Partner Paul Clark and associate Michael Noblett obtained a dismissal on summary judgment for Wells Fargo Bank. In Howard Stewart v. The Madison at Ewing Condo Association, plaintiff was injured after slipping on ice on the exterior balcony of a condo unit. The ice formed due to water leaking down from burst pipes which were in the unit above. That unit was owned by two individuals who had vacated and abandoned it. Those individuals had borrowed money from Wells Fargo to purchase their unit before they vacated it.

Both plaintiff and the homeowner association argued that Wells Fargo, as the mortgage loan lender, was liable because it knew the unit was vacant, but failed to enter the unit to winterize it. In our motion for summary judgment, we used case law dating back to 1941 to argue that Wells Fargo owed no duty to the plaintiff or the homeowner association where it did not manage or control the unit. Our argument was successful and the judge dismissed the case.

For more information about this post please e-mail Paul Clark.