Hank Rented a New Ground-Floor Condominium for Four Months Before

question 133

Multiple Choice

Hank rented a new ground-floor condominium for four months before the owner offered to sell it to him. Hank accepted the offer. After Hank became the owner, he built a small patio off the living room. At a house-warming party, one of his friends caught the heel of her shoe between some patio bricks and fell, breaking her arm. It took an abnormally long time to heal because she suffered from an unusual bone disease. Hank has heard the following assertions about liability and asks you about them. Which of the following statements is true?

• A) The standard of care owed to this visitor is governed by a federal statute and is therefore the same for all provinces.
• B) Under the governing statute, he owed a duty of care because he now owned the property; he would not have had any duty of care if he had still been renting it.
• C) He owed no duty of care to persons who came to his place; people must take responsibility to look after themselves.
• D) The standard of care set by statute is that the occupier has a duty to take reasonable care to see that any guest on the property is reasonably safe.
• E) If found liable, he would be responsible only for the damages incurred by a normal person who had suffered from such a fall and not for the greater damages actually suffered by this guest.

---

Definitions:

United States Constitution

The supreme law of the United States, outlining the national frame of government and fundamental principles and rights.

Role-taking

The process of mentally assuming the perspective of another in order to understand their thoughts, feelings, or actions, often used as a basis for empathy and social interaction.

The Looking-glass Self

A social psychological concept that suggests a person's self grows out of society's interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others.

The I and the Me

A concept introduced by George Herbert Mead that describes the interplay between the spontaneous, personal aspects of the self ("I") and the socialized, reflective aspects ("Me").