Copyright © 2025 Gelb & Gelb, P.C. All rights reserved.
When people sustain injuries on someone’s property, they may be able to obtain compensation for their injuries by initiating a premises liability lawsuit against the landowner or tenant. If you suffered injuries on another’s property, you should speak with a Prince George’s County premises liability lawyer.
An experienced injury attorney in Prince George’s County could review the circumstances surrounding your injuries and advise you on potential next steps to take to recover fair compensation. Roger Gelb could file a premises liability action on your behalf and zealously advocate for your interests.
Premises liability claims are a form a negligence claim, meaning that claimants need to have sufficient evidence to prove that the landowner’s or occupying tenant’s irresponsible conduct caused their injuries to occur.
Determining if property owners’ or renters’ irresponsible or negligent conduct caused claimants’ injuries typically turns on how well the owner or renter maintained the property or warned others of existing dangerous conditions on the property. If certain dangerous conditions are present on the property, then claimants may be successful in proving that the landowner’s or tenant’s negligent conduct caused their injuries. These conditions include:
While the existence of one or more dangerous conditions may help prove a premises liability claim, courts will not automatically hold landowners or tenants liable merely because the conditions exist. A skilled Prince George’s premises liability attorney could help claimants prove their case by gathering evidence establishing that a landowner or tenant’s negligence actions caused the claimants’ injuries.
In addition to proving causation, premises liability law requires claimants to establish that the property owner or tenant owed them a duty of care. The duty of care owed depends on the injured’s legal status as either an invitee, licensee by invitation, bare licensee, or trespasser at the time they suffered injuries.
Invitees are people who visit another’s property for business purposes, such as store customers or car dealership patrons.
Landowners and occupying tenants owe invitees a duty to use reasonable care to keep the property safe. Specifically, property owners and tenants owe invitees a duty to regularly inspect their premises and take reasonable measures to protect invitees from all foreseeable dangerous conditions, including warning them of possible hazards on the premises.
Licensees are people invited onto someone’s property for a social purpose, typically a house guest.
Property owners’ duty to protect licensees by invitation from harm is less than the duty owed to invitees. Under Maryland law, property owners and tenants only have a responsibility to use reasonable care to warn licensees by invitation of known dangerous conditions on the property that are not easily discoverable.
Trespassers are those who enter someone else’s property without permission. Prince George’s County landowners or tenants owe trespassers no duty except to refrain from willfully or wantonly injuring them and entrapping them.
Since the duty of care owed depends on the specific facts and circumstances of a case, determining the legal status of claimants at the time of their injuries can get complicated. Even if claimants are invitees or licensees by invitation, landowners or tenants may try to argue that claimants were either trespassers or bare licensees at the time of their injuries to evade liability. A knowledgeable Prince George’s County premises liability attorney could help claimants determine and prove their legal status at the time of their injury based on the facts of the case.
Determining whether you have a viable premises liability claim against a landowner or occupying tenant can be confusing. A Prince George’s County premises liability lawyer could review your case and advise of any potential claims you may have against a negligent landowner or renter. Schedule a consultation with the skilled legal team at Gelb & Gelb, P.C. today.
Copyright © 2025 Gelb & Gelb, P.C. All rights reserved.