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Flores v. Simmons3/23/2000
Appeal from the District Court of Goshen County
The Honorable Keith G. Kautz, Judge
Inez Flores (Flores) helped her daughter and son-in-law move into a trailer rented from the appellees. As Flores was leaving the trailer, part of the top outside step of the stairway collapsed, causing her to fall. Flores filed suit against the owners of the mobile home park, claiming they were negligent in maintaining the stairway. The district court granted summary judgment to the appellees, finding the landlord could not be held liable for injuries caused by an unknown latent defect on the rented premises. We affirm.
ISSUES
Flores presents two issues for consideration:
I: Is there some reason in law and policy a Wyoming mobile home park operator may ever insist he is under no legal obligation to exercise reasonable care to prevent foreseeable harm to a lawful and ordinary user of a stairway serving his unit for rent and the served unit is occupied by a renter?
II: Does this case present with a genuine and material jury question precluding summary judgment in favor of a mobile home park operator, concerning an alleged-disputed unreasonably dangerous and discoverable defect, over the disputed issue whether the defect was materially Alatent@ or Apatent,@ but in any event caused a sudden failure of a mobile home park stairway and personal injury to an ordinary user, the existence of which defect there is alleged and disputed the park operator should have known and did not make known to, or otherwise reasonably protect the injured person at risk?
The appellees rephrase the issues as follows:
I. Did the trial court err in granting summary judgment to Appellees and determining that Appellees owed no duty to Appellant because:
A. Appellees were landlords,
B. The allegedly defective stairs were not A com-mon area@ or under Appellees[=] control, and
C. Appellees had no reason to know of any latent defect in the stairs?
II. Did the exculpatory clause in the lease preclude liability by Appellees such that summary judgment is appropriate[?]
FACTS
On June 20, 1995, Flore' daughter and son-in-law moved into a rented trailer located in a mobile home park in Torrington owned by the appellees. Flores accompanied her husband when he brought the last load of the coupl's belongings to the trailer. At about 5:30 p.m., Flores followed her husband as he went out of the trailer and down the outside steps. Although her husband proceeded down the steps without incident, part of the top step split off when Flores stepped down, causing her to grab on to the railing as she fell. This effort damaged her right shoulder. Flores filed suit, alleging that her injuries were caused by the appellee' negligence.
On August 24, 1998, the appellees filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, claiming that Flores had failed to assert a duty which was breached by them and that the rental contract released them from liability. Flores responded by stating the duty existed because: (1) the appellees were not Alandlords@ entitled to the protection of the doctrine of caveat emptor (but rather were Ainnkeepers@); (2) there was a question of fact regarding whether the outside steps were part of the rented unit or remained in the control of the appellees or, in the alternative, whether the employment of a maintenance man, who was to inspect the steps for safety and make any repairs, created an affirmative duty to discover and repair a latent defect in the stairs or to warn Flores of the danger; and (3) a duty should be found under the factors presented in Mostert v. CBL & As
Page 1 2 3 Wyoming Personal Injury Attorneys
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