## Facts

- Norma McCutcheon and Douglas R. Fuller were tenants in a multi-family apartment complex owned and operated by United Homes Corporation.
- McCutcheon alleged she was injured after falling down an unlighted stairway from her apartment because stairwell lights were not operating.
- Fuller alleged he was injured when an outside stair step pulled loose while he was descending the stairs.
- The alleged defects were in “common areas” (approaches, passageways, stairways, and similar areas) retained under the landlord’s control and provided for tenant use.
- Each tenant had signed a month-to-month rental agreement containing a clause stating that neither the lessor nor its agent would be liable for any injury to the lessee or others entering the premises.
- United Homes asserted the exculpatory clause as a complete defense to both negligence actions.

## Issues

1. Whether a landlord of a residential unit in a multi-family complex may enforce an exculpatory lease clause to avoid liability to tenants for personal injuries caused by the landlord’s own negligence in maintaining common areas under the landlord’s control.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Washington consolidated the appeals and reversed the summary judgments for United Homes.
- The court held the exculpatory clause unenforceable, as against public policy, insofar as it attempted to immunize the landlord from liability for its negligence in maintaining common areas.
- The tenants’ negligence claims were not barred by the lease provision and could proceed.

## Legal Principles

- A landlord who leases part of premises while retaining control of common approaches, passageways, and stairways owes tenants a duty of reasonable care to keep those areas safe.
- In this setting, the landlord’s duty includes affirmative obligations to inspect and repair common areas for tenant protection.
- Exculpatory clauses for negligence are not automatically valid; enforceability turns on limits set by law and public policy.
- In multi-family residential leasing, clauses disclaiming landlord liability for common-area injuries are matters of public interest, not merely private contract terms.
- A standard-form residential lease provision cannot waive the landlord’s liability for its own negligence in maintaining common areas under its control.

## Conclusion

Washington law treats a landlord’s obligation to use reasonable care to maintain common areas in a multi-family residential complex as nonwaivable as to the landlord’s own negligence, making broad lease exculpation ineffective to bar tenant personal-injury claims arising from unsafe common-area conditions.


McCutcheon v. United Homes Corp., 79 Wn.2d 443, 486 P.2d 1093 (Wash. 1971)