"I WAS INJURED ON SOMEONE ELSE'S PROPERTY!! 
WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS?"

WHAT IS PREMISES LIABILITY?

Premises liability is the responsibility which the owner or possessor of land has to others because of defects in the land of which the owner knows or should have known.

WHAT RESPONSIBILITY DOES THE OWNER OR POSSESSOR OF LAND OWE?

An owner or possessor of land is required to provide reasonably safe premises to persons who lawfully enter onto the property.  The steps that the owner or possessor of land must take to satisfy the responsibility depends on the status of the person who enters onto the property. The person who is injured on the property, regardless of the seriousness of the injury, is not entitled to any recovery unless it can be proven that the property owner or possessor violated a duty to the injured party, and that violation of duty was a direct cause of the injury. 

It should be specifically noted that in actions against the State, or any political subdivisions, i.e., cities, schools, state or federal hospitals and county road commissions, the type of defect or its location must satisfy certain specific criteria, or the claim will be barred by the doctrine of governmental immunity.

WHAT IS MEANT BY THE "STATUS OF THE PERSON WHO ENTERS ONTO THE PROPERTY"?

A trespasser is someone who has no authority or permission to enter onto the property. The owner or possessor of land has no duty to protect a trespasser unless it is a child, and the owner or possessor of land knows or reasonably should have known of the child's presence. However, the owner or possessor of land can not set a trap for a trespasser. 

A licensee is someone who has limited authority or permission to enter onto the property, such as a social guest, a utility meter reader, a mail delivery person, a newspaper delivery person, a fireman or a policeman. The owner or possessor of land must inspect the land in a reasonable and periodic manner to detect obvious defects, and to repair them in a reasonably prompt manner, and, provide reasonable warnings of such defects until they are repaired.

A business customer, called a business invitee, is owed the greatest duty.  The owner of land must actively inspect the land for defects in a reasonable and periodic fashion in order to recognize the likelihood of the risk of harm.  The business owner must take reasonably prompt steps to repair the defects, and must warn of the existence of those defects.

WHAT IS MEANT BY GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY?

The only premises liability claims against governmental units that can be litigated involve the following:

1.        A building defect which is part of the building's structure.
           
2.        An action against a city or township which arises out of a defective    sidewalk or pedestrian crosswalk; however, an action against a county or the state for the same condition is not viable.

3.        An action arising from a motor vehicle accident which was caused by a defect in the traveled portion of the highway, which affects vehicular travel.

DOES THE PERSON ENTERING ONTO THE LAND HAVE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY?

The law requires that anyone who acts does so in a reasonably safe manner, to act for his/her own safety. If the jury, in listening to all the evidence, determines that the person who entered the property was more than 50% responsible for his/her own injury, that person is not entitled to any recovery, regardless of the extent of the injury. 

TO WHAT DAMAGES IS AN INJURED PERSON ENTITLED?

If the owner of land is determined to be more than 50% responsible for a victim's injuries, the owner is required to pay for all reasonable damages that directly flow from the negligence.  That is, he/she is responsible for medical and hospital expenses, medications, nursing care, wage losses, loss of future earning capacity, pain, suffering, shock and fright.  Some of those losses can be calculated with precision, and the jury determines some. 

PLEASE NOTE:

Just because a person gets injured on the property of another does not entitle him/her to a recovery.  The injured party is entitled to recovery only if:

1.        The property owner or possessor breaches a duty owed to the injured party; and,

2.        The injured party was acting for his/her own safety and was less than 50% comparatively at fault for the injury; and,

3.        Governmental immunity or a legally recognized release of liability did not protect the property owner.