Liability News for Milwaukee Landlords

Wisconsin Appellate Court Issues Dog Bite Ruling

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has refused to impose liability on a landlord for injuries caused by the dog of a tenant.

The case, Ladewig v. Tremmel, involved a negligence action arising from dog bite injuries to a child. The victim brought the action against landlord. The dog was owned by two tenants of the landlord, and the attack occurred on property that the landlord leased to these tenants.

The plaintiffs argued that because the landlord had a clause in the lease that prohibited tenants from having a vicious dog and/or specific breed, they had assumed a responsibility to protect those who came on to their land.

Liability for a dog bite has two possible sources: common law negligence or Wisconsin Statute § 174.02. The statute imposes liability on the owner of a dog, who is defined as “any person who owns, harbors or keeps a dog.”

The parties sued under common law theory of negligence, so the statute did not apply to this case. However, the definition is instructive, as it is in essence what this case turns on.

An earlier Supreme Court ruling in Smaxwell v. Bayard requires that when a tenant’s dog causes an injury or damage to property, the landlord is relieved of liability unless he/she is found to be an “owner” or “keeper” of the offending dog.

The Smaxwell court also noted that its decision is consistent with the legislative policy underlying the dog-bite statute, Wisconsin Statute § 174.02, which holds only owners, keepers, and harborers of dogs are strictly liable for the acts of dogs.

In the recent decision, the Court of Appeals states, “There is nothing about the landlords’ alleged non-enforcement of the ‘no vicious dogs’ lease provision that logically transforms the landlords into ‘owners or keepers’ of the dog, which under Smaxwell, is all that matters.”

Public Policy and Premises Liability Affecting Milwaukee Landlords

The Court of Appeals stated it was bound by the Supreme Court precedent on this issue. Smaxwell refused to extend liability to landlords for dog bites by their tenants’ dogs based on the public policy argument that “allowing recovery against landlords who do not have control over or custody of dogs that cause injury to someone on or around their property would violate the [public policy] factor, which bars recovery where there is ‘no sensible or just stopping point.'”

The court was concerned there would be “no sensible or just stopping point” because landlords have no ability to exert actual control over a tenants’ dogs. Further, the landlord likely will not have actual knowledge of the behavior of the specific dogs.

The court noted that landlord liability would cause long and expensive investigations into the knowledge of the landlord: “permitting liability would present [juries] with the complex task of determining the level of awareness landlords had, or should have had, regarding the hazards presented by their tenants’ dogs.”

The court worried the “unintended consequence, or drastic result” of finding liability would be that landlords would no longer be able to obtain insurance or that they would prohibit all pets.

Common Law 

Liability for Milwaukee landlords under the common law is limited to those who “have dominion or exercise control over an animal.”

The general rule in Wisconsin prohibits landlord liability for injuries caused by a tenant’s dog on public policy grounds. It is only when the landlord acts or fails to act while having the separate status of an “owner or keeper” of the tenant’s dog that liability may arise.

This case does not change the current law in Wisconsin, but it is important to remember that anyone who has actual dominion and control over a dog could be held liable for injuries caused by the dog.

Dog attacks often fall within the realm of personal injury, and victims are encouraged to seek the services of an experienced Milwaukee personal injury attorney. If you need legal representation following an animal attack, contact a Milwaukee personal injury attorney with Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. for a free consultation.