Premises

For other uses, see Premise

Look up Premises in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Premises are land and buildings together considered as a property. This usage arose from property owners finding the word in their title deeds, where it originally correctly meant "the aforementioned; what this document is about", from Latin prae-missus = "placed before".

In this sense, the word is always used in the plural, but singular in construction. Note that a single house or a single other piece of property is "premises", not a "premise", although the word "premises" is plural in form as in "The equipment is located on the customer's premises" and never "The equipment is located on the customer's premise".

Premises liability

Premises liability is the liability for a landowner for certain torts that occur on the real property. In sum:

Premises liability law is the body of law which makes the person who is in possession of land or premises responsible for certain injuries suffered by persons who are present on the premises.

—ExpertLaw website^[1]

For premises liability to apply:

1. The defendant must possess the land or "premises".^[1]
2. The plaintiff must be an invitee or, in certain cases, a licensee.^[1][2] Traditionally, trespassers were not protected under premises liability law. ^[1][2] However, in 1968, the California Supreme Court issued a vastly influential opinion, entitled Rowland v. Christian, which abolished the significance of legal distinctions such as invitee, licensee, or trespasser in determining whether one could hold the possessor of a premises liable for harm. This opinion was vastly influential on many other state courts in the United States, and is viewed as a seminal opinion in the development of the law of premises liability.
3. There must be negligence or some other wrongful act.^[2] In recent years, the law of premises liability has evolved to include cases where a person is injured on the premises of another by a third person's wrongful act, such as an assault. These cases are sometimes referred to as "third party premises liability" cases and they represent a highly complex and dynamic area of tort law. They pose especially complex legal issues of duty and causation because the injured party is, ostensibly, seeking to hold a possessor or owner of property directly or vicariously liable when the immediate injury-producing act was, arguably, not caused by the possessor or owner.

Lai Chau v. Southstar Equity Limited Co. and Brookside Properties Inc.

Lai Chau, a former University of South Florida student, survived a violent abduction in her North Tampa apartment complex in 2001. Two men sneaked past the complex’s security gate, and shot the 20-year-old student three times in the head. The landmark negligent security case won Chau $15.7 million in damages in 2004.^[3]

Fred Zinober, who helped represent Chau, said "it never would have happened to Lai Chau," had the property owners not allowed negligent security at The Remington complex.

"We really believe that people will pay an additional $12 or $13 (per month) to be safe," Zinober remarked of security upgrades during the trial.^[4]

Premises liability lawyers encourage tenants to research their area’s crime history through public records, which can be found online through law enforcement and county clerk Web sites.

Premises registration

Premises registration is "a way to locate where livestock or dead animals are kept or congregated."^[5] In the United States, it is voluntary according to the USDA, but may be mandatory for each state.^[5]

As of January 13, 2009 the USDA has entered into the federal register a document which provides for the expansion of implementation of a mandatory national animal identification system to be effective January 2010. Citizens may go here [1] to enter their comments and concerns about the expected effects of such limitations imposed by this action.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} ExpertLaw website. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Article on premises liability. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
3. ^ Nguyen, Dong-Phuong. "Carjack Victim Begins 2002 At Home." St. Petersburg Times 1 Jan. 2002 http://www.sptimes.com/2002/01/01/TampaBay/Carjack_victim_begins.shtml
4. ^ Fechter, Michael. "Jury Gives $10 Million More in Security Suit." Tampa Tribune 17 Dec. 2004 http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:7be8aDBsSh8J:www.tampalawfirm.com/%3Fpageid%3D141%26rowid%3D181+zinober+%2410+million&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
5. ^ ^{a b} State of Wisconsin website Livestock Premises Registration page. Retrieved January 12, 2009.

See also

• Apartment building
• Parking lot