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Souci v. William C. Smith & Co.12/7/2000
.'s position disregards the Co-op's hybrid character and exalts form over substance. See id. In addition to his shares, Mr. Souci also owns the proprietary lease entitling him to occupancy of the Mintwood Building's Unit 04. Because of this lease, as we noted in The Clydesdale, "the relationship between [the Co-op] and [Mr. Souci,] a stockholder-tenant[,] is one of landlord and tenant." Id.; see also First Sav. Bank v. Barclays Bank, 618 A.2d 134, 136 (D.C. 1992). We have recognized that the primary interest of any co-op owner is his proprietary lease, and that the stockholder-tenant has "leasehold rights" as well as his rights as an owner and stockholder. The Clydesdale, supra, 372 A.2d at 1015 (citation omitted). In other words, in addition to whatever interest Mr. Souci has in the Co-op through his stock ownership, he is also the Co-op's tenant. Under our case law, Mr. Souci's status as a tenant confers standing upon him to sue Smith & Co. for negligent conduct that has impaired Mr. Souci's enjoyment of his tenancy.
We have recently held that a tenant has standing to sue "third parties to recover damages which he or she has incurred." Gaetan v. Weber, 729 A.2d 895, 898 (D.C. 1999). In that case, we concluded that a tenant has standing to pursue, inter alia, tort claims for negligence and nuisance against a third party whose actions caused the tenant "the loss of use and enjoyment of property . . . and/or out-of-pocket expenses for repairs." Id. Here, Mr. Souci, a tenant of the Co-op, see The Clydesdale, supra, 372 A.2d at 1015, has alleged that Smith & Co., a third party, has negligently injured his "respective interest in the leased property." Gaetan, supra, 729 A.2d at 898 (citation omitted). Consequently, we conclude that, subject to proof of a compensable injury, Mr. Souci has standing to pursue a claim for negligence against Smith & Co.
(2) Existence of a duty.
Smith & Co. next contends that it does not owe Mr. Souci any legal duty. It claims that it contracted with the Co-op to repair the flood damage to the Mintwood Building, that it therefore owed a duty to perform these repairs properly only to the Co-op, and that it had no additional duty vis-a-vis the occupants of the individual units.
In our view, however, Mr. Souci's status as a tenant not only confers standing on Mr. Souci to sue Smith & Co. for negligence, but also imposes on Smith & Co. a common law obligation to Mr. Souci to exercise due care when it engages in activities affecting Mr. Souci's enjoyment of his tenancy. As previously noted, we have held that a tenant has a right to recover against a third party for negligence if the third party damages the tenant's leasehold interest by failing to exercise due care. See Gaetan, supra, 729 A.2d at 897; see also Weinman v. De Palma, 232 U.S. 571, 575 (1914) (upholding tenant's action for negligence against a third party contractor).
In Hanna v. Fletcher, 97 U.S. App. D.C. 310, 313-15, 231 F.2d 469, 472-74 (1956), a tenant brought an action for negligence against his landlord's contractor, alleging that she had suffered personal injuries as a result of the negligent construction of a porch. The court rejected the contractor's contention that the tenant's suit failed for lack of privity of contract. See id. The court's conclusion was based on foreseeability principles, because "negligent conduct often may be expected to result in injury to one reasonably foreseen as a probable user." Id., 97 U.S. App. D.C. at 315, 231 F.2d at 474. " he duty to safeguard" that probable user's interests can grow out of the common law and need not be based on a "contract and nothing else." Id., 97 U.S. App. D.C. at 314, 231 F.2d at 473
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