On January 23, 2020, in Shields v. Ramslee Motors, (2020), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that a commercial landlord can delegate its duty to clear snow and ice from the leased premises. The court found that because the lease required the tenant to maintain the leased premises, the landlord was not responsible for slip-and-fall injuries caused by ice and snow in the leased premises' driveway. As a result of this holding, the Court clarified that:

Ramslee Motors (tenant) leased property from 608 Tonelle Avenue, LLC (landlord) for use as a car dealership. While delivering a package to the dealership, a Federal Express driver slipped and fell on ice and snow on the dealership's driveway and sustained injuries. The lease provided that the tenant was "solely responsible for the maintenance and repair of the land and any structure placed on the premises….as if tenant were the de facto owner of the leased premises."

The Federal Express driver sued both the tenant and the landlord. The tenant settled with the driver, but the landlord filed a motion for summary judgment claiming that, under the terms of the lease, it was not responsible for clearing the snow and ice from the dealership's driveway. The trial court granted the landlord summary judgment and the driver appealed.

The Appellate Division overturned the trial court, holding that:

The Appellate Division cited to Vasquez v. Mansol Realty Associates, Inc., 280 N.J. Super. 234 (App. Div. 1995) where the court held that a commercial landowner has a non-delegable duty to clear snow and ice from public sidewalks abutting its property. The Appellate Division found that the dealership's driveway was not distinct from the public sidewalk, so the landlord's non-delegable duty established in Vasquez also applied to the dealership's driveway.

The landlord appealed to the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

The Supreme Court of New Jersey overruled the Appellate Division, holding that Vasquez did not apply to the dealership's driveway, so the landlord could contractually delegate the duty to remove snow and ice. The court found that:

This decision clarifies that the non-delegable duty of a commercial landlord to maintain public sidewalks established in Vasquez does not apply to private property in the exclusive control of a tenant. This is significant as previous cases had not addressed whether the Vasquez holding extended to private property that abutted public sidewalks.

Based on this ruling, commercial landlords should ensure that their leases are clear as to which party is responsible for maintenance of the leased premises, including driveways and other property that abuts public sidewalks.

For more information on commercial leasing in New Jersey, see State Q&A, Managing Commercial Real Estate Leases: New Jersey.