, being in substance the facts established in the trial of this ease, and that therefore the judgment in favor of the plaintiff below should be set aside and' held for naught.

This court is of opinion that there was no legal liability resting upon plaintiffs in error to the defendant in error,' and that she was not entitled to recover, upon the state of facts shown by the record in this case.

We think this case is controlled by the ease of Burdick v. Cheadle, 26 Ohio St. 393 [20 Am. Rep. 767]. Mrs. Fulton was not a tenant of Roberts, she did not rent from him, and there was no privity of estate between her and the plaintiffs in error. She was a tenant of Rolger, and for any injuries which she received because of the neglect to keep the premises in repair she must look to Bolger, and not to Roberts, for damages or compensation. The case of Burdick v. Cheadle has not been overruled by the Supreme Court and appears to be the law of this state, whatever may be the rule laid down in other states. In that case it was held in the syllabus that:

1 ‘ The defendant, being the owner of a lot of ground, erected thereon a storehouse, and afterward leased the storeroom and [507]*507agreed with the lessee to construct therein cornices, shelvings and fixtures, in a secure, safe, convenient and proper manner for the sale of dry goods and groceries, and to keep the premises in good order. The fixtures put up under the agreement were unsafe and insecure from the want of sufficient fastening to the walls of the building — all of which was known to defendant, who, on request of the lessee, refused and neglected to repair. Afterward, and while the room and fixtures were in the possession of the lessee, the shelvings fell and injured the plaintiff, who was, at the time, in the storeroom as a customer of the lessee. Held: The facts stated do not constitute a cause of action against the defendant and in favor of the plaintiff.”

To the same effect is the rule laid down in the case of Shindelbeck v. Moon, 32 Ohio St. 264 [30 Am. Rep. 584].

These cases were approved by the Supreme Court in the case of Stackhouse v. Close, 83 Ohio St. 339 [94 N. E. Rep. 746]; the court, Johnson, J., on page 351, uses this language:

''A lessor of a building is not liable to the lessee or others lawfully on the premises, for its condition, in the absence of actual or constructive concealment, or of any agreement, or of the violation of a duty imposed by statute. Shinkle v. Birney, 68 Ohio St. 328; Burdick v. Cheadle, 26 Ohio St. 393; Shindelbeck v. Moon, 32 Ohio St. 267.”

The circuit court of this county, the predecessor of this court, in the case of Schradski v. Butler, 22 Dec. 701 (9 O. L. R. 127), decided April 26, 1913, affirmed the judgment of the court of common pleas, upon the authority of the opinion announced by the trial court on a motion for new trial.

But it is contended by counsel for defendant in error that the ease of Stackhouse v. Close, supra, holds that the owner of premises is liable in a ease similar to the one at bar. The case of Stackhouse v. Close is one in which Close, the owner, had leased the entire premises to the United States Coaster Construction Company, which company had sublet part of the premises for lodge purposes, and the plaintiff in the case, Mrs. Stackhouse, was injured in an elevator while going to the lodge in the building.

We think that case can be distinguished from the ease at bar [508]*508in that. Mrs. Stackhouse was a member of the public, a third person, while Mrs. Fulton was not a member of the general public, but was holding under Bolger as a sub-lessee. Furthermore, in that ease it was held that because the landlord reserved the control of the elevator and the right to make all repairs, and stipulated that no alterations or repairs could be made by the lessee without the consent of the owner, the owner thereby rendered himself liable jointly with the tenant or lessee, under the provisions of Sec. 4238-1 B. S., which provides that:

“ — It shall be unlawful for any person, society, firm, agent, representative of any private or corporate authority or society, or any committee, commission or board acting under any authority whatsoever, to erect, or cause to be erected * # # in the state of Ohio any structure, room or place where persons are invited, expected or permitted to assemble, or for the purpose of entertainment, judgment, amusement, instruction, betterment, treatment or care, or to make any addition to or alteration therein which shall in construction, arrangement or means of egress be dangerous to the health or lives of persons so assembled — ”

and the Supreme Court held that the owner, by requiring no alterations, changes or repairs to be made without his consent or supervision, thereby retained such control over the building, and especially the elevator, as rendered him liable to third persons who had occasion to resort to the building for any purposes whatsoever.

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Related

Tuttle v. George H. Gilbert Manufacturing Co.
13 N.E. 465 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1887)
Hanson v. Cruse
57 N.E. 904 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1900)
Shinkle, Wilson & Kreis Co. v. Birney
67 N.E. 715 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1903)

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Bluebook (online)
27 Ohio C.C. Dec. 505, 24 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roberts-v-fulton-ohioctapp-1916.