Rio Rancho, NM Premises Liability Lawyer

New Mexico Premises Liability Statutes

Before filing a claim against a property owner for the injuries you suffered from their negligence, you should know the premises liability laws in New Mexico so that you can feel confident in your claim. While your attorneys are experts and already know these laws, it’s helpful for you to know them as well so that you are on the same page as your legal team.

In other states, there is a distinction of three different types of visitors that could have been on the property when they were injured, and each distinction has different responsibilities of the property owner. However in New Mexico, there are only two distinctions—people who are on the property legally and trespassers.

Our state doesn’t make the classification of invitee or licensee for visitors, they are both just legal visitors on the property. Instead, a premises liability claim in our state relies on proving negligence, just like in a regular personal injury claim. If the visitor was legally on the property through an expressed or implied invitation, and were practicing regular diligence, then it’s likely that the landowner is the negligent party.

The landowner has the responsibility to keep their property reasonably safe and free from hazards that are likely to cause injury. The owner also has the liability to protect legal visitors from a third party who might act harmfully on the premises. This means that if a person comes onto the property and commits a crime that injures other visitors, and the owner had knowledge of this or had a way to prevent it through security measures, then they would be responsible for the harm done to their visitors.

There is only one instance where the property owner would not be liable for a visitor’s injuries on their land. If the visitor was trespassing and illegally on the premises when they were injured, then it’s likely the property owner did not owe them a duty of care, and therefore isn’t liable for their damages.

All of this can be relatively confusing, which is why you should have a Rio Rancho, NM premises liability lawyer on your side. Our attorneys understand that you’ll have questions and might not understand the claims process, which is why we’re prepared to answer all your questions and guide you through your claim every step of the way.

Proving Negligence in Premises Liability Accidents

As mentioned above, your entire case will rely on your lawyer proving the negligence of the property owner as long as you were legally on the premises. From there, your attorney will look into what happened and determine the cause so that they can accurately form your case.

Whether your premises liability accident was a slip and fall, a swimming pool accident, a dog bite, an accident at your apartment building, or a dram shop incident, the property or business owner should be held responsible for their negligent actions that led to the harm you suffered.

There are four main elements of negligence that a premises liability attorney will use the evidence of your case to prove, which are:

• The property owner owed you a duty of reasonable care while you were on their property.
• The property owner was negligent, which breached that duty of care.
• The breach of care directly caused you to be injured.
• Your injury directly resulted in damages that you suffered.