Kuzmicz v. Ivy Hill Park Apts

In Kuzmicz v. Ivy Hill Park Apts., 147 N.J. 510, 512, 688 A.2d 1018 (1997), the plaintiff was a tenant in the defendants apartment building. He was assaulted in a city-owned vacant lot between the apartment building and a grocery store from which he was returning. The landlord had built an eight-foot fence to keep individuals from using the route the plaintiff used, and had repaired it several times; nevertheless, a hole was cut into the fence, so that the plaintiff was able to use the route in question. Ibid. Our Supreme Court, in considering the duty owed by a landlord for injuries occurring on its property, held that the key issue is whether, in light of the relationship between the parties and under all of the attendant circumstances, the imposition on the landowner of a duty to protect the injured party is fair and just. Notably, the analysis was the same whether the injury occurred on or off the premises. Id. at 515, 688 A.2d 1018. "In both contexts, however, the analysis is fact-sensitive." Ibid. Although the foreseeability of danger is an important factor in this respect, it is not dispositive. Ibid. Rather, relevant to the issue of fairness is the nature of the risk, the relationship of the parties, the opportunity to exercise care, and the effect on the public of the imposition of the duty. Ibid. The Court then noted that there was no precedent for imposing liability on an apartment building owner for injuries on property it did not own or control. Id. at 517, 519-20, 688 A.2d 1018. Moreover, a landowner is generally not liable for off-premises injuries just because they are foreseeable. Thus, an abutting property owner is generally not liable for injuries occurring on an adjacent public way. Id. at 518, 688 A.2d 1018.