OwnersAndOccupiersOfLand-LessorAndLessee-Pagelsdorf_v_SafecoInsCoOfAmerica

							9682509a-8d81-4772-91a5-4ac9a41a2cdb.doc

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Pagelsdorf v. Safeco Ins. Co. of America (Mahnke’s insurance), Supreme Court of WI, 1979 Did the landlord owe a duty of care to the ∏ or was he protected by the no-duty rule? Issue

(no-duty rule: no liability upon the landlord, either to the tenant or to others entering the land, for defective conditions existing at the time of the lease)

Reasoning
if we were to follow the traditional rule, Pagelsdorf was not entitled to an instruction that Mahnke owed him a duty of ordinary care. However, the better public policy lies in the abandonment of the general rule of non liability and the adoption of a rule that a landlord is under a duty to exercise ordinary care in the maintenance of the premises Distinctions between duty of care owed to licensees and invitees had been abolished prospectively in 1975, and that under current law landlords owed anyone on premises with consent a duty of ordinary care There no longer seemed to be any reason to except landlords from a general duty of exercising ordinary care to prevent foreseeable harm. basic principles of our tort law is that one is liable for injuries resulting from conduct foreseeably creating an unreasonable risk to others

Rule
New Rule: Landlord must exercise ordinary care toward his tenant and other son the premises with permission.

Facts
∏ was helping a Mrs. Blattner, a tenant at a Mr. Mahnke duplex, when she leaned against what turned out to be a rotten railing that should’ve been replaced and fell injuring himself.

Held Procedure P argues D argues

Reversed and remanded for proceedings consistent with the new rule. Trail court found that Mahnke had no knowledge of the rot and owed no duty to the licensee ∏. Complaint was dismissed. ∏ appeals. The court held that the distinctions between duty of care owed to licensees and invitees had been abolished prospectively in 1975, and that under current law landlords owed anyone on premises with consent a duty of ordinary care