Commercial landlord owes no duty of care to visitors inside leased premises

The Massachusetts Appeals Court reaffirms that, unlike residential landlords, commercial landlords have no duty to repair the leased premises in the absence of a contractual obligation to do so. Marino v. Mystic Realty Trust, 2012 WL 4033738, 82 Mass. App. Ct. 1113 (Sept. 14, 2012). The opinion applied established Massachusetts law. Humphrey v. Byron, 850 N.E. 2d 1044 (Mass. 2006). A consequence of this no duty rule is that commercial landlords owe no duty to exercise reasonable care to assure that visitors are not subject to unreasonable risk of harm while on the leased premises. Commercial landlords do have a duty to maintain common areas and thus must protect visitors from unreasonable risk of harm there.