Torts, Premises Liability, Duty to Protect against Off-Premises Injury from Tenant’s Wandering Livestock, 1, 3
A motorcyclist ran into a 300 pound hog which had wandered onto the road from adjoining, unfenced property. A tenant on the property kept the hops. The motorcyclist’s heirs sued the landlord. Held: a landlord who owns but is not in possession of property owes a duty of care to protect off-property individuals from injury due to unsecured livestock only if (1) during the period of the tenancy, the landlord (a) actually knows that the property is in a dangerous condition (that is, that the property houses livestock and the livestock is not secured), and (b) has the right to enter the property to secure the livestock; or (2) at the time the tenancy begins or is renewed, the landlord (a) has some reason to believe the livestock might be unsecured, and (b) conducts a reasonable inspection that would reveal that the livestock is unsecured. Neither of these conditions existed in this case, so the judgment for the landlord was affirmed.