Under tort law (a branch of law that gives remedies to victims whose injuries are caused by a negligent individual), landlords and occupiers have the legal obligation to make their premises safe and secure for other people. Failing to perform such duty will make them liable for any injury and accident that will happen inside their properties.

In case that a person is injured inside a premise of another individual, there are certain conditions, factors, and state laws that will determine if the occupier or property owner is liable to compensate the victim for the damages and injuries.

Important Factors in Premise Liability Case

Courts usually consider the status of the injured person to determine if he/she deserves to be compensated. The four labels of status are licensee, social guest, invitee, and trespasser. Licensees and social guests are people who enter the premise for their own purposes but with the consent of the owner. Invitees, on the other hand, are individuals who are invited by the property owner (usually, they are customers and shoppers).

Trespassers, compared to licensees, social guests, and invitees, do not have the right to enter the premise because the owner does not give them the consent to do so or they are not invited. Contrary to popular belief, trespassers, even if they are not invited in the property, may still receive compensation especially when the victims are children or the premise owner failed to install barricades and put warning signs which could have prevented the accidents.

Such argument does not apply for trespassers whose injuries are caused by a dangerous condition that is obvious (that any reasonable person would have recognized).

Also, property owners who put warning signs and fences are usually not held liable since it is obvious that they practice due diligence and they perform their legal duties.

Conditions that Make Owners Liable for the Injuries

If property owners (or their employees) have created the dangerous condition themselves, they will be held liable for the injuries sustained by victims. The lawsuit against them will be stronger if the hazards and the dangerous conditions existed for a length of time (that any reasonable individual could have known these) but failed to fix or do something about these.

Premise owners will have a stiffer fine if the court finds out that they are aware of the dangerous condition but failed to correct this. Usually, the penalties in this case include punitive damages, which are three times the amount of the real damages, since there is a malicious and wanton act.

According to a Los Angeles attorney, the legal obligation to provide safety is stricter to owners of business and commercial properties such as stores, malls, restaurants, and hotels.

In case that the courts prove that these people have failed to perform their duties as premise owners, they may also face another lawsuit for violating a statue law that requires them to put handrails and other safety features which could prevent accidents.