You expect that you will be safe when you visit stores, apartments, restaurants, or any other commercial location. Owners and landlords are supposed to light parking lots and walkways, clean up slippery spills, and warn visitors about other known dangers while they oversee repairs. However, injuries are common enough that premises liability is a frequent source of personal injuries.
If you patronize a commercial venture and are harmed by a hazardous condition the owner failed to warn you about, a seasoned personal injury attorney might be able to get you the compensation you require to pay medical bills, replace lost wages, and work through the emotional stress. A Eustis premises liability lawyer is waiting to discuss your situation.
People injured on another person’s property must prove an owner or landlord was negligent before they will be eligible for compensation for economic and non-economic damages. Some common premises liability claims include the following:
Premises liability claims arise from negligence. Property owners have a duty to keep the premises safe for visitors, although they owe different duties depending on why someone is on the property. If they breach that duty and a visitor is injured, the owners may be held responsible for paying the injured party for their losses. A skilled Eustis premises liability attorney will consider all aspects of the situation to build a negligence case.
Property owners owe no duty to adult trespassers except to not purposely harm them. However, they do owe a duty to child trespassers under Florida’s attractive nuisance doctrine.
Owners may be liable for dangerous conditions they know about and know or should know children would be attracted to, with the child’s injury reasonably foreseen. The law acknowledges that children’s brains are curious and incapable of recognizing danger.
According to Florida Statutes § 823.08, attractive nuisances include discarded cars and refrigerators, clothes dryers, or any airtight unit. Attractive nuisances do not necessarily have to be abandoned. A backyard pool or trampoline also entices children.
Owners are duty-bound to fence, lock, or post warning signs about known dangers. A Eustis premises liability attorney can elaborate on the attractive nuisance doctrine.
Invitees are visitors to an owner’s property to conduct business that benefits the owner, such as grocery stores, restaurants, or dress shops. Property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care and must protect invitees against any dangers the owner knows or should know are a threat. But these claims can be complex.
For example, a grocery store customer who slips on a discarded bunch of grapes will fare better in a negligence lawsuit if the grapes have been squashed on the floor for hours than if they were recently dropped. Because negligence lawsuits depend on a defendant’s unreasonable actions, the jury must decide how reasonable it would be before an owner discovers the hazard.
Licensees visit a property for social reasons, such as dinner with friends at home or dropping by their apartment. Owners must reasonably inform licensees about dangers that exist. Warnings can include signs that block a construction site or cordon off a plumbing leak that has made the bathroom floor slippery.
As long as you are not a trespasser, the owner or manager must keep you safe from hazards by repairing or warning you about them when you visit a property. If you are injured, many factors can support a lawsuit so the negligent party can compensate you for your medical bills, lost wages, pain, and suffering.
Call The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys for a consultation and tell us what happened to you. Our mission is to get you the money you need to account for your losses. A Eustis premises liability lawyer will fight for you.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
