Property owners or people in possession of a particular piece of property (i.e. tenants) may be held responsible for injuries that occur on that property. The people who have control over the property are expected to have taken reasonable precautions to a) eliminate dangerous conditions on their property (such as slippery stairs, uneven floors, or inadequate lighting), and/or b) warn other people of those dangers. If you or someone you love was injured by a failure to take such precautions, you should discuss your case with an experienced Florida premises liability attorney.

A person who suffers an injury due to a property owner's negligence may sue that property owner for compensation for the injury. The person bringing the suit (i.e. the "plaintiff") would have to prove that the owner was negligent in maintaining his/her property, and that the owner's negligence caused the plaintiff's injury. In Florida, as in many other states, the law gives greater protection to "invitees" (people who are present on the property for the owner's commercial gain, such as customers in a store) than it does to "licensees" (people who, unlike the "invitees," are either invited or allowed to come onto someone's property for a non-commercial purpose).

Property owners who invite others onto their property for commercial purposes have a duty to inspect the property for any dangerous conditions, as well as to take action to eliminate such conditions or warn visitors to avoid them. Because of the duty to inspect, they are responsible not only for conditions that they knew about, but also for dangers that they should have been aware of. For example, if a person slips and falls on a wet floor in a market and is injured in the fall, the owner of the market will be held liable for that injury unless the owner proves that he or she had made reasonable efforts to inspect the floors, clean them as needed, and/or place warning signs alerting patrons to the slipperiness of the wet floor.

In contrast, in regard to social guests, property owners are only held responsible for injuries caused by conditions that the owners knew about and failed to rectify, or about which they failed to give adequate warning.

Under Florida law, property owners owe most trespassers a much lower duty of care: only the duty not to act intentionally or recklessly to hurt such trespassers. If an owner is aware both of dangers on the property and of the fact that trespassers often enter his or her property, he or she also has a duty to warn the trespassers of the existing dangers

However, the law provides greater protection to children. Certain features of a property may be considered "attractive nuisances"--i.e. features that pose dangers but are nonetheless appealing to children (for example, a pool or a trampoline). If children are drawn onto a property by such "attractive nuisances" and then harmed by them, the property's owner may well be held liable for the children's injuries, even if those children were trespassers.

Premises liability law applies in a variety of circumstances, including cases involving construction accidents; unsafe swimming pools, parking lots, or playgrounds; elevator accidents; and improperly maintained sidewalks, walkways, and stairways, which may lead to slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall incidents. It also applies in a variety of locations--in private homes as well as shopping malls, amusement parks and playgrounds, work places and restaurants. In addition, victims of crimes may sue property owners who took inadequate security measures and therefore allowed the crimes at issue to occur more easily on their property.

At The Law Offices of Jamie L. Allen, P.A., our experienced Fort Lauderdale, Sarasota, and Boca Raton premises liability attorneys, investigators, and support staff represent injured clients throughout Broward, Palm Beach, and Sarasota County.

To schedule a free consultation that will address the specific circumstances of your case, please fill out and submit the online contact form, or call one of our numbers below:

Fort Lauderdale Office: (954) 793-4170
Sarasota Office: (941) 227-4350
Boca Raton Office: (561) 948-4384
Toll Free: (888) 954-3454