Legal Definitions - bare licensee

A bare licensee is an individual who enters another person's property with the owner's express or implied permission, but solely for their own convenience, pleasure, or benefit, and not for any purpose that benefits the property owner. Because their presence is purely by grace or permission, the property owner owes a bare licensee a very limited duty of care. Generally, this duty only requires the owner to avoid intentionally harming them or to warn them of known, hidden dangers on the property. The owner is not typically expected to inspect the property to ensure the bare licensee's safety.

Here are a few examples to illustrate this concept:

• Social Visitor: Imagine Sarah invites her friend, Tom, over to her house for a casual evening of board games. Tom is on Sarah's property with her express permission, but he is there for his own social enjoyment and entertainment, not to perform any task or provide any benefit to Sarah. If Tom were to trip on a loose rug that Sarah didn't know about, Sarah would likely not be held responsible because her duty to a bare licensee like Tom is minimal, primarily to avoid intentional harm or warn of known, hidden dangers.
• Shortcut Taker: A homeowner, Mr. Henderson, has a large, undeveloped field next to a public park. Over time, people from the neighborhood start walking across a corner of his field to reach the park more quickly, creating a worn path. Mr. Henderson sees them but doesn't object, thus giving implied permission. These individuals are bare licensees because they are using his property for their own convenience (a shortcut) without providing any benefit to Mr. Henderson. If one of them were to step into a hidden hole that Mr. Henderson was unaware of, he would likely not be liable, as his duty is only to warn of dangers he actually knows about.
• Child Retrieving a Toy: A child's soccer ball rolls into a neighbor's unfenced backyard. The neighbor sees the child hesitating and waves them over, saying, "Go ahead and get your ball!" The child enters the yard with express permission solely to retrieve their toy, which benefits the child, not the neighbor. In this scenario, the child is a bare licensee. The neighbor's duty of care is limited; they wouldn't be expected to have childproofed their entire yard, but they would be expected not to intentionally harm the child or to warn them if they knew, for instance, that a dangerous broken tool was hidden in the grass where the ball landed.