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Pajaro v. South GA Bank

The trial court erred in granting summary judgment to commercial landlord on renter's claims for defective construction and loss of consortium after a staircase collapsed and renter suffered injury.

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Julio Pajaro was injured in the collapse of a staircase on commercial premises that he leased from South Georgia Bank hereinafter, the landlord. He and his wife collectively, the appellants brought this action against the landlord, asserting claims for defective construction, failure to repair, failure to warn, and loss of consortium. As detailed below, we affirm the grant of summary judgment on the claims for failure to repair and failure to warn, because there are no genuine issues of material fact as to those claims. We reverse the grant of summary judgment as to the claims for defective construction and loss of consortium, however, because genuine issues of material fact exist as to those claims.

On appeal from the grant of summary judgment this court conducts a de novo review of the evidence to determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact and whether the undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, warrant judgment as a matter of law. Campbell v. Landings Assn., 289 Ga. 617, 618 713 SE2d 860 2011 citations omitted. So viewed, the evidence shows that the landlord acquired the premises at issue in December 2009. At that time, Pajaro leased the premises for his medical practice. The landlord did not have the premises inspected either before or after the acquisition, but a representative of the landlord did a walk-through of the premises with Pajaro and Pajaro requested that the landlord paint a wooden, exterior staircase at the back of the premises that led to the second floor.

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