Under, I’m offering a quick dialogue of the legislation because it pertains to a landlord’s potential publicity for accidents that happen on a “leased area” versus accidents that happen in a “frequent space.” Typically, a lessor has no obligation to tenants or their invitees for harmful situations on the leased premises. See Johnson v. Sherriff’s Posse v. Endsley, 926 S.W.second 284, 285 (Tex. 1996). This rule originates from the notion lessor relinquishes possession or occupancy of the premises to the lessee. Id. There are three acknowledged exceptions to this “no obligation” rule: (1) the lessor’s negligent repairs, (2) hid defects of which the lessor was conscious on the time the premises was leased, and (three) a defect on the portion of the premises that remained below the lessor’s management. If one among these exceptions applies, the lessor owes its tenant or tenant’s invitees the obligation of extraordinary care. Parker v. Highland Park, Inc., 565 S.W.second 512, 514-5 (Tex. 1978)(citing RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS 360, 361 (1965)).
Legal responsibility below the third exception is predicated on bodily possession of frequent areas, and the legal responsibility query “activates who had possession of part of the premises relatively than a mere proper of re-entry.” In different phrases, the truth that a landlord is allowed to enter the leased storefront to make sure repairs required by the lease doesn’t impose legal responsibility. The owner will need to have the best to bodily possess the area. Actually, there are few leases that grant the owner that proper to possession within the leased retailer sq. footage. Shell Oil Co. v. Khan, 138 S.W.3d 288, 296 (Tex. 2004). Within the industrial lease, the problems concerning “management” and “proper to possession” are normally spelled out with out ambiguity, and they need to be. Business landlords and tenants ought to ensure these points are particularly addressed in order that if you’re sued for a premises situation that’s the duty of the opposite, you possibly can present the lease settlement to opposing counsel in an effort to take away your self from the dispute early within the course of.