Ohio Supreme Court: Landlords Liable for Safety of Tenants’ Guests

The Ohio Supreme Court has found that landlords must provide a safe environment to guests of their tenants.

The unanimous decision resolves a conflict in two lower appeals courts that reached different conclusions in similar cases.

The Feb. 12 decision says that state law requires landlords to do whatever is reasonably necessary to keep their properties in a “safe and sanitary condition.”

Previously, the 9th District Court of Appeals in Akron found that a landlord’s responsibilities didn’t extend to guests.

That conflicted with a more recent finding by the 10th District Court of Appeals in Columbus in a case involving a teenager who fell through a glass panel at the bottom of an unlit staircase. That court found that the landlord breached his duties and was liable for her injuries.