Case Law Summaries

Barclift v. Charles

• Opinion Date: December 7, 2001
• Real Property Law
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SIDEWALKS—An owner-occupied house with house guests that contribute toward heat and electricity can still qualify as residential for purposes of sidewalk immunity.

A pedestrian was injured in a fall on a sidewalk. The abutting property contained a number of residential tenants, as follows. The property owner lived on the first floor. A rent-paying tenant, not related to the property owner, occupied the second floor. A guest from the parish in which the property owner was the minister occupied the attic. After the accident, a second house guest occupied the finished basement. The house guests did not pay rent, but instead occasionally contributed toward heating and electric expenses. Each had their his or her own telephone service. The second and third floors were equipped with bathrooms with toilets and sinks. The record was unclear as to the basement facilities. “As a general rule, residential property owners are immune from lawsuits arising as a result of the condition of sidewalks that abut their premises. ... In contrast, commercial landowners are responsible for maintaining in reasonably good condition the sidewalks abutting their property and are liable to pedestrians as a result of their negligent failure to do so.” Distinguishing between residential and commercial ownership is not always clear. “Among the factors to be considered are: the nature of the ownership of the building, its actual use, the building’s capacity to generate income, the owner’s opportunity to spread the costs of liability, the number of units in the building, and whether the premises are owner-occupied.” Here, the Court was “entirely satisfied that the property in question in this case was predominately residential in character.” It agreed with the lower court that notwithstanding the mix of residents in the owner-occupied building, the structure retained its residential character.

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