Premises Liability

Colorado’s premises liability law is Colorado Revised Statute Section 13-21-115. The law adopts the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling in Gallegos v. Phipps in 1989 to establish uniform standards for premises liability in Colorado. The law applies to any landowner, authorized agent, or any other person who has real property. If a person or business is responsible for the condition of the property, Colorado’s premises liability law applies.

The standard that applies to the property owner depends on the injured party’s status. The reason that the injured person was on the property determines what level of care the property owner owed them. Colorado law designates three different categories that apply to victims based on the reason that they’re on the property when they’re injured:

• Trespasser — A trespasser is a person who enters onto a property without the property owner’s permission or into an area they’re not permitted. The property owner has the least duty to a trespasser. A person who trespasses onto property may only collect damages for injuries caused purposefully or deliberately. It is also possible to collect damages on the behalf of a trespassing child if they were hurt by an “attractive nuisance” such as a swimming pool or trampoline.
• Licensee — A licensee is a person who enters onto a property with permission to further their own interest. For example, a guest who comes to your house for dinner is a licensee, and that person has legal protection from dangers that are created by the landowner (if the landowner is aware of the danger on the property). Licensees also have legal protections from unusual dangers that are not created by the landowner if the landowner has knowledge of the danger. The property owner must warn licensees of dangers they are aware of, but is not required to monitor for dangers or promptly fix them.
• Invitee — An invitee is a person who enters onto someone else’s property for the benefit of the property owner, such as a customer in a store. Invitees are owed the highest level of care. The property owner must actively take steps to find dangers and remedy them for the benefit of invitees using reasonable care. If an invitee is injured by a hazard a property owner wasn’t aware of, but should have been aware of, the property owner can be held liable.

Another important component of premises liability cases is Colorado’s comparative negligence doctrine. This doctrine, also called contributory negligence, allows injury victims who were partially responsible for their accident to collect compensation. You can only collect compensation if you were less than 51% responsible for the accident. Your award will then be reduced by the percentage you are found to be at fault. For example, if you were running through a store and then slipped on an unmarked spill, you may be found to be 20% responsible for your accident. If you were then awarded $100,000, your award would be reduced by 20%, leaving you with $80,000 in compensation.