Unlawful entry into vacant home and getting injured

[blackienduchess]

I am the owner of a vacant home and the upstairs flooring is relatively
unsafe. If someone breaks into my home and falls through the upstairs
flooring and gets injured, can I be held legally responsible? And if so,
how can I protect myself?

 

[dee_dub]

There was another thread about this recently. Your answer might be here:

http://www.thelaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35745

It probably depends a lot on where you are - some jurisdictions distinguish between "invitees" and "trespassers", and you might not owe any duty of care to somebody who breaks in to ensure that your property is not reasonably safe.

 

[tpajet]

I got my answer. Under Florida law, if the person who is trespassing is under the influence, then I as the property owner would be off the hook. If they are not under the influence, then I am only liable if I have committed gross negligence or intentional misconduct.

It also does say that if they are an undiscovered trespasser (in other words you didn't know they were trespassing) then you must refrain from intentional misconduct, but you are not required to warn of dangerous conditions. It says that you only have to warn them if you catch them trespassing.

Now, the last paragraph does state that I as the property owner cannot be help liable for injury or death to someone that is attempting to commit a felony or is in the commission of a felony on the property, so breaking an entering being a felony, I am off the hook.

So in short, let them fall right through the floor. You can point and laugh at them later and they can't sue you (under Florida law - check you state laws.)

 

[T_tops]

Lol at the point and laugh. Thats good to know.