Suing Your Apartment Complex for Faulty/Negligent Security
There are several scenarios where you might be able to win an apartment lawsuit to cover damages from your pain, suffering, and medical expenses from your injuries. Have you been injured at or near an apartment complex in Texas?
This article will outline some examples of those scenarios, what evidence you might need to gather, and the best actions you can take to move your case forward and get compensation. Winning damages in this kind of lawsuit depends on proving liability on the part of the apartment owners or managers. Everything hinges on their duty to protect you:
Owners of apartment complexes owe their tenants (and visitors!) a duty of care that includes taking reasonable measures to protect tenants from harm that third parties cause.
You have a good chance of being awarded damages in an apartment lawsuit if you were the victim of a crime in or around an apartment building or your injuries resulted from the owner’s failure to take reasonable measures to protect you.
However, to win an apartment lawsuit like this, you have to prove in court the crime resulted from a lack of adequate security or other oversight on the part of the owners. Establishing your case requires evidence that they failed to meet their obligations to protect you.
Let’s look at what constitutes “reasonable measures to protect” you and where apartment complexes may have failed to deliver on their obligations to tenants and visitors.
When is an Apartment Complex Liable?
As we mentioned above, an apartment complex is liable for your injuries if they don’t take “reasonable” measures to protect you. What exactly is reasonable depends on a lot of different factors. You can use the following questions as a guideline:
- Was the crime or your injuries foreseeable given the lack of security measures?
- Is there a history or pattern of known criminal activity in or around the apartment complex?
- Has the owner or property manager ever implemented or upgraded existing security in response to other incidents in or around the apartment complex?
- Has the owner or property manager delayed or canceled a planned security implementation or upgrade to save money?
- Has the owner or property manager made previous efforts to assess the potential for harmful criminal acts actively?
- What about the financial abilities of the apartment complex owner to implement or upgrade security concerning the costs of implementation?
- Are there maintenance records regarding security equipment such as video surveillance, security alarms, call boxes, gates, doors, windows, locks, or gates?
- Does the owner or property manager routinely maintain security equipment to ensure it is in good working condition?
- Does the lighting in hallways, stairwells, areas of ingress/egress, parking lots, or other common areas give advantages to a perpetrator?
- Did the owner or property manager have a duty to warn tenants about a specific known threat?
This list isn’t exhaustive. There may be several other possible determining factors depending on your specific case. For a comprehensive review, ask a qualified apartment lawsuit attorney about whether or not your case qualifies for an apartment lawsuit.
How Can You Prove a Negligent Security Case?
Simply getting injured isn’t enough to win an apartment lawsuit. You also have to show that the apartment complex owner or manager caused your injuries or substantially contributed to them.
Winning your lawsuit depends on whether you can show enough evidence to prove the apartment complex’s negligence contributed to some or all your injuries.
Should I Get Help With My Apartment Lawsuit?
Absolutely, yes, you should get help. Filing an apartment lawsuit in Texas can be time-consuming and complicated without expert legal assistance. To win sufficient damages to compensate for your pain, suffering, and medical expenses, you need the best lawyers. Also, teaming up with an attorney who consistently wins these kinds of cases is critical.
Malley Law is an easy choice for anyone in Texas who needs help with an apartment lawsuit. If you’ve been injured in or around your apartment complex and your case meets any of the criteria mentioned above, you shouldn’t hesitate to reach out for a risk-free consultation. Malley lawyers know how to get you fairly compensated, and there is no up-front cost for the consultation.
Your apartment injury case is time-sensitive, so don’t wait to contact us to get your claim started ASAP. There is nothing to lose, and it won’t cost you anything upfront to get what’s owed to you by negligent apartment owners. The resolution to your problems is closer than you think.
