## Facts

- Neona (also spelled Heona) S. Kidd leased an apartment to Dafford O. Kennedy under an oral agreement that created a month-to-month tenancy.
- On or about June 1, 1974, Kennedy suffered an apparent heart attack and died while alone in the apartment.
- Kennedy’s body was not discovered for about a week and was partially decomposed when found.
- Kidd alleged that the odors and conditions associated with the decomposition required extensive cleaning and complete refurbishing of the apartment.
- Kidd presented a timely claim to the administrator of Kennedy’s estate for the refurbishing expenses and for rent during the period the apartment was being restored.
- The estate allowed only a small amount of unpaid rent (about $90) and disallowed the remainder of Kidd’s claim.
- Kidd filed suit against the estate seeking more than $4,000 for restoration costs and rental charges during the renovation period.
- The estate filed a general demurrer asserting the petition stated no legal basis to impose these losses on the estate.
- The trial court overruled the demurrer and certified the order for interlocutory review; the estate sought certiorari review in the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals.
- Kidd expressly disclaimed reliance on tort, waste, or any wrongful act or omission by Kennedy during his lifetime, basing her claim on the landlord-tenant relationship, an implied redelivery obligation, and public-policy grounds.

## Issues

1. Does a tenant’s implied obligation to return leased premises in substantially the same condition make the tenant’s estate liable for refurbishing costs and lost rent caused solely by the tenant’s natural death and subsequent decomposition, absent culpable conduct or a lifetime debt?
2. If traditional landlord-tenant doctrine does not impose liability, should public policy shift this type of accidental, death-related loss from the landlord to the tenant’s estate?

## Decision

- Certiorari granted.
- The certified interlocutory order overruling the estate’s demurrer was reversed.
- The case was remanded with instructions to dismiss Kidd’s action for failure to state a cause of action against the estate.

## Legal Principles

- A decedent’s estate is generally chargeable only for obligations that became the decedent’s indebtedness during life or for losses legally attributable to the decedent’s acts or omissions while alive.
- An implied landlord-tenant duty to surrender premises in substantially the same condition does not impose strict liability for all damage present at termination; it applies, at most, to damage caused by the tenant’s culpable conduct or failure to exercise reasonable care.
- Where the landlord’s loss results only from the fact of death and its natural consequences, without fault and without a pre-death obligation, the loss is damnum absque injuria (a loss for which the law provides no remedy).
- Courts will not use generalized public-policy arguments to create new strict liability for a tenant (or estate) to pay for extraordinary post-death conditions unrelated to tenant wrongdoing or a contractual/statutory duty.

## Conclusion

The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals held that Kidd’s petition did not state a claim against Kennedy’s estate because Kidd disclaimed any wrongful act or omission by Kennedy during life and alleged no contractual or other lifetime obligation making the estate responsible for losses caused solely by Kennedy’s natural death and decomposition; the claimed refurbishing costs and lost rent were therefore nonrecoverable as damnum absque injuria, requiring dismissal.


Kennedy v. Kidd, 557 P.2d 467 (1976)