Justice Anil Singh
Tenant Zash moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint against her in this action for property damages. Downstairs tenants, the Samsons, allegedly suffered property damage when water flowed into their apartment. Zash lives in the apartment above Samson, who alleged Zash permitted water to leak from her bathtub, accumulate and escape into the unit below. The court noted Samson testified he did not see any water on the floor when he went with superintendent Alvarado to Zash’s unit to check on what caused the flood in his apartment. Yet, despite testimony that management was never able to identify the source of the leak that caused damage in Samsons’ apartment, the court noted Zash admitted she was aware of having a leaky faucet in her tub causing water to drip and accumulate in the tub. As such, the court stated it was enough for plaintiffs to show facts and conditions from which the Zash’s negligence may be reasonably inferred. Therefore, there were enough facts presented to raise a question as to Zash’s leaky faucet being the cause of the damage to Samsons’ apartment, and such facts were not rebutted by Zash. Thus, dismissal was denied.
