Articles Posted in Premises Liability

A property owner is expected to take reasonable precautions to prevent injuries to guests, residents, and visitors of the property. In cases where the active conduct or the negligence of a property owner causes a personal injury, a lawsuit may result. Most attorneys evaluate such a lawsuit by considering the status of the victim. The victim injured on the property may be defined as an invitee, a licensee, or a trespasser.

A trespasser is someone who does not have the right or permission to be on the property. The property owner has a right not to willfully cause personal injury to the trespasser. If a property owner finds a trespasser on their property, they have an obligation to warn the trespasser of any possible dangers on the property which are not obvious.

In some cases, when a child trespasses onto a property, however, a lawsuit may still result. Usually, this occurs when it can be proven that there is an area on the property where the property owner knows that children may trespass. As well, these cases can often be brought about because it can be proven that the owner did not take some small actions to repair a known danger which is very dangerous to children. Generally, attorneys will argue that children are too young to appreciate a risk in a property. Often, this type of legal action occurs with children trespassing onto property and having a pool-related accident or near-drowning.

During this time of year, many of us visit friends and family for at least a day, if not a few days. While many of us consider premises liability issues — such as anything that might cause slip and fall accidents or injuries on our properties — when we are hosts, we sometimes forget that when we go away we also have a responsibility to ensure that our homes are safe and secure. Here are some ways to avoid premises liability issues when you are away:

1) Make sure that areas leading up to and away from your home are kept clean and clear in your absence. Delivery personnel, your mail carrier, and other business related persons might still need access to your property when you are away. If one of these people is injured while you are away, you could still be held liable if you do not take proper steps to ensure that your property is safe while you’re away. If you need to, consider hiring someone to check in on the property.

2) Secure your pool. If you have a pool, check and double-check to ensure that it is correctly secured. Keep in mind that if a curious child wanders onto your property and this results in a pool accident or near drowning incident, you could be held liable if you did not take proper precautions to secure the area. Ensure that your pool is surrounded by a fence and a locked gate.

During the holidays, many of us open our homes to family, friends, and even strangers. In addition, we are often receiving more packages and greeting more delivery personnel at our doors as holiday packages and deliveries arrive. However, extra traffic in your home can mean more property liability concerns. If someone has a slip and fall accident on your property or harms themselves on your property, you could face unpleasant legal problems as well as personal worry. You don’t need the extra stress during this time of year. To keep everyone visiting your property safe this year, follow these steps:

1) Take a stroll around your property with an eye to any damage or possible safety risks. Look at your roof, your walkways, and the yard in front and behind your home. Take a look inside, where stairs may be a problem. Do you see any dangers that need repairing? Uneven walkways, poorly lit door areas, low-hanging ornaments at the entryway – all of these things can cause serious personal injury. Take care of them now, before someone gets hurt. Also, if you own a pool, take a moment to ensure that the pool area is securely closed up and safe for the season.

2) Hire someone to keep your property carefully trimmed or take care of tidying your property yourself. Keeping your property free of objects and debris that can cause a slip and fall accident is vital. Overgrown bushes, low-hanging branches and scattered toys can cause a serious accident, as can wet leaves, rain, and other weather conditions. Keep your property safe and tidy or hire a service to take care of the property for you.

During the autumn, when children are at school and you spend more time ferrying children to activities after school, your home may be empty for longer periods of time. As well, your children may be inviting more friends over after school and on weekends. Now is the time to make your

1) Take care of any needed repairs before winter. A gate that needs repairs? A leaky roof? Now’s the time to take care of it, while contractors can still easily access everything any before winter weather makes access to some areas more tricky.

2) Close up your pool for the summer. Clean your pool one last time, have one last pool party and close your pool up safely for the fall. You are responsible for preventing pool injuries and drowning. Make sure that the pool is securely covered and protected with a locked gate for the season.

Many families choose to move into a new home during the summer, before the school term starts. If you and your family will be moving this summer, be aware that moving day can be not only hectic, but also brings with it some unique dangers. Before you disconnect your utilities and before you head for your new home, consider these moving-day tips to keep everyone safe:

1) Hire movers who are insured and bonded. Hiring non-professionals may be less expensive, but if someone gets injured on the job, you and your insurance may be responsible for any personal injuries and medical bills. Also, if your items arrive damaged, you may not have much recourse unless your movers are properly insured. Check references and insurance carefully.

2) Keep children away from movers and moving trucks. Movers will be carrying large boxes, which can reduce their field of vision. Small children can be accidentally stepped on or can cause movers to fall. Never let your children play where the movers are doing their job and always keep children well away from the moving professionals. Moving trucks are also large and have many blind spots. Never let children play outside when moving trucks are pulling into or off of your property.

Summer is a time when many of us host events, have friends drop by and have work done on the house. All this can mean added visitors to your home, which means that now is a good time to re-evaluate the safety of your property. If a delivery person, worker, post office employee or other visitor to your home sustains a personal injury, has a slip and fall accident, or has an accident, you could be held responsible.

Many of us assume that we only need to worry about premises liability in the winter, when less natural light and wetter conditions increase the likelihood of accidents. However, summer also has its unique hazards which can result in injuries and legal problems. More outdoor work and play can mean that more objects are left around the yard. Insects can set up nests on your property. Dogs are often relegated to the outdoors in the summer, where they can pose a risk for visitors.

There are, however, several things that homeowners can do to ensure that their homes remain safe and welcoming throughout summer:

In the summer, when many of us have our pools open, pools can pose a serious danger as well as a property liability issue. Pools lead to serious personal injuries and drowning. An incorrectly maintained or inadequately supervised pool can lead to brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, broken bones, and even fatalities. In addition to keeping your pool clean and inviting, you’ll want to take steps to avoid pool accidents at your home.

Pool drains that resist UV degradation can pose a hazard because they create suction that can entrap children underneath the water, causing them to drown. It is important to install anti-entrapment devices on the drains to prevent body parts and hair from becoming trapped. In addition, properly sized drain covers are a must in order to keep drains clear and to prevent injuries.

If you have children, teach them not to play near the pool without adult supervision, and make certain that they do not remove drain covers or pool covers. Even if you take every precaution, you need to make sure that your children aren’t inadvertently creating hazards in the pool area. If your child removes a drain cover, for example, someone could be injured and you could face many legal problems. Adult supervision should be available at the poolside any time someone is swimming and any time children are near the pool.

Now that the holiday season is here, most homeowners can expect more traffic in front of their home. Guests and family may be arriving for festivities. Delivery personnel may be arriving with packages of gifts. Carollers may be present in some communities and in some cases charities send out door-to-door solicitors at this time of year.

While most of us are happy to open our homes to guests at this time of year, more visitors can mean less time and a greater risk of premises liability problems. With winter conditions and less time to spend cleaning up, your premises may pose a risk for slip and fall injuries, which can lead to bone fractures, head injuries, and other serious injuries. To protect your guests and to protect yourself as a homeowner, remember to:

1) Do a through sweep of the premises before the holidays begin. Are there broken gates or lights that pose a danger? Is there a leaking gutter that is causing a pool of water to form on a walkway? Identify possible dangers and have them fixed promptly. For things that cannot be fixed at once, be sure to pose a notice about the danger to alert any visitors to the problem.

Usually, weather is not a very exciting topic, but today it is all that residents of New England have to talk about. Maine and other parts of the east coast have been hit with freezing temperatures and even snow. Florida is seeing thunderstorms and showers. Some forecasters are predicting that some Northern parts of Florida may be affected by cold temperatures or even freezing before the system moves out.

Snow and rain may be part of spring in various parts of the country, but Florida property owners need to be aware that weather conditions can lead to Florida premises liability claims. Each year, Florida attorneys see legal claims launched after someone is injured in a slip and fall accident or other accident on a property that is not properly maintained.

The truth is, Florida has a number of weather features that create the possibility of accidents and personal injury. Fog, rain, and showers are not uncommon in the region. Florida is not even a stranger to snow. The mid-1970s saw a number of cold snaps and even snowy conditions in 1977. Some Florida residents saw snow on Christmas day in 1989. While Southern Florida attorneys and their clients rarely have to put up with snow, all extreme weather conditions can create dangerous conditions that lead to accidents.

Florida property owners need to be aware of the weather and need to act to ensure that their properties are safe for home dwellers and for visitors. While homeowners are certainly not expected to control the weather or react instantly to bad weather, known hazards on a property can easily lead to a premises liability claim in bad weather.

If a property owner knows about a poorly lit walk, a leaky roof, or other problem and fails to fix it, bad weather can lead to serious problems. Not maintaining a property or not taking reasonable steps to prevent accidents can lead to a claim, and owners need to be aware that claims are more likely to be made after poor weather. For example, if a roof gable has been leaky for some time it may create puddles on a sidewalk after a rain. If a visitor slips and falls on a sidewalk and can prove that the owner knew about the gable but refused to fix it, that injured party can be entitled to damages under the law.

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Most premises liability cases have to do with a specific location or premises. These cases are an issue when someone slips or becomes injured on another person’s property. A new case may take the definition of premises liability into cyberspace, however. A round of lawsuits filed in late January 2007 against social networking MySpace allege that the site failed to protect minors. Four families are suing the company, alleging their daughters were sexually assaulted after meeting men they had first encountered through MySpace. Attorneys representing the families claim that MySpace did not add security measures to the site, making minors vulnerable.

The website, owned by parent company News Corp., did eventually add some security features after widespread criticism that the site was doing nothing to protect minors. These security measures came too late, claim the victims’ families. In fact, the latest security features for MySpace – including a software program called Zephyr – were only released the same week the lawsuits were filed.

Experts in technology law have pointed out that message boards and social networking sites are not in fact required by law to have security features and in fact there are no laws governing the ways that these sites should operate. User agreements do ban specific illegal activities from sites, but each site is allowed to decide for itself how specific illegal activities will be stopped.