Issues of Fact Preclude Summary Judgment Against Landlord-Out-Of Possession In Parking Lot Slip and Fall Case

In the case of Alexander v. ECM Realty Management, Inc., No. CV 24-00061 (C.P. Lyc. Co. 2025 Carlucci, J.), the court denied a Motion for Summary Judgment in a slip and fall case involving ice and/or snow in a parking lot area.

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff slipped and fell at the rear of a property that her husband rented from the Defendants. The Plaintiff had previously been a tenant of the same premises.

The court noted that, while it was apparently undisputed that the Defendants were landlords out-of-possession of the apartment, the Plaintiff was maintaining that the Defendants retained control over the parking lot area.

In this matter, the court agreed that, where a landlord leases out some areas of a property, but retains control over others, a landlord may be found negligent in the maintenance of the areas over which the landlord retained control. 

Here, however, the court noted the record was clear that the Defendants were landlords out-of-possession relative to the apartment.

The dispute in this matter was whether the parking space where the Plaintiff slipped and fell should be considered a portion of the leased apartment under the control of the tenant, or a “common area” over which the landlord Defendant had retained control.

The court found that the issues of fact in this regard prevented the entry of summary judgment. As such, the Defendant's Motion was denied.

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Source: The Legal Intelligencer Common Pleas Case Alert, www.Law.com (Aug. 14, 2025).

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