The California Premises Liability law requires property owners or tenants to express due diligence with their structures and/or acreage and holds them responsible for any damage or injury that has occurred within their property.
California’s law on premises liability is quite complex providing a number of categories for occupants and land-owners; defining how a land-owner or tenant may be held liable to an injury received in their property; the rights and responsibilities of the property visitors and their possible status while inside the property.
A fundamental principle in determining liability in a premises liability claim is supported and defined in the California Civil Code section 1714 that states:
“Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person, except so far as the latter has, willfully or by want of ordinary care, brought the injury upon himself or herself.”
Any exception to the aforementioned code must be supported by public policy and/or statutory exceptions. Attorneys must also consider the factors below before filing their case.
• foreseen harm to the public
• proven intent to injure the visitor while inside the premises
• relation between the tenant or owner’s conduct and the injury suffered
• the moral inclination of the visitor’s blame
• availability of policies to avoid future harm
• extent of the visitor’s burden and how it will impact the surrounding community if a duty is imposed for the resulting liability for breach
• the availability of insurance and it’s cost
The visitor’s status helps determine their rights by law as well as the liability of the property owner/tenant. There are generally four status types for property visitors:
• Invitee – is a person or group of persons who has been invited by the land-owner or tenant as a member of the public or as a partner/consultant in a business venture
• Social guest – is a person or group of persons who has been invited into a property on a purely social basis
• Licensee – is a person or group of persons who has been invited by the land-owner or tenant to enter a property that is usually not open to the public
• Trespasser – is a person or group of persons who enter into a known private property without the expressed permission of the land-owner/tenant
Los Angeles holds slip and fall injury as its top generator for premises liability claims but there are other injuries that may be filed. Injuries that can qualify for a premises liability claim may also come from: unmaintained property conditions, animal attacks, fire hazards, below-standard structures and chemical exposures.
These accidents can also occur in supermarkets, gasoline stations, private homes, hotels, shopping malls, public areas like parks and playgrounds, etc.
Property owners would not always be around to check on their properties so it is best if visitors would be vigilant and aware of what is going with their surroundings to avoid any kind of injury while in another’s premises.
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