Amberwood Associates Limited Partnership Inc. v. Matthews5/28/1997
Opinion by Sonner, J.
Shanita Matthews , appellee, while visiting her friend, Shelly Morton, in an apartment complex, witnessed her sixteen-month-old son, Tevin Williams, being killed by a vicious pitbull named Rampage. Rampage was known by Ms. Morton, the dog's custodian, for being vicious, but Ms. Matthews did not sue Ms. Morton, nor the owner of Rampage, who was away in jail. Instead, she sued appellants, the landlord of the apartment complex, Amberwood Associates, and the property's manager, Monocle Management (hereinafter landlords). She obtained a judgment against them on several counts which, after reduction by the court, amounted to $5,934,992.50.
We are called upon in this appeal to decide whether a landlord can be liable in tort for the damages recovered by appellees, social invitees of a tenant, on the theory that the clause in a lease prohibiting pets created a duty of due care to a social invitee on the part of the landlord. We hold that the "no pets" clause in the lease does not create such a duty and, as a consequence, we reverse.
Appellee Shanita Matthews filed a complaint in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on September 29, 1994, and filed an amended complaint on September 18, 1995 adding Andre T. Williams, Tevin's father, as a wrongful death complainant. The complaint contained four counts. In Count I of the Amended Complaint, Ms. Matthews and Mr. Williams sued for wrongful death; in Count II of the Amended Complaint, the Estate of Tevin Williams pursued a survival action; in Count III of the Amended Complaint, Ms. Matthews pursued a negligence claim; and in Count IV of the Amended Complaint, Ms. Matthews pursued an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim.
On November 9, 1995, the jury found the landlords liable, and on November 13, it awarded damages in favor of appellees in the following amounts: Shanita L. Matthews, for the wrongful death of her son, $5,018,750.00; Andre Williams, for the wrongful death of his son, $562,100.00; the Estate of Tevin Williams, on the survival action, $604,142.54; and Shanita L. Matthews, on her count of intentional infliction of emotional distress, $1,000,100.00. Count III, the negligence claim by Ms. Matthews, was dismissed because the court found the claim to be, in effect, a claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress.
The defendants filed post-judgment motions pursuant to Md. Rules 2-532, Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict, and 2-533, Motion for a New Trial. The plaintiffs filed a motion to amend their complaint to cause it to conform to the verdict, since the jury had awarded more than they requested in the ad damnum clause. The trial court granted the defendants' Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict on the intentional infliction of emotional distress count. The court applied Maryland's cap on non-economic damages to the award provided to the Estate of Tevin Williams, reducing that award to $354,142.54. The court permitted the amendment of plaintiffs' complaint post-trial to conform the ad damnum clause to the final verdicts.
The landlords filed a notice of appeal. Ms. Matthews filed a notice of cross-appeal on the dismissal of Count III of the amended complaint and on the court's having granted defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the intentional infliction of emotional distress count.
The issues on appeal are:
I.
Did the trial court err in ruling that a landlord can be held liable for injuries inflicted on his tenant's social guests by the tenant's dog, when the injuries did not occur in a common area?
II.
Did the trial court err in r
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