JHAP, That's some good infomation right there! Having people come to fish on your pond could lead to some serious issues couldn't it? I didn't even thing about the legal end of it at all and that's really where BZ needs to start if he is going to do this for money. RC51
RC, unfortunately many people do not take enough time to think through legal issues and consult with an attorney. IMHO, when starting any new business venture one of the very first meetings should be with an attorney and a CPA, and preferrably both together. Legal liabilty should be one of the major topics.
Anytime you bring the public on to your property you have the potential to raise liabililty issues, and, at least in California, if the people that you are bringing onto your property are customers (Invitee) then the business owner owes the invitee the highest "duty of care" which includes taking every reasonable precaution to ensure the invitee's safety. So when a customer is on your property it raises the bar of potential liability. When a business visitor (or employee) is on a property the landowner also has an absolute obligation to repair any dangerous conditions on the property and to warn any business visitors of hidden defects that have not been repaired. This is very diffent that what is required by merely having a friend on the property.
Generally a different form of insurance must be purchased when you conduct business on a property, call your insurance agent and discuss this.
I'm a bean counter, not an attorney, so please, please contact your attorney when considering any new business venture. In addition I'm only familiar with California, so please check the laws in your paticular state.
