| Description: | An invitee is someone whom a premises owner or occupier, by express or implied invitation, induces or leads to come upon his premises for any lawful purpose. Invitees comprise the broadest category of visitors to a premises and have the best chance to acquire compensation for their injuries. This is because invitees are owed the highest legal duty by the premises owner/occupier, who must exercise reasonable care to discover and inhibit hazards that could hurt invitees. This higher duty is owed because the premises owner/occupier derives some benefit or potential benefit from having the invitee on the premises: a customer to a store is there to potentially buy things from the premises owner; a friend visiting someone’s home provides companionship; an apartment tenant pays rent. A licensee, on the other hand, is someone who is permitted to be on the premises for his own benefit, and not to the benefit of the premises owner/occupier. The Georgia Court of Appeals has defined a licensee as “a person who is neither a customer, a servant, nor a trespasser, who does not stand in any contractual relation with the landowner, and who is permitted to go on the premises merely for her own interests, convenience, or gratification.” Trespassers. This one is clear: someone with no permission or legal right to be on the premises. |
Listing Details