Negligent Security Claims: When a Property Owner’s Failure Leads to an Assault or Injury
Most people expect a safe environment at their apartment complex, a parking garage, or a restaurant. When a property owner ignores obvious safety risks and a crime follows, negligent security claims may allow the victim to seek compensation.
Owners are not insurers of everyone’s safety. But California law can hold them responsible when a harmful act could reasonably have been anticipated, and they failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it.
What Are Negligent Security Claims?
Negligent security claims are a type of premises liability claim. The person who attacked you is responsible for the crime. The property owner may also be responsible if poor security helped make the attack possible.
California jury instruction CACI 1005 states the basic rule.
A business open to the public or a landlord must use reasonable care to protect patrons, guests, or tenants from another person’s harmful conduct on the property, if the owner can reasonably anticipate that conduct.
These cases often involve assaults, robberies, and shootings. They can also involve less obvious harm, such as injuries from a fight that security staff should have stopped.
Who Owes a Duty to Protect You?
The duty usually depends on your relationship to the property. California courts recognize a special relationship between businesses and their customers, and between landlords and tenants. Responsible parties may include:
- Apartment owners and property managers
- Hotels and motels
- Shopping centers and their operators
- Bars, nightclubs, and restaurants
- Parking garage and parking lot operators
- Hospitals and other facilities open to the public
In Ann M. v. Pacific Plaza Shopping Center (1993) 6 Cal.4th 666, the California Supreme Court explained that a landlord’s duty includes taking reasonable steps to secure common areas against foreseeable criminal acts. That principle reaches areas the owner controls, including parking lots and walkways.
Foreseeability: The Central Question
Foreseeability is usually the most contested issue. The more serious or expensive the security measure you say was needed, the more evidence of danger a court generally requires.
In Delgado v. Trax Bar & Grill (2005) 36 Cal.4th 224, the California Supreme Court described a sliding scale. To impose a duty as demanding as hiring security guards, the court looks for “heightened” foreseeability. That may be shown by prior similar incidents or other signs of a reasonably foreseeable risk of violent assaults in that location.
This does not mean an owner with no prior incidents is automatically exempt from liability. Under Delgado, a property owner without a duty to hire guards may still owe a duty of due care based on the special relationship. For example, failing to repair a broken gate is a different question from failing to hire a guard.
Courts also weigh the burden of the proposed security measure. A low-cost fix, such as replacing a burned-out light or repairing a lock, is easier to require than round-the-clock guards. That is why documenting a specific, inexpensive failure can be important in negligent security claims.
Common Examples of Security Failures
Every case turns on its facts. Examples that may support a claim include:
- Broken, dim, or missing lighting in parking areas, stairwells, or hallways
- Broken locks, gates, or entry doors that go unrepaired
- Security cameras that do not work or are not monitored
- Too few security staff at a bar or event where fights are known to occur
- Ignoring tenant or customer complaints about suspicious activity
- No warning to visitors about a known danger
The Restatement of Torts, which California courts have followed, also looks at whether an owner failed to discover that dangerous acts were likely, or failed to give an adequate warning.
How You Prove Negligent Security Claims
Strong negligent security claims depend on evidence that the danger was foreseeable and that reasonable security was missing. Useful evidence may include:
- Police call logs and reports of earlier crimes at the location
- Incident reports, tenant complaints, and emails to management
- Security policies, staffing schedules, and maintenance records
- Surveillance video, if it exists
- Witness statements and photographs of the scene
- Medical records that connect your injuries to the attack
Once a court finds that a duty exists, the jury decides whether the security measures were reasonable under the circumstances.
Owners often argue that the crime was unpredictable or that no security measure would have stopped it. A careful investigation helps address those arguments with facts.
Compensation You May Seek
An injured victim may seek payment for:
- Emergency care, surgery, and ongoing medical treatment
- Counseling and therapy for psychological trauma
- Lost income and reduced earning capacity
- Pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life
- Wrongful death damages, if the attack was fatal
The attacker may be unidentified or unable to pay, which is one reason the property owner’s role matters. Our overview of catastrophic injury claims explains how courts evaluate lifelong harm.
Steps to Take After an Attack on Someone Else’s Property
What you do early can affect the evidence available later:
- Get medical care: Medical records document your injuries.
- Report the crime to the police: Ask for the report number.
- Report it to the property owner or manager in writing: Keep a copy.
- Photograph the scene: Capture broken lights, locks, gates, and missing cameras.
- Write down what you remember: Include the time, location, and who you saw.
- Do not discuss fault with the owner’s insurer: Speak with an attorney first.
- Act promptly: Video can be overwritten quickly, so an early preservation request can help.
California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 generally gives two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. Much shorter deadlines can apply if a government entity owns the property.
Speak With a Los Angeles Premises Liability Lawyer
Personal Injury Legal Group represents people injured on unsafe properties across Los Angeles and Southern California. We investigate what the owner knew, what security measures were missing, and who may be responsible.
To learn more, explore our slip and fall accident lawyer page. To discuss your situation, call 310-445-5900 or contact our team
