Landowners Flashcards
Does a landowner owe a duty to those off the premises?
A landowner has no duty to protect someone off premises from natural conditions on the premises, but is liable to passersby for unreasonably dangerous artificial conditions or structures abutting adjacent lands.
Does a landowner owe a duty to an undiscovered trespasser?
A landowner’s duty depends on the classification of the person coming onto their land. A landowner owes no duty to an undiscovered trespasser unless their acts are so willful and wanton it amounts to reckless endangerment.
Does a landowner owe a duty to a discovered or anticipated trespasser?
A landowner owes a duty to discovered or anticipated trespassers to warn of or make safe known, concealed, unsafe artificial conditions known to the landowner involving risk of death or serious bodily injury (i.e., death traps)—there is no duty regarding natural conditions or less dangerous artificial ones.
What is the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine?
A landowner has a duty to exercise ordinary care to avoid a reasonably foreseeable risk to children caused by artificial conditions on his property. A plaintiff must show:
(1) a dangerous condition on the land the owner is or should be aware of;
(2) the owner knows or should know children frequent the vicinity,
(3) the condition is likely to cause injury (i.e., dangerous because a child cannot appreciate the risk), and
(4) the expense of remedying the situation is slight compared to the magnitude of the risk.
What is the difference between a licensee and an invitee?
A licensee is one who enters onto the land with the possessor’s permission for his own purpose or business (including social guests). An invitee is one who enters onto land in response to an invitation from the landowner—they enter for a purpose related to the landowner’s business or because the land is held open to the public.
What duty does a landowner owe to a licensee?
A landowner owes a licensee a duty to warn of dangerous, concealed conditions (either natural or artificial) known to the owner that create an unreasonable risk of harm—there is no duty to inspect, only a duty to make safe.
What duty does a landowner owe to an invitee?
A landowner owes an invitee a duty to make reasonable inspections and warn of and make safe dangerous, concealed conditions (both artificial and natural) that create an unreasonable risk of harm—in other words, there is a duty to inspect, discover, protect and repair.
What duties do lessors and lessee’s owe?
A lessee generally has a duty to maintain the premises. A lessor must warn of existing defects of which he knows or should know and that he knows the lessee is unlikely to discover on reasonable inspection. If a lessor covenants to repair, he is liable for unreasonably dangerous conditions, and is liable where he volunteers to repair and does so negligently.
