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Eduardo v. Clatsop Community Resource Development Corp.6/21/2000
Appeal from Circuit Court, Clatsop County. Robert B. McConville, Senior Judge.
Argued and submitted September 24, 1999.
Dismissal of second and fourth claims for relief reversed; otherwise affirmed.
DE MUNIZ, P. J.
In this personal injury action, plaintiff tenant seeks review of a judgment dismissing her claims against defendant landlord and denying her motion for summary judgment. We reverse.
Plaintiff's first amended complaint, which is the subject of this appeal, alleges the following facts. The parties entered into a month-to-month residential rental agreement in May 1995. Defendant owned the property that was the subject of that agreement. Both parties agreed to comply with all applicable codes and regulations. Building codes in effect when the building was constructed required continuous handrailings for staircases with more than three risers. Building codes in effect when the parties entered into the rental agreement also required continuous handrailings. In November 1995, plaintiff suffered a serious injury when she fell down the staircase connecting the main floor of her residence to the basement. The staircase was constructed of varnished wood with nonabrasive treads and, at the time of the fall, lacked continuous handrails.
Plaintiff further alleges that the condition of the stairwell violated applicable building codes, creating an unreasonably dangerous situation that defendant knew about or reasonably could have discovered. She identifies four claims for relief based on theories of statutory liability, negligence per se and negligence. Plaintiff's first two claims for relief are based on defendant's alleged violation of building codes in effect when the building was constructed. Plaintiff's third claim for relief alleges negligence per se based on defendant's failure, under the terms of the rental agreement, to comply with applicable building codes. Plaintiff's fourth and final claim alleges that defendant negligently subjected her to a foreseeable risk of harm and that defendant knew of, or reasonably could have discovered the dangerous condition of the staircase.
The trial court dismissed plaintiff's first amended complaint for failure to state a claim under ORCP 21A(8), finding that it added no material allegations to her original complaint, which had been dismissed previously. The court also denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, finding that issue moot. Plaintiff assigns error to the court's judgment dismissal of her first amended complaint and denial of her motion for summary judgment.
In reviewing plaintiff's claims for relief, we accept the allegations in plaintiff's complaint as true, together with all reasonable inferences. McAlpine v. Multnomah County, 131 Or App 136, 138, 883 P2d 869 (1994), rev den 320 Or 507 (1995). Even vague allegations as to each element of a claim for relief are sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss. Id.
Plaintiff's first claim for relief rests on a theory of statutory liability, arising from the alleged violation of building codes in effect at the time of construction. Specifically, plaintiff alleges that the absence of a continuous handrail violated Astoria City Ordinance (ACO) No. 39-35 (1939), providing
" hat all of the provisions of the Uniform Building Code of the Pacific Coast Building Officials' Conference of 1937 [(UBC)], be and the same are hereby adopted by reference and incorporated in this ordinance in the same manner and with the same force and effect as if each and all of said provisions were herein fully set forth[.]"
The relevant UBC provision, section 3305, provides that
"
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