Real Estate Agent Not Responsible for Injury of Prospective Buyer

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While prospective buyers were touring a house that was listed for sale, one of the buyers fell and sustained multiple injuries. The buyers filed suit against, inter alia, the seller's and buyers' realtors and their realty offices, who were allegedly in possession and control of the defective premises. In resolving summary judgment motions, the court found that imposing a duty of care on the realtors and the offices under the circumstances was contrary to the public policy of Connecticut. As they had no duty to inspect or warn, the negligence claims could not survive.

Connecticut courts have not yet eliminated the common-law boundaries between premises liability classifications of trespasser, licensee, or invitee. In general, there is an ascending degree of duty owed by the possessor of land to persons on the land based on their entrant status, i.e. trespasser, licensee, or invitee. Accordingly, Connecticut courts would presumably decline to impose a duty on real estate brokers unless they have control over the premises sufficient to independently give rise to a duty to warn under recognized premises liability principles.

It is clear that no appellate court has held a buyer's agent liable for any injury to the prospective buyer that resulted from any defective condition on the premises, whether known, reasonably discoverable, obvious, latent or illusionary. Those courts which have imposed some form of limited liability on the listing broker have done so only in an open house scenario and only when the evidence showed that the broker was actually aware of the defective and dangerous condition which caused the injury to the prospective buyer. Most courts are reluctant to impose liability on listing brokers for injuries to prospective buyers due to structural defects of the listed property unless there is a contractual obligation undertaken by the broker to manage and maintain the listed property or to put the property to some special use

At Maya Murphy, P.C., our personal injury attorneys are dedicated to achieving the best results for individuals and their family members and loved ones whose daily lives have been disrupted by injury, whether caused by a motor vehicle or pedestrian accident, a slip and fall, medical malpractice, a defective product, or otherwise. Our attorneys are not afraid to aggressively pursue and litigate cases and have extensive experience litigating personal injury matters in both state and federal courts, and always with regard to the unique circumstances of our client and the injury he or she has sustained.

Source: Purcaro v. Angelicola, 2012 Conn. Super. LEXIS 1864, 2012 WL 3517614 (Conn. Super. Ct. July 19, 2012)