Owners and occupiers

Question 1

Invitees

Answer 1

Invitees are those who come onto the land for a material or economic purpose:

• Public invitees are those who come onto the land when the land is held open to the public—e.g., a state fair;
• Business visitors are those who come onto the land for a purpose connected to business dealings with the possessor.

Question 2

Traditional approach: duty to invitees

Answer 2

Owners and occupiers owe a duty of care to invitees to the extent that invitees abide by the scope of the invitation:

• There is a duty to inspect the property; and
• There is a duty to discover and protect invitees from unreasonably dangerous conditions.

Past the scope of the invitation, an invitee becomes a trespasser.

The duty is non-delegable—i.e., a possessor cannot avoid liability by assigning care of the property to an independent contractor.

Question 3

Licensees

Answer 3

Licensees are those who enter the land with express or implied permission—e.g., houseguests.

Question 4

Traditional approach: duty to licensees

Answer 4

The possessor must exercise reasonable care in conducting activities on the land:

• There is no duty to inspect for dangers;
• There is a duty:(a) Either to make the property reasonably safe; or
  (b) To warn licensees of concealed dangers.

Question 5

Traditional approach: duty to trespassers

Answer 5

The possessor must:

(1) Refrain from willful, wanton, intentional, or reckless misconduct—e.g., using a trap;
(2) Warn discovered or anticipated trespassers of hidden dangers.

A person who was not a trespasser but sneaks into a locked or off-limits part of the property becomes an undiscovered trespasser.

Question 6

Flagrant trespassers

Answer 6

Some jurisdiction require only a lesser duty of care to “flagrant trespassers.”

Question 7

Off-premises victims

Answer 7

(1) Natural conditions:

Land possessors generally are not liable for injuries resulting from natural conditions.

Trees in urban areas are an exception.

(2) Artificial conditions:

Land possessors must prevent unreasonable risk of harm to persons not on the premises.

Question 8

Third Restatement approach

Answer 8

An owner owes a duty of reasonable care to all, even trespassers, unless they are “flagrant” trespassers.

The duty includes preventing harm posed by artificial conditions to entrants.

The only duty owed to flagrant trespassers is the duty not to act in an intentional, willful, or wanton manner to cause physical harm.

Question 9

Common carriers and innkeepers

Answer 9

At common law, they owed the highest duty of care consistent with the practical operation of business.

Under the Third Restatement approach, however, common carriers and innkeepers only owe a duty of reasonable care.

Question 10

Sellers of real property

Answer 10

They owe a duty to disclose to buyers those concealed and unreasonably dangerous conditions known to the seller—i.e., conditions that the buyer is unlikely to discover upon reasonable inspection.