Should landlords bear cost for their tenants' negligence?

Early last year, Catherine Gitahi moved houses, this time to the upmarket estate of Milimani on the outskirts of Nakuru town.

She liked it, but beyond the glamour of that alluring architecture lay a hidden danger.

She was crossing the room towards the kitchen one day when the phone on the table rang. In the split second she turned to pick it up, she lost balance and fell, spraining her left ankle.

The hidden danger was the highly polished tiles that were glass-smooth to the extent that one could see their reflection.

She was barefoot when the incident happened, and she stepped on a pool of spilt water that, in the glare of light, wasn't visible. Given the smoothness of the tiles, there was no friction to brake the fall.

She was lucky to grip the edge of a sofa; otherwise, the impact of that fall would have left her with a broken limb.

She had to invest in carpets for the needed friction in the living room, bathroom and every other place that portended danger.

Was she right to blame the landlord for her injury and threaten to sue for the same?

According to Nelly Mutungi, who deals with conveyancing law, such a situation is tricky and likely has no basis in law.

"If there was a rental agreement, the probability is that the tenant bound themself to the terms of the agreement before moving into the house, 'as is', which is the state they affirmed everything was okay," she says.

According to her, the tenant and landlord would have agreed at first who was to be responsible for any blame, such as injuries arising from the fall.

But in this situation, the tenant was to take the blame because of the water droplets that she may have failed to wipe away, knowing too well that they would pose a danger.

Negligence was on the part of the tenant, and the landlord would have no say in it were it to reach the justice system.

"But if the landlord knew of hidden dangers but didn't inform the tenant or post warnings in areas posing danger, that case might have merit on the landlord's part for negligence. Here, we're speaking of someone who moved into the house as is and perhaps knew that polished tiles can be dangerous when wet, cleaned with soapy water, or covered in oily stains."

Mburu Wachanga, a developer, says that when a tenant agrees to occupy any of his units, everything pertaining to that unit, whether due to the tenant's negligence or otherwise, is the tenant's responsibility.

"As a landlord, my responsibility is to ensure the units are in the best habitable condition and meet all building code criteria. There's no way you can transfer your negligence to me unless you show that it was on my part," he says.

If he were to install highly polished tiles in units for the posh tenants, he'd likely post warnings in those units or include them in the lease or rental agreement to be on the safe side. He foresees a precedent where a landlord is blamed for a tenant's negligence, becoming a way to mint compensation from landlords.

"You see someone running with socks or walking with rubber shoes with little traction on such surfaces, and they fall and either break a bone or even their spine, and the next thing you hear is the person has sued the landlord for the same, yet nowhere in their contract agreement is there mention that the landlord takes the blame for the tenant's negligence."

According to architect John Thuo, highly polished tiled floors may attract the younger generation of tenants who like everything stylish and for that architectural taste.

"Young children and older people would be more vulnerable to falling on such floors unless they're padded with mats. The youths are more energetic and adventurous; no wonder you may see them doing crazy stuff like skating on them in the name of content creation," he observes.

The hidden danger is when they're wet with clear water or clear oil stains that are not easily observable, and one is wearing footwear with less grip or is barefoot and steps on such wet surfaces. That slip can be life-threatening if one falls on their back and lands on something hard, snapping their spine or breaking limbs.

Also, cleaning with soapy water is another danger. Dirt may accumulate and can also cause one to slip. The same goes for accidental spillage of substances like flour.

However, he says all is not lost, as one can keep that shine while eliminating the danger by coating tiles with a substance that adds microscopic grip.

"This is one way to go if you want to have that polished shine without investing in mats or carpets," he says.

This is where landlords may fail, because they believe that a shiny, polished appearance has that appeal to attract tenants, alongside other aesthetics.

"You want to make that place attractive, but unknowingly you may be creating a hidden danger for your clients," he says.

Besides, he surmises, such tiles tend to be cold and uncomfortable for feet, especially when many love to be barefoot indoors.