Broker could be liable for buyer's injury during open house
A listing broker’s seller clients shoveled the snow from their driveway before leaving on a weekend trip. The listing broker encouraged the sellers to take the trip so that he could hold an open house without the sellers being present. The day after the sellers shoveled the driveway and departed, the listing broker held an open house at the property. The plaintiff, who arrived to attend the open house, fell on a patch of ice on the driveway and sued the sellers and the listing broker.
The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the sellers, but reversed summary judgment for the listing broker. The Court held that the sellers discharged their duty of care to the plaintiff by shoveling the driveway before they left. They were not liable for any ice that may have formed in their absence.
The listing broker, however, had control of the premises on the day of the accident, and the plaintiff was a business invitee to whom a duty of reasonable care is owed to avoid injury. The Court held that a jury could conclude that if the broker was aware of the ice patch and failed to remove it in anticipation of the open house, such conduct was negligence that proximately caused the plaintiff’s injuries.
The lesson in this case is that a broker’s zeal to have the sellers leave during an open house should be tempered by the realization that the broker may assume responsibility for any unsafe conditions that arise after the sellers depart.
Please note that the comments and opinions contained herein are not to be construed to be legal advice by the author, Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc., or the CNA/Schinnerer errors and omissions insurance program. This information is made available to you for your risk management program. No action should be based on this information without appropriate advice from legal counsel and a review of currently applicable statutory and case law.
This article is taken from the Risk Management Reporter.
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