Legal Question in Personal Injury in Michigan
I do not agree with homeowner liability.
I am a student and I am doing research on homeowner liability and it's in a debate form and i'm against a homeowner being liable for someones stupid mistakes on my property. But there are somethings that I do agree with if someone was attacked at my home when they came in and I knew about it and my dog attacked, but if the person or person's on my property or in my home where attacked and injured I do not believe i should be held responsible for the fact that they are injured for being on my property without my knowledge of it or if a person was at my home and i knew but they where stupid and grabbed something and hurt themselves but they say that I or someone in my family left it or on out I would rather not have to go to court about this when they are at fault.
Another thing is that i read a question on this site and the reply about swing set and etc. about the fact that if i'm away from my home and some children where to come on my property and do injure themeselves i should not be held responsible for the fact they dont have my permission and they are also trespassing, including the fact that i do have warning signs posted but i'm still sued by the parents of the hurt child i dont believe that i'm responsible for that.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: I do not agree with homeowner liability.
I am not sure if your posting presents a question or simply an opinion for debate. If you have a legal question you want addressed, you need to break down your sentences. For a research paper, just stick to research about Michigan law regarding homeowner liability. I can't do your research for you, but since I have kids in college, I recommend you take a look at a homeowner's responsibility to "invitees" versus other people who enter onto one's property (they do differ) as well as "attractive nuisances" which may relate to the swing set issue you mentioned.
Good luck (and shorten your sentences to approximately 20 words).
Re: I do not agree with homeowner liability.
After reading your posting again, I realized this homeowner liability relates to the homeowner's dog biting someone. You also need to research the law regarding dog bites. Dog bites generally create "strict liability" for the dog's owner. This means that the owner is responsible. The most common defense is that the person bitten provoked the dog.
Re: I do not agree with homeowner liability.
The point you are missing my young student is that anyone can sue anybody for anything. In a society where everyone has access to a court of law. The great equalizer is that not all cases are meritorious and a case with a weak foundation will be dismissed and if the court finds that the case was based on frivolous allegations, the plaintiff may be sanctioned. I am all for open access to courts. Now, specifically, in the swing set scenerio, if a condition on your property such as a pool, trampoline, or playset is found to be inherently dangerous or not properly maintained and no actions are taken by the homeowner to prevent injury, there may be liability. There is not strict liability per se. It is all case specific. Hopefully that helps answer your questions. For more info, please contact my office at (248)851-3171.
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