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Employee Owners And The Co Owners

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In her opposition to the Co-Owner’s motion to dismiss, Byrne contends that the Co-Owners may be liable to her because “a landlord has a duty to ‘take reasonable measures in view of the existing circumstances, to eliminate those conditions contributing to the criminal activity.” Byrne’s Opposition at p. 7 (quoting Evergreen Assocs., LLC v. Crawford, 214 Md. App. 179, 190 (2013) (quoting Rhaney v. Univ. of Md. E. Shore, 388 Md. 585, 599-600 (2005))). The trouble with this position, however, is that Byrne assumes—without support—that the Co-Owners are Byrne’s landlord. See Byrne’s Opposition at pp. 6, 7 (“Co-Owners’ . . . duties create a relationship that is for all intents and purposes a landlord-tenant relationship;” “Co-Owners had a …show more content…

Shafer, 374 Md. 317, 822 A.2d 423 (2003), Village Green Mutual Homes v. Randolph, 361 Md. 179, (2000), as well as any statutory authority.” McDaniel v. Baranowski, 419 Md. 560, 574 (2011). Consistent with Maryland authorities regarding the definition of a landlord, the Restatement (Second) of Property: Landlord and Tenant provides that “[a] landlord-tenant relationship exists only if the landlord transfers the right to possession of the leased property.” Restatement (Second) of Property: Landlord & Tenant § 1.2 (1997) (emphasis added). Indeed: In order to satisfy the possession requirement of the landlord-tenant relationship, the transferred interest in the leased property must be one that the owner is legally capable of possessing now or in the future. A nonpossessory interest in land that is incapable of ever becoming possessory, such as an easement, cannot be the subject matter of a landlord-tenant relationship, although it may be the subject matter of an arrangement that is similar in certain respects, such as its duration. Id. at cmt. a (emphasis added). Accordingly, a freehold estate possessed by a landlord (or perhaps even a possessory interest—in the case of a sublet) is a necessary condition to establish the existence of a landlord-tenant relationship. To illustrate: A is hired by the X Corporation as a permanent watchman for the corporation 's land and

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