Term
| Owners and Occupiers of Land--General |
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Definition
| This deals with the possessory rights of an owner or occupier of land against the right of a person who is injured to recover for the owner or occupier’s negligence. The source of this relationship is the land. The court looks at the injury sustained by P by virtue of the condition of the land. |
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Term
| How is Duty Determined Regarding Owners and Occupiers of Land? |
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Definition
| Duty is determined by the owner or occupier’s status with the land and the P’s right to be present on the land, or an area next to the land. |
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Term
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Definition
| Generally a landowner owes no duty to exercise reasonable care to protect those outside the premises from conditions on the land that arise out of a state of nature. Courts distinguish between artificial and man-made conditions on the land, however. |
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Term
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Definition
The landowner’s duty to persons who come onto the land will often be determined by their right to be on the land and their purpose for being on the land.
Some states, including AR, will determine the landowner’s duty based upon whether a P is classified as a trespasser, licensee, or invitee. We define status based on the P’s relationship by virtue of his or her right to be on the land. |
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Term
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Definition
Defined as those who are on the land without the landowner’s consent or a legal right to be there.
At common law a landowner owed no duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent injury to trespassers. |
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Term
| Exceptions To No Duty Rule--3 Kinds of Trespassers |
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Definition
1. Discovered trespassers (duty to use ordinary care to avoid injury through active operations)
2. Frequent trespassers (duty to anticipate their presence and use reasonable care in activities for their protection)
3. Tolerated Intruders (duty same as that to a licensee, to warn them of dangers known by the landowner but unknown to them) |
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Term
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Definition
1. Defined as those who come upon the land for their own purposes as a matter of legal right or with the consent of the landowner.
2. Generally a landowner’s duty to a licensee is to exercise reasonable care to avoid injury to the licensee in conducting active operations (same as duty owed to a discovered trespasser).
3. The duty to a licensee also includes warning the P of hidden dangers known to the landowner and unknown to the P. |
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Term
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Definition
1. Defined as those who come upon the land at the landowner’s invitation or solicitation, for the benefit of the landowner.
2. Business visitors have usually been characterized as invitees.
3. Includes those who come upon land open to the general public.
4. Includes employees
5. A landowner’s duty to an invitee is to exercise reasonable care to make the premises safe. |
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Term
| Persons Outside the Established Categories--Children |
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Definition
| THE ATTRACTIVE NUISANCE DOCTRINE. When a landowner sets before young kids a temptation that he has reason to believe will lead them into danger, he must use ordinary care to protect them from harm. Ex. Swimming pool. |
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Term
| Persons Privileged to Enter Irrespective of Landowner's Consent |
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Definition
1. Public employees and public officials may be privileged to enter upon the land with or without the consent of the landowner.
2. There are at least 5 different approaches used to classify such—licensees, invitees, held as entitled to the duty owed to L or I depending on the highest duty which the landowner already owed to some other person at that time and place, given a separate classification with a special duty owed to the classification, or held entitled to reasonable care under all circumstances. |
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Term
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Definition
| Because numerous exceptions have been created to the class system, some jurisdictions have rejected it all together and applied the reasonable prudent person standard to all who are injured on the land. |
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Term
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Definition
1. Generally a LL owes no duty to exercise reasonable care to a tenant or to others who come upon the land to protect them from defective conditions existing at the time of the lease.
2. The lease is viewed as a conveyance of property that shifts liability to the tenant for maintenance, upkeep and failure to warn of existing hazards. |
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Term
| Exceptions to the No Duty Rule Apply To: |
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Definition
1. Undisclosed dangerous conditions known to the lessor and unknown to the lessee.
2. Conditions dangerous to persons outside the premises.
3. Premises leased for public admission.
4. Parts of the land retained in the lessor’s control which the lessee is entitled to use.
5. Where the lessor contracts to make repairs.
6. Where the lessor is negligent in making repairs. |
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