First off, sorry I didn't post yesterday. I was laid up with food poisoning -- I blame holiday leftovers! I'm much better today, so on to today's topic, which is really recurrent. Suppose that a landlord tells the friend of a tenant that the friend can’t come on the property owned by the landlord but leased by the tenant. Perhaps the landlord thinks that the friend instigates too many loud, raucous parties that end up in property damage. Or perhaps the landlord thinks that the friend is living with the tenant, thereby increasing wear and tear on the property, without paying rent. For whatever reason, the landlord tells the friend to stay away . . . but the tenant invites the friend back onto the property. Is the friend trespassing if he or she returns to the property? Generally, no. In State v. Lawson, 101 N.C. 717 (1888), Thomas told Lawson to stay off Thomas’s land. But Thomas leased the land to Nelson, who invited Lawson onto the property for a chat. Thomas then prosecuted Lawson for trespassing. (As a historical aside, it appears that Thomas did so as a private prosecutor at the trial level.) Lawson’s defense was that he was invited by Nelson, and he asked that the jury be instructed “that, Nelson being a tenant on Thomas’ land, if he invited and permitted the defendant to enter on the land cultivated by him, though belonging to Thomas, the defendant would not be guilty.” The trial court declined Lawson’s [...]
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