Premises liability is a general concept involving what level of responsibility landowners must exercise to maintain safe premises for other people. The extent of liability a landowner may be subjected to depends on what kind of person enters their land or property and whether those people had a right to be there.
For example, a person who is invited onto one’s premises such as a guest or patron may subject a landowner to more liability if that person is injured.
Liability may even extend to trespassers, however, the extent of liability differs from people who were permitted to be on the property. The extent of liability differs because the duty of care to maintain safe premises for trespassers is generally lower than that of invitees and guests.
Summarily, the landowner owes a duty of reasonable or ordinary care to maintain a safe premises for guests and invitees. In contrast, a landowner is only obligated to not act in a willful and wanton manner towards trespassers onto their property.