Property Owner’s Responsibility for Injuries

When you are injured on someone else’s property, whether the accident occurs at work or in a mall or parking lot, you may be left wondering about your legal rights. Property owners, which include corporations, businesses, municipalities and individuals, owe a duty of reasonable care to keep the premises safe. This duty is especially important for business owners who regularly have customers on the property. For example, a grocery store has the responsibility to keep the aisles clear and safe for customers and to alert of any potential dangers.

According to Florida Statutes, a business owner must “maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition for the safety of business invitees on the premises, which includes reasonable efforts to keep the premises free from transitory foreign objects or substances that might foreseeably give rise to loss, injury or damage.” If you were injured on someone’s property and want to recover compensation for your injuries, you must prove the following:

• The person in control of the property owed you a duty
• The property owner acted negligently by failing to exercise reasonable care in the “maintenance, inspection, repair, warning or mode of operation of the business premises”
  
• The failure to provide reasonable care caused you loss, injury or damage

One of the main questions that must be answered to have a successful slip and fall lawsuit is – at the time of the accident, were you an invitee, licensee or trespasser? The liability of the property owner depends on this classification. The following are descriptions of the types of visitors and duties owed by the property owner.

Invitee – You are considered an invitee when you have reason to believe the property is open for use. For example, you are an invitee when you are a customer at a retail store. When you are an invitee, the property owner owes you a duty of reasonable care to keep the property safe and warn of any known dangers.

Licensee – You are a licensee when you or on a property for a reason other than commercial or business use, such as in the situation of being a social guest. Property owners can be liable for your injuries as a licensee.

Trespasser – If you are on someone’s property without express or implied invitation or permission, you would be considered a trespasser. You are considered a trespasser if you cross someone’s property, because it was the shortest route available. A property owner cannot intentionally harm you as a trespasser. If the owner knows about that you are a trespasser, they must warn you of any dangerous conditions on the property.

The law regarding a property owner’s responsibility for injuries is complex. If you have been injured at a shopping mall, workplace, apartment complex or other property, contact a premises liability attorney at the Law Offices of William K. Saron at (727) 345-4566 or (866) 836-4947 for expert legal advice.