Personal Injury Attorneys: Getting What You Deserve

How Trespassing Accusations Might Affect Your Premise Liability Case

15 April 2021

Laurie Flores

If you are on a property and the owner of the property is negligent when maintaining it, you might be entitled to compensation for your injuries. However, one exception made is with incidents involving trespassing. If you are accused of trespassing, this might be used as a justification to not compensate you for the injuries you have suffered.

1. Your Right to Sue

Even if you were trespassing on the property, you may still be able to sue and win. Also, depending on the state in which you reside, you may not even be considered to be trespassing if you are confused and entered the property accidentally. You might also not know that the property you are using is private property. For example, you may have often walked on the property without realizing that you do not have permission.

2. The Degree of Negligence

If you are trespassing on a property and you fall down a flight of stairs that have recently become damaged, this may be considered an act of negligence only if the property owner was aware of the damaged stairs. However, if the owner sets up a trap that causes you to become injured, this is considered a form of recklessness and you will be more likely to receive compensation for your injuries even if you were trespassing.

3. Attractive Nuisances

For children, trespassing is not necessarily going to apply to those structures and objects that are likely to attract children. A common example of this is with a swimming pool. The property owner needs to take the steps necessary to make sure that this type of structure is not accessible by putting up a fence.

4. The Role of a Premises Liability Attorney

In situations like this, you should consider hiring a premises liability attorney. Being accused of trespassing can make it more difficult to reach a settlement and can lead to an uphill battle if you choose to take your case to court. 

In addition to proving that the property owner should be held responsible for your injuries, you may also need to argue that you were not trespassing. Once you have made the case that the other party is negligent, you must also prove that you are as injured as you claim. This is challenging because many premise liability claims are fraudulent and you will need to prove that you are actually injured to receive compensation.

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