Landlord is Not Liable for Slip and Fall Accident in The Middle of a Snowstorm

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Landlords (and condominium and homeowners associations) are always worried about potential liability for slip and fall accidents. Luckily, the law in Pennsylvania has been very consistent on this issue. The case of Grace v. Graystone Court Villas is another good explanation of when a property owner is not responsible for a slip and fall accident.

In this case, the Plaintiff exited her car, walked three or four steps, and then slipped on a patch of ice. It had snowed earlier in the day, but the parking lot was plowed and salted. During the accident, there was a mixture of snow and sleet, and “generally slippery conditions.”

This case gives a good legal summary of when a landowner is liable for slip and fall accidents. To recover following a fall on a snow or ice-covered surface, a plaintiff must show:

(1) that snow and ice had accumulated on the sidewalk in ridges or elevations of such size and character as to unreasonably obstruct travel and constitute a danger to pedestrians …; (2) that the property owner had notice,… of the existence of such condition; (3) that it was the dangerous accumulation of snow and ice which caused the plaintiff to fall.

 

… [T]he only duty upon the property owner or tenant is to act within a reasonable time after notice to remove [the snow and ice] when it is in a dangerous condition.

 

[T]he doctrine of hills and ridges provides that an owner or occupier of land is not liable for general slippery conditions, for to require that one’s walks be always free of ice and snow would be to impose an impossible burden in view of the climatic conditions in this hemisphere. Snow and ice upon a pavement create merely transient danger, and the only duty upon the property owner or tenant is to act within a reasonable time after notice to remove it when it is in a dangerous condition.

When we put this together, the law and the “hills and ridges doctrine” says that a landowner does not have to make sure the sidewalks and parking lots are always clear of snow and ice. They do not have to get out there as soon as the last snowflake falls. So long as the landowner acts in a reasonable time after the end of the storm, they are not liable if someone slips and falls on the snow or ice that fell as part of the storm.