Hello. I rent a building to a small business in Massachusetts. This building is less than 1000 square feet and the business, a food mart, uses the entire premises. A friend of mine was shopping in the food store and noticed that the place isn't be kept up very well and that a small set of steps inside the store has a broken board. The lease says the tenant is supposed to make all repairs inside the building. When I talked to the guy about this he sent me a letter saying that I should make the repair, even though the lease says otherwise. If someone falls on that step and injures themselves can I be sued under MA law?
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The Editor, Mark Bernardin, is an attorney living in MA. Please send your suggestions or comments to: TheEditor@malawforum.com
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The answers and information provided on this site are for informational purposes only and are NOT substitutes for professional legal advice. Before making legal decisions, you should discuss your specific circumstances with an attorney.
Premises liability in MA
What you are asking is not whether you could be sued (anyone can sue for any reason), but whether, under Massachusetts law some liability may attach to you. The answer, I believe, is yes. There was an opinion recently issued by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (Bishop v. TES Realty Trust, SJC-10696, March 1, 2011) in which the Court held that, if a commercial landlord had written notice of a defect in the premises, and that defect subsequently caused an injury, then the property owner may be liable for the personal injuries. The opinion made clear that the liability can attach even in cases where the tenant is in possession of the entire premises, as in your case, if the injury does not occur in a common area, or even if the lease makes the tenant responsible for repairs.
In the Bishop case, the Court held that Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 186, Section 19 does apply to commercial leases. Section 19, among other things, places a burden on a lessor to make repairs within a reasonable time following her receipt of a written notice of a defect in premises.
Given this decision, as a commercial property owner, you should be proactive in making repairs to your property, regardless of what the lease says. You should also make sure that, in any future leases, your tenant is required to name you as an additional insured on their general liability insurance policies. On the bright side, because of your contractual arrangement, you should be able to recover the cost of the repair from your tenant.
I should also note that, just because the landlord may be held liable for an injury on commercial property, that does not mean the tenant avoids liability. With joint and several liability, the landlord, the tenant, and any other party whose negligence contributed to the plaintiff's injury, may be required to pay damages. Hope all that helps.