Opinion

FELTON, BY FELTON v. Spratley

  • 433 Pa. Super. 474
  • 640 A.2d 1358
  • 1994 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1285
Court
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Filed
Apr 29, 1994
Status
Published
Author
Cercone
On the bench
Beck, Popovich, Cercone
Cited by
9 cases
Authority
More cited than 7.5%

relying on the 1968 Kolojeski decision

How later courts described this case

  • relying on the 1968 Kolojeski decision

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

CERCONE, Judge,

concurring.

I join the opinion of my colleague Judge Popovich and write separately merely to emphasize that the trial court correctly recognized that this case is governed by Kolojeski v. Deisher, Inc., 429 Pa. 191 , 239 A.2d 329 (1968), wherein the Pennsylvania Supreme Court refused to impose an affirmative duty upon a landlord to inspect rental property for lead based paint contamination in the absence of a statutory requirement to do so. The Philadelphia ordinance applicable instantly imposes *488 the duty on a landlord to correct any hazardous condition which has been identified by the Department of Public Health. See Philadelphia Municipal Code § 6-403(4)(b). However, the length of time within which the property’s owner must act is left to the discretion of the Department. Id. § 6-403(b)(b)(.1)(.a). In this case, the trial court found, and appellants concede, that the landlord had no actual knowledge of the lead based paint hazard in the demised premises prior to receiving notice to that effect from the Board of Health. The trial court further determined that defendants/appellees acted in compliance with the Philadelphia ordinance and corrected the lead based paint hazard within thirty days after receiving actual notice of the problem. The question of whether, under these circumstances, the Kolojeski rule should be expanded to impose liability for the landlord’s alleged “constructive knowledge” of the hazardous condition must be left to our Supreme Court for resolution.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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