Yuzon

Under California law, a landlord owes a duty of care to his tenant’s invitees to prevent injury from the tenant’s vicious dog when the landlord has “actual knowledge” of the dog’s vicious nature in time to protect against the dangerous condition on his property. (Uccello v. Laudenslayer (1975) 44 Cal.App.3d 504, 507 [ 118 Cal.Rptr. 741 ].)

In this case, plaintiff was bitten by a dog owned by defendant landlord’s tenants. The landlord moved for summary judgment, contending, among other things, that he owed plaintiff no duty of care due to his lack of actual prior knowledge of the dog’s vicious nature. The trial court granted the motion and entered summary judgment for the landlord. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

On April 30, 2001, plaintiff Brian Yuzon, a minor, was bitten by a dog, a pit bull or pit bull mix named Kemo. (While the complaint identified Kemo as a Rottweiller, plaintiff’s separate statement identified Kemo as a pit bull or a pit bull mix.) Kemo was owned by defendants Tracy Blackburn and Fin Blackburn, who are not parties to this appeal. The incident occurred at the Blackburns’ Long Beach residence, which they were renting from their landlord, defendant Gerald…