Premises liability law holds home or business owners responsible for injuries sustained by visitors. Liability depends on the nature of the visitor and whether the owner could have avoided the damage. Visitors are divided into invitees, licensees, and offenders. Business owners have the strictest burden of liability, while homeowners must be vigilant to protect themselves. Public areas like sidewalks may also be the owner’s responsibility.
Premises liability law refers to the set of laws that hold home or business owners liable for any injuries that might be sustained by visitors to their premises. These injuries are usually referred to as “slip and fall” injuries, and while they could be accidental in nature, landlords can still be liable for damages caused by these accidents.
The level of liability depends both on the nature of the visitor and on whether the damage could be avoided by the owner. As well as within a home or business and any surrounding areas they own, the Premises Liability Act also requires landlords to keep public footpaths in front of the property clean.
In premises liability law, the person who owns the land is known as the possessor. This may refer to homeowners or those who own any type of business that is open to the public, such as restaurants or shops. Visitors are legally divided into invitees, licensees and offenders. Guests are people who enter a room with the intention of doing business or for commercial reasons, such as customers in a shop. Licensees are those who enter a premises for non-commercial reasons with the owner’s consent, such as visitors to a home. Offenders are those who are not allowed to enter a venue.
The burden of liability depends on the type of visitor injured by the accident. Business owners are held to the strictest burden by the Premises Liability Act. They must provide a safe environment for their customers and are liable for injury to visitors not only if they were aware of the danger that caused the injury and did not inform the customer, but also if they should have known of the potential danger.
Homeowners also need to be vigilant to protect themselves from liability for accidents that occur on their property. If a visitor falls on a broken step, poor flooring, or icy driveway, the homeowner would be liable if he knew about the problem, failed to fix it, and failed to inform the visitor of the danger. Offenders have little chance of protection from premises liability law, unless they can prove that the home or business owner was aware of their presence when the damage occurred.
Public areas such as sidewalks may also be the owner’s responsibility. For example, a store owner might be liable if someone slips and falls on a snow-covered public sidewalk directly outside the business. Premises liability law requires landlords to take care of areas like these even if they don’t technically own them.
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