Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New York

Rental Property

No written lease agreement in place. Tenant claims that roof leaked in the garage he rents from me and has sued for water damages in small claims court. Am I liable ? I was never notified of the problem. Small Claims Court paperwork was my first notification.


Asked on 4/05/07, 5:42 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Stephen Loeb Law Office of Stephen R. Loeb

Re: Rental Property

You could be, it depends if you did somethin or failed to do something you reasonably should have that caused the leak. The isse of notice is dependent on the issue of time. If the condition occurred over a period of time rather than the result of a sudden event as a landlord you have the duty of inspection and you are subject to constructive notice. Fault must still be proven, but you can't just turn a blind eye to problems that occur on your property.

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Answered on 4/06/07, 7:22 am


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