Opinion ID: 2614919
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Heading: The Statutory Elements

Text: Section 846 establishes limited liability on the part of a private landowner for injuries sustained by another from recreational use of the land. [2] The statute provides an exception from the general rule that a private landowner owes a duty of reasonable care to any person coming upon the land. ( Rowland v. Christian (1968) 69 Cal.2d 108, 119 [70 Cal. Rptr. 97, 443 P.2d 561, 32 A.L.R.3d 496]; Valladares v. Stone (1990) 218 Cal. App.3d 362, 366 [267 Cal. Rptr. 57]; Charpentier v. Von Geldern (1987) 191 Cal. App.3d 101, 107 [236 Cal. Rptr. 233]; English v. Marin Mun. Water Dist. (1977) 66 Cal. App.3d 725, 731 [136 Cal. Rptr. 224].) Under section 846, an owner of any estate or other interest in real property owes no duty of care to keep the premises safe for entry or use by others for recreational purposes or to give recreational users warning of hazards on the property, unless: (1) the landowner willfully or maliciously fails to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity; (2) permission to enter for a recreational purpose is granted for a consideration; or (3) the landowner expressly invites rather than merely permits the user to come upon the premises. The landowner's duty to the nonpaying, uninvited recreational user is, in essence, that owed a trespasser under the common law as it existed prior to Rowland v. Christian, supra, 69 Cal.2d 108; i.e., absent willful or malicious misconduct the landowner is immune from liability for ordinary negligence. (See Delta Farms Reclamation Dist. v. Superior Court (1983) 33 Cal.3d 699, 706 [190 Cal. Rptr. 494, 660 P.2d 1168]; Charpentier v. Von Geldern, supra, 191 Cal. App.3d at p. 108; New v. Consolidated Rock Products Co. (1985) 171 Cal. App.3d 681, 688 [217 Cal. Rptr. 522].) [3] Thus, the Legislature has established two elements as a precondition to immunity: (1) the defendant must be the owner of an estate or any other interest in real property, whether possessory or nonpossessory; and (2) the plaintiff's injury must result from the entry or use [of the `premises'] for any recreational purpose. (§ 846.)