The first question you might have is – what is premises liability? It is a legal concept that comes into play in a personal injury case, where the injury is caused by an unsafe condition on someone’s property.
In New Jersey, commercial and multifamily property owners are legally responsible for improving or disposing any type of hazardous condition on their premise(s). Single family property owners don’t have the same responsibility as commercial and multifamily owners. Types of hazardous conditions include:
- Slip and fall incidents
- Dog bites
- Snow and ice accidents
- Poor maintenance of property
- Defective household or property conditions
- Swimming pool accidents
- Water leak or flooding
- Toxic fumes or material
- Fires
Are You an Invitee, Licensee, or Trespasser?
An invitee is someone who has the property owner’s permission to enter their property. Invitees are usually friends, relatives, and neighbors. The property owner owes an invitee a duty of reasonable care to make sure the property is safe.
A licensee is someone who has the owner’s permission to enter the property, but is coming onto the property for his or her own purposes. An example of a licensee could be a salesman. In this situation, a property owner should inform that person(s) of dangerous conditions that could cause harm.
A trespasser is a person who isn’t authorized to be on the property. There is no guarantee that reasonable care has been taken by the owner to make sure that the property is safe. In rare instances, a property owner could be liable for injuries involving unnatural conditions that lured a potential trespasser onto a property with knowledge that injury might happen.
If Both Parties Are at Fault, What Happens?
In some cases, a property owner might determine the injured person was at fault for what happened to them on your property. A visitor has their own set of responsibilities in this situation too. They must make sure that they are using reasonable care when they are on another’s property.
There is also the chance that comparative fault comes into play. This occurs when an injured person’s legal costs will be reduced by a percentage that is equivalent to whose fault it actually was.
In the Garden State, there is something called “Inadequate Building Security”. These types of cases happen is apartments or office buildings. Owners of these buildings have a duty to act practically when it comes to securing access and making it impossible for threats to occur. If someone was to come into the building and injure another person, the owner of the building may be held liable. Why? Because they didn’t take reasonable steps to secure their building.
Contact Us
If you have been injured on another person’s property, or if you have any questions involving premises liability, contact the Law Offices of Anthony Carbone. Contact us today to schedule an appointment regarding your possible premises liability claim in New Jersey.