Thomas v. Dillon Family Limited Partnership II

ORS 90.360(2) provides a tenant the right to damages and injunctive relief for a landlord’s noncompliance with the habitability requirements in ORS 90.320 and narrowly describes express and specific limitations for recovery of damages.

Tenant discovered the refrigerator in her unit was leaking and notified Landlord, who Tenant believed fixed the problem following an in-person inspection that day. The following evening, Tenant sustained injuries after the leak created a puddle, causing her to slip and fall. She filed suit against Landlord for failure to maintain the premises in a habitable condition as required by ORS 90.320, and Landlord raised a comparative-fault defense because Tenant was aware of the leak and was at fault, careless, or negligent when she sustained her injuries. The trial court struck down this defense, and Landlord assigned error to this decision. ORS 90.360(2) provides a tenant the right to damages and injunctive relief for a landlord’s noncompliance with the habitability requirements in ORS 90.320 and narrowly describes express and specific limitations for recovery of damages. The Court determined that the statute’s provisions express a legislative intent to exclude the traditional comparative-fault defense because ORS 90.360(2) articulates specific limitations for recovery for damages. Because the comparative-fault defense is not explicitly stated the statute, Landlord is not entitled to raise it and the trial court thus did not err in striking it down. Affirmed.