Landowner Liability

A landowner may or may not be liable for an individual injured on his property. For example, a homeowner is not liable for a guest who is injured when she trips on the front porch steps. The homeowner's only duty to guests is to warn them of, or to repair, dangerous conditions. Unless the porch step was old and rotted, it is not a dangerous condition.

Sidebar: Trespassers are owed no duties. A landowner is not required to post warnings that dangerous conditions exist as a precaution for potential trespasser, for example. However, the landowner may not intentionally injure the trespasser (set a trap, for instance) although he does have the right to use force to protect himself or his property.

Sidebar: A landowner that is sued is typically defended and protected under her homeowner's insurance policy. Under the policy, the insurance company has the duty to pay for the costs of defending the lawsuit (the "duty to defend"). If the landowner loses the suit and damages are awarded, the company pays the plaintiff (the "duty to indemnify") up to the limits of the policy.

Additionally, states have enacted laws that provide that landowners do not owe a duty of care to recreational users of their property. These laws are generally knows as "recreational use statutes." The statutes relieve the landowner from liability because they provide that he does not have a duty to keep the property safe for entry or use, or to warn of a dangerous condition on the property to recreational users. For example, these laws protect a landowner who gives permission for horse owners in the area to ride across his property.

TIP: Recreational uses include hunting, fishing, trapping, camping, hiking, sightseeing, operating snow-traveling and all-terrain vehicles, skiing, hang-gliding, dog sledding, equine activities, boating, sailing, canoeing, rafting, biking, picnicking, swimming and other outdoor activities.

TIP: A landowner that charges for the use of his land (a dirt bike trail, for instance) typically loses any protection under the recreational use statute in his state.

Sidebar: A landowner, for purposes of the recreational use statutes, includes the legal owner of the land, a tenant, lessee, occupant or person in control of the premises.

The attractive use doctrine is a special category of landowner liability. Where normally the landowner would not be liable to trespassers, in cases where some dangerous feature on his property attracts children, he has higher duty of care. Swimming pools, for instance, are considered an attractive nuisance. The landowner who fails to fence her pool in a neighborhood full of children may be liable for a child's injuries even if he is a trespasser.