Is a Landlord Responsible for Damage to a Utility Meter in the Parking Lot?
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Premises liability involves the responsibility of property owners to maintain safe conditions for people coming on or about the property. Homeowners can be and often are held liable for injuries which occur on their property. If a person slips, trips, or falls as a result of a dangerous or hazardous condition, the property owner may be fully responsible. Property owners are generally held accountable for falls as a result of water, ice, or snow, as well as abrupt changes in flooring, poor lighting, or a hidden hazard, such as a gap or hard to see hole in the ground. Several categories of persons to whom a property owner may be liable exist, and the duties of protection owed to each group are specific. Where a homeowner, by express or implied invitation, induces or leads others to come upon the premises for any lawful purpose, a duty to exercise ordinary care arises to keep the premises safe. The invitation may be express, implied from known and customary use of portions of the premises, or inferred from conduct actually known to the homeowner. Workers or contractors are typically considered invitees. A licensee is a person who has no contractual relation with the owner of the premises but is permitted, expressly or implicitly, to go on the premises. The homeowner is liable to a licensee only for willful or wanton injury. It is usually willful or wanton not to exercise ordinary care to prevent injuring a licensee who is actually known to be, or is reasonably expected to be, within the range of a dangerous act or condition.
A person creating a condition causing the injury, while acting under direction of the owner or possessor, may be liable. A property owner is generally liable for dangerous conditions on the property, such as dead trees overhanging a walkway, negligently maintained stores, parking lots, stairways and driveways. The duties of a premises owner are typically nondelegable. If the owner remains in possession, the owner cannot escape responsibility merely because he contracted with a company to provide maintenance. For example, a business remains liable for the condition of its parking lot, even if it has hired a landscaping company to maintain the parking lot and to remove snow and ice.
A parking facility is generally defined as any building, structure, land, right-of-way, equipment or facility used or useful in connection with the construction, enlargement, development, maintenance or operation of any area or building for off-street parking of motor vehicles. Private facilities are subject to the rules of the facility owner. Many cities operate parking facilities by authority of the state legislature. A location on private property may be regulated by governmental codes/ordinances and traffic laws such as handicap parking stalls, loading zones, fire zones etc. State statutes, which vary by state, may empower certain cities or towns to make and enforce rules and regulations governing the use of any parking facility owned or controlled by the city. Operators of parking lots may not only be responsible for the vehicles on their premises, but for the safety of persons and property on their premises as well. Failure to provide security personnel or proper lighting in areas known for high crime rates have subjected parking lot owners to liability for assaults on patrons.