By Liz Nass
Gongwer News Service
Short-term renters are invitees of a condominium association and are therefore owed reasonable steps toward mitigating potentially dangerous conditions in common areas, the Court of Appeals ruled this week.
In Michael Letvin v. The Village at Grand Traverse Commons and The Minervini Group (COA Docket No. 376558), Letvin was staying in an Airbnb in Traverse City during a particularly icy weekend in January. Letvin slipped and fell in the parking lot, which he claimed was entirely covered in ice and only salted on the sidewalks into the buildings.
The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, where the Airbnb was located, contracted with a snow removal and de-icing service. Letvin brought a liability action to the Airbnb premises and contractor for the “failure to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition.”
The argument came down to whether Letvin was a licensee, someone using property for business purposes, or an invitee, someone using property for social purposes, of the premises.
The complex and contractors said it owed a duty to Letvin only as a licensee and did not breach their duty, but Letvin argued that they were an invitee of the premises and could be found to be negligent.
The trial court concluded Letvin was not an invitee and the premises and contractor only had to warn Letvin about unreasonably dangerous conditions.
The published Court of Appeals decision, written by Judge Daniel Korobkin, ruled short-term rental guests are invitees.
“We consider as a matter of first impression what duty is owed to a short-term rental guest of a condominium unit owner by a condominium association when the guest is injured in a common area of the condominium complex. For the reasons stated in this opinion, we hold that such an individual is an invitee of the condominium association,” Korobkin wrote.
Korobkin also defined an invitee as a “person who enters upon the land of another upon an invitation which carries with it an implied representation, assurance, or understanding that reasonable care has been used to prepare the premises and make it safe for the invitee’s reception.”
The decision also equates the relationship between a short-term renter to a landlord-tenant relationship, in which they are an invitee for business purposes.
“For just as part of the rent paid by a tenant to a landlord is the consideration for “the right to invite others onto the property,” the decision said, “part of the fee paid to a condominium association like defendant is the consideration for maintaining the common areas (such as the parking lot) in safe condition for the unit owners and their guests.”
The ruling, however, did not address whether the services provided to the condominium association were reasonable or not. The Appeals panel kicked the case back to the lower court to determine those questions.
Judge Michael Kelly and Judge Sima Patel also signed the decision.
Gongwer News Service
Short-term renters are invitees of a condominium association and are therefore owed reasonable steps toward mitigating potentially dangerous conditions in common areas, the Court of Appeals ruled this week.
In Michael Letvin v. The Village at Grand Traverse Commons and The Minervini Group (COA Docket No. 376558), Letvin was staying in an Airbnb in Traverse City during a particularly icy weekend in January. Letvin slipped and fell in the parking lot, which he claimed was entirely covered in ice and only salted on the sidewalks into the buildings.
The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, where the Airbnb was located, contracted with a snow removal and de-icing service. Letvin brought a liability action to the Airbnb premises and contractor for the “failure to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition.”
The argument came down to whether Letvin was a licensee, someone using property for business purposes, or an invitee, someone using property for social purposes, of the premises.
The complex and contractors said it owed a duty to Letvin only as a licensee and did not breach their duty, but Letvin argued that they were an invitee of the premises and could be found to be negligent.
The trial court concluded Letvin was not an invitee and the premises and contractor only had to warn Letvin about unreasonably dangerous conditions.
The published Court of Appeals decision, written by Judge Daniel Korobkin, ruled short-term rental guests are invitees.
“We consider as a matter of first impression what duty is owed to a short-term rental guest of a condominium unit owner by a condominium association when the guest is injured in a common area of the condominium complex. For the reasons stated in this opinion, we hold that such an individual is an invitee of the condominium association,” Korobkin wrote.
Korobkin also defined an invitee as a “person who enters upon the land of another upon an invitation which carries with it an implied representation, assurance, or understanding that reasonable care has been used to prepare the premises and make it safe for the invitee’s reception.”
The decision also equates the relationship between a short-term renter to a landlord-tenant relationship, in which they are an invitee for business purposes.
“For just as part of the rent paid by a tenant to a landlord is the consideration for “the right to invite others onto the property,” the decision said, “part of the fee paid to a condominium association like defendant is the consideration for maintaining the common areas (such as the parking lot) in safe condition for the unit owners and their guests.”
The ruling, however, did not address whether the services provided to the condominium association were reasonable or not. The Appeals panel kicked the case back to the lower court to determine those questions.
Judge Michael Kelly and Judge Sima Patel also signed the decision.
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