Courts in the decisions of cases have expanded actionable tort liability in a related field, but what the plaintiffs seek in this lawsuit is the approval of an action that would make a drastic change in properly established rules of law contrary to the existing landlord-tenant jural relationship. It is for the Legislature to alter existing law to meet sociological needs of present day urban living'.
It is a matter of common knowledge that in large urban areas many families live in substandard housing and that there is a critical shortage of decent dwelling units. Legislative findings in the enactment of the statutes cited in this decision give solid verification of this national problem which all levels of government have failed to solve. The plaintiffs urge that present day legal principles are “ outdated concepts to the housing problems of the urban poor ”. Assuming arguendo the accuracy of this statement, the primary role of the courts is to decide cases and not create new or substantially change existing legal principles by judicial decision.
The plaintiffs ’ memorandum of law states that the Rochester Center for Governmental and Community Research, Inc., in its report on Housing in Monroe County 1969, reveals that ‘ ‘ in the City of Rochester there are probably over twenty thousand (20,000) deficient housing units ”. In the light of such statistics the Legislature is the only body that can create a cause of action of the nature for which the plaintiffs strive in this proceeding. It would also eliminate the serious, question of retroactivity that a judicial ruling recognizing such an action would encompass.