Section 13.8 Implied Invitation

• Library: Tort Law 2016

4. (§13.8) Implied Invitation

A person may attain the status of a business invitee based on an implied invitation, as well as on an express invitation. In Gilliland v. Bondurant, 59 S.W.2d 679, 686 (Mo. 1933), the court defined invitation as:

[O]ne which is held to be extended by reason of the owner or occupant doing something or permitting something to be done which fairly indicates to the person entering that his entry and use of the property is consistent with the intentions and purposes of the owner or occupant, and leads him to believe that the use is in accordance with the design for which the place is adapted and allowed to be used in mutuality of interest.

Furthermore, the court in Gilliland pointed out that such implied invitation must be based on some act of the possessor and not simply on some mistaken belief of the visitor. A possessor may extend an implied invitation by:

· customer use;

· enticement;

· allurement; or

· some inducement to enter.

The following persons have been held to have attained the status of invitees:

· A prospective purchaser in a retail store, Wilkins v. AlliedStores of Mo., 308 S.W.2d 623

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