Negligent Security and Premise Liability Law in Florida

Property and business owners in Florida would be wise to maintain their premises in good order and free from any hazards that could injure a person who visits the property.
Many people are under the impression that if someone visits their property without permission, they are therefore not liable for any injuries or damage that may happen. This is not necessarily true.

Some of the terms that may be used to define injurious incidents occurring on property are gross negligence, ordinary negligence, premise liability, intentional misconduct and duty of care. Terms used to define persons who enter or visit property include uninvited guests, undiscovered guests, invited guests, and trespassers. Finally, some of the categories defining property types are private property, community property and public property.

You can see that this is going to get complicated.

A recent case in Palm Beach County involved an injured person’s status, the type of property, and owner liability or negligence and was the subject of a decision by the 4th District Court of Appeals. The incident involved a woman who was attending a party at an apartment complex. The woman was shot in the leg by a third party, and later sued the owners of the complex for negligence, saying they did not provide adequate security.

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