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General

Landlord Liability

Liability to persons who are not tenants

The Washington Supreme Court in Frobig expressly held that "landlords have no duty to protect third parties from a tenant's lawfully owned but dangerous animals," even where the landlord knows that the dangerous animal is present on the property. Frobig, 124 Wn.2d at 740-41. The court said:

The rule in Washington is that the owner, keeper, or harborer of a dangerous or vicious animal is liable; the landlord of the owner, keeper, or harborer is not. Clemmons v. Fidler, 58 Wn. App. 32, 35-36, 791 P.2d 257, review denied, 115 Wn.2d 1019, 802 P.2d 125 (1990); Markwood v. McBroom, 110 Wash. 208, 211-12, 188 P. 521 (1920); Shafer v. Beyers, 26 Wn. App. 442, 446-47, 613 P.2d 554, review denied, 94 Wn.2d 1018 (1980).

The landlord's ownership of the property does not in and of itself make them liable for persons thereon who own or possess, harbor or keep a dangerous dog. Shafer, 26 Wn. App. at 447, citing Harris v. Turner, 1 Wn. App. 1023, 1028, 466 P.2d 202 (1970).

Washington has not adopted the Restatement (Second) of Torts §379A (1965), which provides that a landlord will be held liable for any activity on his property if:

"(a) the lessor at the time of the lease consented to such activity or knew that it would be carried on, and

"(b) the lessor knew or had reason to know that it would unavoidably involve such an unreasonable risk, or that special precautions necessary to safety would not be taken."

In Clemmons v. Fidler, 58 Wn. App. 32, 37, 791 P.2d 257, review denied, 115 Wn.2d 1019, 802 P.2d 125 (1990), it was held that a landlord's knowledge regarding the viciousness of a tenant's dog was immaterial to a finding of liability, adopting the common law rule that "only the owner, keeper, or harborer of the dog is liable for [harm caused by the dog]." Clemmons, 58 Wn. App. at 34, 35. The Frobig court cited Clemmons as one of the sources of the rule announced in Frobig. Frobig, 124 Wn.2d at 735.

Under these decisions, however, a "landlord" is a person who does not live on the premises where the dog resides. For example, the Shafer court said: "So far as the rented premises are concerned, the owners' liability to third persons in connection therewith is based on the law applicable to 'landlords' rather than that applicable to 'occupiers.' " Shafer, 26 Wn. App. at 447, citing Sunde v. Tollett, 2 Wn. App. 640, 642, 469 P.2d 212, 41 A.L.R.3d 319 (1970).

Liability to tenants

Frobig v. Gordon, 124 Wn.2d 732, 735, 881 P.2d 226 (1994), stated that Washington common law provides that a landlord will be liable to a tenant for harm caused by:

(1) latent or hidden defects in the leasehold

(2) that existed at the commencement of the leasehold

(3) of which the landlord had actual knowledge

(4) and of which the landlord failed to inform the tenant.

The court also stated:

With regard to conditions on the land that develop or are created after the property has been leased, the general rule is that a landlord is not responsible, either to persons injured on or off the land, for conditions which develop or are created by the tenant after possession has been transferred. W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on Torts § 63, at 434 (5th ed. 1984); see also Danny R. Veilleux, Annotation, Landlord's Liability to Third Person for Injury Resulting From Attack on Leased Premises by Dangerous or Vicious Animal Kept by Tenant, 87 A.L.R.4th 1004, 1012 (1991). In the words of the Washington Court of Appeals, "The duty and liability of the invitor-lessor do not, as a rule, extend to matters having to do merely with the lessee's management or operation of premises which would be safe except for such management or operation, at least where the lessee is in sole actual control". Peterick v. State, 22 Wn. App. 163, 170-71, 589 P.2d 250 (1977) (citing 49 Am. Jur. 2d Landlord and Tenant § 763 (1970)), review denied, 90 Wn.2d 1024 (1978), overruled on other grounds by Stenberg v. Pacific Power & Light Co., 104 Wn.2d 710, 709 P.2d 793 (1985)."

The Frobig court also relied on the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 1973, RCW 59.18.060, which provides that a landlord has no duty to repair a defective condition caused by a tenant, and RCW 59.18.130(5) states that it is the tenant's duty not to permit a nuisance on the rental premises.

Frobig specifically limited the landlord's liability in a case that involved a wild tiger on leased property. The court said that the fact that a tiger inflicted the injury to the plaintiff was immaterial. The rule of law was the same one that is applicable to dogs. Liability could not be based on being a landlord. At least, this was the rule where the injured person was a third party, not a tenant. It would seem that this rule would also apply when a dog belonging to one tenant injures another tenant.

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