The tenant defendants sought summary judgment dismissing a landlord’s claim for damages arising from a fire, arguing that a lease covenant requiring the landlord to maintain property insurance barred any claim against the tenants even if the loss resulted from tenant negligence.
The landlords opposed the motion, asserting that the tenants had failed to maintain the premises’ fire sprinkler system and had disabled it prior to the fire, and that multiple parties and related proceedings made summary determination inappropriate.
The court held that the circumstances raised factual issues, including credibility disputes and questions regarding the conduct surrounding the disabled sprinkler system and the scope of parties bound by the lease.
Given the multiplicity of parties and risk of inconsistent findings, the motion judge found summary judgment inappropriate.
The motion was dismissed and the matter left for trial with the other related proceedings.
