Premises liability: What is the default duty owed to entrants?

• A. Default duty for all; but consider different types of entry in breach
• B. No duty to trespassers
• C. Duty only to invitees
• D. There is no duty for licensees

Answer: (A)

In premises liability, the default is that the landowner must exercise reasonable care to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition for anyone who enters. But the level of care isn’t the same for everyone—the standard to prove a breach changes with the entrant’s status: invitees, licensees, or trespassers. So the general rule is a duty owed to all entrants, with breach judged by whether the entrant is an invitee who may require inspection and warning or remediation, a licensee who must be warned about known dangers, or a trespasser who generally receives a more limited duty (and, in child trespasser cases, the attractive nuisance rule can apply). Therefore, the default duty is to all entrants, and the breach is assessed by how entry is classified.

The other statements don’t fit because there is at least a duty to trespassers (not none), duties extend beyond invitees to licensees as well, and licensees do have a recognized duty to be warned about known dangerous conditions.