Chapter 57: Premises Liability
NEW SECTION: THE IMPACT OF THE STATUTE OF REPOSE FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO REAL PROPERTY
1. Deborah Jenkins v. Southland Capital Corporation, No. W2007-01180-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sept. 23, 2008).
The Court's Summary:
"This is a consolidated wrongful death and personal injury case. In May 2002, three young boys walking beside the road were struck by a drunken driver in a residential subdivision. Two were killed, the third severely injured. The plaintiffs sued the developers of the subdivision, arguing that the absence of sidewalks in the area where the boys were walking was a cause of the accident. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the developers on grounds that the plaintiffs’ lawsuit was time-barred under the four-year statute of repose for improvements to real property, T.C.A. § 28-3-202. We agree with the trial court that the improvements to the real property on which the accident occurred were substantially completed more than four years prior to the filing of the lawsuits under the statutory definition at T.C.A. § 28-3-201(2), and therefore affirm."
NEW SECTION: OPEN AND OBVIOUS
1. Meldric Jones v. Michael and Pamela Jenkins, No. M2008-01911-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 29, 2009).
The Court's Summary:
Tenant filed a complaint against landlords for injuries allegedly caused by a dangerous condition on the leased premises and for negligence. The trial court granted summary judgment to landlords, finding that (1) both parties were aware of the dangerous condition which was present at the time the lease was signed, (2) the location of a doorway on the leased premises was not a material fact, and (3) landlords were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Tenant challenges the trial court’s grant of summary judgment; the finding that the location of the doorway was not a material fact; and the court’s application of comparative fault. Finding that landlords negated an essential element of tenant’s claim, that the location of the doorway was not a material fact, and that the trial court did not perform a comparative fault analysis, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment.
The Court's Summary:
"This is a consolidated wrongful death and personal injury case. In May 2002, three young boys walking beside the road were struck by a drunken driver in a residential subdivision. Two were killed, the third severely injured. The plaintiffs sued the developers of the subdivision, arguing that the absence of sidewalks in the area where the boys were walking was a cause of the accident. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the developers on grounds that the plaintiffs’ lawsuit was time-barred under the four-year statute of repose for improvements to real property, T.C.A. § 28-3-202. We agree with the trial court that the improvements to the real property on which the accident occurred were substantially completed more than four years prior to the filing of the lawsuits under the statutory definition at T.C.A. § 28-3-201(2), and therefore affirm."
NEW SECTION: OPEN AND OBVIOUS
1. Meldric Jones v. Michael and Pamela Jenkins, No. M2008-01911-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 29, 2009).
The Court's Summary:
Tenant filed a complaint against landlords for injuries allegedly caused by a dangerous condition on the leased premises and for negligence. The trial court granted summary judgment to landlords, finding that (1) both parties were aware of the dangerous condition which was present at the time the lease was signed, (2) the location of a doorway on the leased premises was not a material fact, and (3) landlords were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Tenant challenges the trial court’s grant of summary judgment; the finding that the location of the doorway was not a material fact; and the court’s application of comparative fault. Finding that landlords negated an essential element of tenant’s claim, that the location of the doorway was not a material fact, and that the trial court did not perform a comparative fault analysis, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment.