Also known as: possessors of land
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person or entity that occupies land with intent to control it and to exclude others from it. The status confers privileges to use the land consistently with any easements and to grant or withhold consent to entry by others.
Silver Logistics owns a trucking depot subject to an easement allowing Gold Logistics trucks to pass at all hours. Silver Logistics restripes the yard to add two new bays that narrow the lane by four feet. Gold Logistics trucks still pass without stopping, though drivers must slow down and make tighter turns.
At a bank branch, assistant manager Luis sees customer Dana stride toward a glassed-in back office marked Employees Only. Luis orders her to stop, then shoves her back through the doorway when she ignores the command. Dana sues Luis for battery after the contact.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Lena leases slip 14 at a privately operated marina. Captain Ortiz attempts to tie his boat there after receiving a mistaken marina email. Lena forcefully shoves Ortiz into a piling to stop him from occupying the slip.
Harris, the lab director for NovaPharm, sees junior scientist Lee loading proprietary vials into a personal cooler. Harris orders Lee to stop and put the vials back. When Lee ignores the order, Harris grabs his sleeve and pulls him away from the freezer.
Karen cuts through a side gate to retrieve her laptop from a fenced server farm after hours. Security dogs attack her. After the dogs are called off, Karen leaves the property promptly by the nearest exit.
A tenant falls through an uncovered equipment trench on leased amphitheater grounds the night before an event. The trench was left exposed during setup by the event promoter. The tenant sues both the property owner and the promoter for the resulting broken leg.
A possessor may use reasonable nondeadly force to prevent or terminate an unprivileged intrusion when the possessor reasonably believes the force is necessary and either first requests the intruder to desist or reasonably believes a request would be futile or that substantial harm will occur before a request can be made.
Supporting sources
Consent given by a possessor of land to the actor's presence on a part of the land does not create a privilege to enter or remain on any other part.
Supporting sources
Consent obtained by duress upon the possessor of land exerted by the actor, or by a third person to the knowledge of the actor, is not effective as a consent to his entry.
Supporting sources
If the consent of a possessor of land to the actor's presence on the land is terminated or suspended, the actor's presence on the land while leaving it with reasonable promptness and in a reasonable manner is privileged, as against the possessor or his transferee, unless the actor knew or had reason to know the time of such termination or suspension a reasonable period in advance.
Supporting sources
…from the fundamental concept that a man is liable for injuries caused by his carelessness is with regard to the liability of a possessor of land for injuries to persons who have entered upon that land. It has been suggested that the special rules regarding liability of the possessor of land are due to historical considerations…