If you’ve been the victim of a crime in your apartment building, you might be debating whether or not to sue your landlord. Apartment complex owners owe their tenants and visitors a duty of care that includes taking reasonable measures to protect tenants from harm that third parties cause. In some cases, apartment owners are liable for a crime on their premises.
If an apartment complex did not take reasonable measures to ensure your safety and you were the victim of an assault, the owner may be liable for damages. But what does “reasonable measures” mean exactly when it comes to apartment building safety? It’s not always clear…
Legal experts that specialize in Texas apartment landlord negligence claims can help to sort out what is considered “reasonable” and what is not—especially when it comes to determining liability for a crime on their premises.
Every case of apartment negligence is unique. You’ll be awarded damages (or not) based on the facts of your particular case and the evidence you can gather to back it up. Below are some common guidelines that can help more clearly define what constitutes landlord negligence, to determine if an apartment owner is liable for a crime on their premises.
Factors for Determining what “Reasonable” Means to determine if an apartment owner is liable for a crime on their premises:
- Whether or not the crime was foreseeable given the lack of security measures
- Whether or not there was a history or known criminal activity in or around your apartment complex
- Whether the owner or property manager had ever implemented or upgraded existing security in response to other incidents
- Whether the owner or property manager delayed or canceled a planned security measure to save money
- The owner’s or property manager’s previous efforts to mitigate the potential for harmful criminal acts
- Whether or not the apartment complex owner had enough money to implement or upgrade security in relation to the costs of installation
- Maintenance records for security equipment such as video surveillance, security alarms, call boxes, gates, doors, windows, locks, or gates being kept
- Was the security equipment maintained in good working condition
- Lighting for hallways, stairwells, areas of ingress/egress, parking lots, or other common areas (if bad lighting provided an advantage to a perpetrator)
- Whether the owner had a duty to warn tenants about a specific known threat (ex: sex offender living in the apartment complex)
- The absence of security personnel or presence of negligent security personnel
- Whether the owner conducted background checks on potentially dangerous tenants, contractors, or maintenance employees
- Local codes
- Key control policies or procedures that enabled perpetrators access to an apartment or other area of the premises
- Whether a specific safety measure was faulty at the time of the incident (ex: broken gate)
Every Texan deserves to have a reasonably safe home, and the law backs that up.
If you’ve been the victim of a crime at your apartment complex because your landlord or property manager failed to take reasonable measures to protect you, contact an apartment negligence attorney to get compensated for what you’ve been through and the damages you’ve had to pay out-of-pocket. While it’s not a simple process to prove landlord negligence in Texas, you can hire a top-tier lawyer to streamline everything and take the pressure off of you and your family while you recover and recuperate.
Get a risk-free case evaluation started today to find out if your claim is viable or not. If you have a strong claim, we can get the claims process started quickly without you having to pay upfront. There is no reason to wait and nothing to lose. Legal help for your water-damaged property is an email away.
