M Civ JI 19.01 Invitee, Licensee, Trespasser - Definitions (Relationship Disputed)

To determine the duty owed to plaintiff, you must first determine whether plaintiff was an [ invitee / or / licensee / or / trespasser ].

*(An invitee is a person who is invited to enter or remain on [ land / premises / a place of business ] for a commercial benefit to the possessor of the [ land / premises / place of business ] or for a purpose directly or indirectly connected with business dealings with the possessor. An invitation may be either express or implied.)

*(A licensee is a person who is invited to enter or remain on [ land / premises / a place of business ] for any purpose other than a business or commercial one with the express or implied permission of the owner or person in control of the [ land / premises / place of business ]. A social guest is a licensee, not an invitee.)

*(A trespasser is a person who goes upon the [ land / premises / place of business ] of another without an express or implied invitation, for his or her own purposes, and not in the performance of any duty to the owner. It is not necessary that in making such an entry the trespasser have an unlawful intent.)

Note on Use

*These definitions should be given only if there is a factual issue as to the legal status of the plaintiff as invitee, licensee, or trespasser. If the factual issue pertains to two, but not all three, of the categories, only the applicable two paragraphs of this instruction should be given. The jury should then be instructed that once it decides on the legal status of the plaintiff, according to this instruction, it should apply the corresponding instruction on duty.

This instruction and the other instructions in this chapter are not intended for use in cases in which liability is limited by statute. See MCL 324.73301, which provides that an owner, tenant or lessee of land is liable only for gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct that causes injuries to a person who is on the land for outdoor recreational purposes without having paid a valuable consideration. The predecessor statute, MCL 300.201, was held to apply to large tracts of undeveloped land suitable for outdoor recreational uses, but not to urban, suburban, and subdivided lands. Wymer v Holmes, 429 Mich 66; 412 NW2d 213 (1987).

Comment

See Wymer; Preston v Sleziak, 383 Mich 442; 175 NW2d 759 (1970); Perl v Cohodas, Peterson, Paoli, Nast Co, 295 Mich 325; 294 NW 697 (1940); Cox v Hayes, 34 Mich App 527; 192 NW2d 68 (1971). Social guests are licensees. Preston.

Persons who are on church premises for religious activities and not a commercial purpose are licensees. Stitt v Holland Abundant Life Fellowship, 462 Mich 591; 614 NW2d 88 (2000). Stitt overruled Preston insofar as Preston might be read as adopting the public invitee portion of the definition of “invitee” in Restatement (Second) of Torts §332, at 176.

History

M Civ JI 19.01 was added January 1982. Amended September 1982, October 2001.