Premise Liability

Premises liability law in Maryland and Washington D.C. sometimes dictates that the owner/occupier of the premises should be held responsible for an injury that resulted due to that owner’s negligence. If you were injured by the unsafe conditions of a property, then you should immediately contact us. We have experience with premises liability cases in Washington, D.C. and Maryland.

In Maryland, the level of liability of the property owner is dependent on the status of the person who was injured. The State’s property law classifies premises liability claimants into three categories: licensee, invitee, and trespasser. The State also has something referred to as a bare licensee.

• Licensee: A licensee is essentially a person who the property owner invited onto the property for reasons other than business. These could be friends or even guests at a get-together or party. The property owner owes a duty to the licensee to maintain the property and keep it free of potentially dangerous conditions. And if there are any possible hazards on the property, the owner is to make that clear to the licensee.
• Invitee: Invitees are people who are invited to the property to conduct some kind of business with the property owner. These persons could be customers at a store. The property owners have an obligation to maintain the property and have it free of hazards for their invitees. They are required to regularly inspect the property to ensure that the premises remain free of hazards. If for any reason, there is any hazard present, it should be clearly marked so that any invitee can avoid it.
• Trespasser: Like it sounds, a trespasser is someone who enters the property without permission. In such cases, the property owner is not obliged to protect them from any possible hazards. The only time the property owner becomes liable is when the owner intentionally caused the trespasser harm.
• Bare Licensee: Bare licensees are people who enter the property with the owner’s consent, but for their own business motives. Property owners in Maryland are not obliged to take extreme care whenever they have bare licensees on the property. However, they still have to take care not to develop any new hazards without warning.

The law in Washington, D.C. recognizes similar classifications without differentiating licensees from bare licensees.