The duty to keep premises safe applies to: Invitees. These are people the business invites onto the property. Examples include customers who are invited to a shopping mall or retail store. Invitees include people who pay to live in an apartment. There is no requirement that the invitee make a purchase or be on the property to make a purchase. Invitees also include churchgoers, people going to a hospital, or people exploring a museum. Licensees. These are people who have permission to be on the property but aren’t there to buy anything or to benefit the owner in any way. A common example is a person who passes through a property by walking on the sidewalk. Trespassers. Generally, property owners and possessors do not owe a duty of care to someone who is not legally on their property. There are a few exceptions: Property owners can’t wantonly disregard the safety of a trespasser. The owner may owe a duty to child trespassers if they create an “attractive nuisance.” An attractive nuisance is a condition that the owner should know will attract a child and also poses an unreasonable risk - provided the child lacked the ability to appreciate the risk. Examples include swimming pools, tree houses, and trampolines. Generally, property owners must fix any defects they knew of, should have known or a condition that they created. This duty of care varies depending on the status of the visitor. A higher duty of care is owed to an invitee than to a licensee. However, a common defense to these claims is that the danger was “open and obvious.” In other words, that a person should have seen it and that the injured person was negligent for failing to see the condition.