There are many misconceptions surrounding personal and premises liability. If you own a home, you want to know this, because it could keep you from being sued.
What Is It?
Premises liability refers to the legal rights and obligations of property owners. The laws spell out the rights and duties of those who invite guests or tenants onto their property. In the case of guests, the property owner has certain basic responsibilities to protect the guest’s welfare.
In the case of tenants, there may be additional requirements, based on state or federal law, as well as any tenant-landlord contract that’s signed.
Types Of Premises Liability
There are several types of premises liability cases that a judge is likely to hear. Most of them involve slip and falls, dog (or other animal) bites or injuries, and swimming pool accidents. However, other types of potential liabilities include:
- fires
- water leakage or flooding
- toxic fumes and chemicals
- ice and snow accidents
- defective building, steps, or debris which is inherently dangerous
For commercial buildings and land, premises liability extends to:
- Amusement and water parks
- Any building with inadequate building security (if there is a reasonable expectation of such security)
What Is Duty Of Care?
The concept of “Duty of Care” originates in England, and was first defined by Lord Atkin in the case of Donoghue v. Stevenson in 1932. The case involved Mrs. Donoghue, who fell ill after drinking a bottle of ginger beer that was contaminated by a decomposing snail. She ended up suing the manufacturer and won.
The court found that:
“The rule that you are to love your neighbor becomes in law, you must not injure your neighbor; and the lawyer’s question, Who is my neighbor? Receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbor. Who, then, in law is my neighbor? The answer seems to be – persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called in question”.
This was the first time that negligence became a serious legal matter, and precedent. Over time, courts strengthened this principle, and today it is how many negligence cases are won (at least, on principle).
The basic idea is that negligence does not solely depend on the failure to take reasonable care to avoid harming another person. The duty cannot be applied to anyone for anything, for example. It is limited in scope to those that are closely and directly affected by another person’s act.
So, for example, an individual who invites another over, and knowingly either causes harm or omits information which would or could harm the person, may be liable if that person is injured by such acts (even omission).
Negligence cases that rely on Duty of Care are not automatically won. A great deal of evidence must be presented, and a causal relationship must be established. This is much easier said than done.
Examples Under Which You Could Be Sued
According to some sources, there are many different types of liability cases under which you might be sued. The most common, and perhaps the most straight-forward, is a “slip and fall” accident.
Slip and fall cases can result from a defective staircase, front steps, or porch. If ice or snow accumulates, and a guest slips and falls, you could also be responsible.
Wet or oily floors, hidden extension cords that someone trips over, an uneven threshold (common on older or poorly constructed homes), or loose or broken floors, sidewalks (on your property), or lawn ornaments or debris which directly causes a person to fall are all example of situations under which you may be liable.
When guests stay at your home, or when you rent out an apartment or office building, the guest or tenant has a reasonable expectation of safety, and that there will be basic security measures taken to safeguard the premises.
For example, the premises should have a functioning door, with a locking mechanism that works. But, the premises wouldn’t necessarily need a security system or armed guards.
Finally, if your premises has a swimming pool, this could become a liability it someone falls in and gets hurt or drowns.
Natasha Waters is studying business law and is in her second year at school. She enjoys using blogging as a study aid, writing articles on the subjects she is learning about.
