Opinion
33716.
DECIDED OCTOBER 11, 1951.
Damages; from DeKalb Superior Court — Judge Guess. June 14, 1951.
Martin McFarland, W. T. Towe, for plaintiff in error.
Dunaway, Howard Embry, contra.
The amended petition set forth a cause of action against defendant, and the court did not err in overruling the general demurrer.
DECIDED OCTOBER 11, 1951.
Mrs. James R. Uhler sued The University Apartments Inc. for damages allegedly due to the acts of defendant. The amended petition alleged substantially: that on August 19, 1950, plaintiff's husband rented from defendant certain described premises with the agreement that personal occupancy was to begin on September 5, 1950, and to continue for a period of one month from said date, to wit, October 5, 1950; that on September 5, 1950, a transit company delivered plaintiff's furniture and furnishings to said premises, where they were unloaded under the supervision of her maid; that during said day defendant's agent called the maid to its office, and under threat of force took from the maid the key to the premises and charged her with being a trespasser; that defendant through its agent ordered that the furniture be removed from said premises with the threat that, if such was not done, it would remove the furniture from the premises into the public road; that on September 6, 1950, the transit company removed said furniture from the premises, leaving the premises bare; that at about 3 o'clock a. m. on September 7th, plaintiff, her husband, and their minor son, arrived at the apartment; that upon the arrival it was raining, and plaintiff became soaking wet in going from the automobile to the premises, and, but for the illegal and unwarranted moving of her furniture and personal properties, she would have been able to change into warm clothing without injury to her health; that, upon finding the premises bare, plaintiff had to return to the automobile through the rain; that it was about one and one-half hours before plaintiff, her husband, and son could find lodging for the night, during which time plaintiff was in the wet clothing and during which time she caught severe cold from exposure; that plaintiff was made severely ill and was threatened with pneumonia and remained in bed from said exposure at least twenty-four hours before she was able to resume any activities whatsoever and remained in a state of partial disability for about a week; that she suffered extreme mental and physical pain as a result of said injuries, resulting from the trespass and expulsion from the apartment unit to which as a wife and member of the family of James R. Uhler she was entitled. Defendant filed general and special demurrers to the amended petition, which were overruled and defendant excepts.
Since only the ruling on the general demurrer is argued, the decision will be confined to that ruling alone. Plaintiff in error contends that this action by the wife will not lie because she was not a party or a privy to the contract of rental between her husband and the landlord. Code § 105-106 provides: "No privity is necessary to support an action for a tort; but if the tort results from the violation of a duty, itself the consequence of a contract, the right of action is confined to the parties and privies to that contract, except in cases where the party would have had a right of action for the injury done, independently of the contract." This contention is not well founded. The duty on the part of the landlord not to wilfully interfere with plaintiffs' right to occupy the apartment, which she had a right to do in the right of her husband, and not to interfere with her access to her clothing were not duties arising out of the contract of rental. They were duties owed by all persons to all persons, and the cause of action would have existed if there had been no contract of rental between the parties. If the landlord could under any circumstances justify its acts by virtue of the contract (or absence of a contract), it would not affect the nature of the duty owed and violated. Code § 105-1401 provides: "The right of enjoyment of private property being an absolute right of every citizen, every act of another which unlawfully interferes with such enjoyment is a tort for which an action shall lie." An unauthorized intrusion of the landlord on leased premises constitutes a trespass even as against the tenant to the same extent as an entry or intrusion by a stranger. Bert v. Rhodes, 258 S.W. 40 (4), 16 R. C. L. 620 (101). The mere fact that the right or privilege of one which has been violated was acquired by virtue of a contract does not confine actions for the violation of the right to parties and privies to the contract. The principle is illustrated by the permitting of actions of invitees of tenants against landlords for failure to repair premises. Crossgrove v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 30 Ga. App. 462 (2) ( 118 S.E. 694). While these kinds of actions are based on a special provision of law (Code, § 61-112), the rationale of the basis for the actions is the same as if the duty had been a general common-law duty.
The allegations of the petition do not show as a matter of law that plaintiff was guilty of such reckless or rash conduct as a result of which it must be said that her conduct, rather than the wilful acts of the defendant, was the proximate cause of the injuries.
The court did not err in overruling the general demurrer to the petition.
Judgment affirmed. Sutton, C. J., and Worrill, J., concur.