New York State Consolidated Laws

General Obligations Law

ARTICAL 9 - TITLE 1
CONDITIONS ON REAL PROPERTY

9-103. No duty to keep premises safe for certain uses; responsibility for acts of such users.

S 9-103. No duty to keep premises safe for certain uses; responsibil-ity for acts of such users.

1. Except as provided in subdivision two,

A. an owner, lessee or occupant of premises, whether or not posted as provided in section 11-2111 of the environmental conservation law, owes no duty to keep the premises safe for entry or use by others for hunt- ing, fishing, organized gleaning as defined in section seventy-one-y of the agriculture and markets law, canoeing, boating, trapping, hiking, cross-country skiing, tobogganing, sledding, speleological activities, horseback riding, bicycle riding, hang gliding, motorized vehicle opera- tion for recreational purposes, snowmobile operation, cutting or gather- ing of wood for non-commercial purposes or training of dogs, or to give warning of any hazardous condition or use of or structure or activity on such premises to persons entering for such purposes;

B. an owner, lessee or occupant of premises who gives permission to another to pursue any such activities upon such premises does not there- by
(1) extend any assurance that the premises are safe for such purpose, or
(2) constitute the person to whom permission is granted an invitee to whom a duty of care is owed, or
(3) assume responsibility for or incur liability for any injury to person or property caused by any act of persons to whom the permission is granted.

(Added L 1980)
C. an owner, lessee or occupant of a farm, as defined in section six hundred seventy-one of the labor law, whether or not posted as provided in section 11-2111 of the environmental conservation law, owes no duty to keep such farm safe for entry or use by a person who enters or remains in or upon such farm without consent or privilege, or to give warning of any hazardous condition or use of or structure or activity on such farm to persons so entering or remaining. This shall not be inter- preted, or construed, as a limit on liability for acts of gross negli- gence in addition to those other acts referred to in subdivision two of this section.

2. This section does not limit the liability which would otherwise exist

A. for willful or malicious failure to guard, or to warn against, a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity; or

B. for injury suffered in any case where permission to pursue any of the activities enumerated in this section was granted for a consider- ation other than the consideration, if any, paid to said landowner by the state or federal government, or permission to train dogs was granted for a consideration other than that provided for in section 11-0925 of the environmental conservation law; or

C. for injury caused, by acts of persons to whom permission to pursue any of the activities enumerated in this section was granted, to other persons as to whom the person granting permission, or the owner, lessee or occupant of the premises, owed a duty to keep the premises safe or to warn of danger.

3. Nothing in this section creates a duty of care or ground of liabil- ity for injury to person or property.

Eff. Sept. 1, 1979

Last updated 5/13/2005