Criminal Acts of Third Parties

Criminals are not usually employees of commercial tenants or property owners. Assaults and robberies occurring in places of business or apartment complexes are often unknown. If they are known, victims rarely are able to recover damages from them because they are not known, have escaped prosecution, or do not have the means of repayment. Victims often turn to property owners or landlords for compensation. If the owner was found to fail in providing protection, such as not replacing burned out lights or providing sufficient security, there is a possibility they are liable, even if they had no control over the assailant.

Anticipation of Criminal Acts

It is impossible to predict every criminal attack. Owners and landlords are not able to insure invitees or others from every possible criminal act, yet there are precautions that owners and landlords may us to discourage criminals. Ordinary care must be taken to provide protection from harm. Previous criminal acts on an owner or landlord's property provide insight to find ways of preventing similar crimes. The courts examine these prior criminal activities to establish the predictability of the criminal act causing the current suit they are reviewing. If this act is significantly similar to previous criminal acts on the owner or landlord's property, and a reasonable security measure could have been in force to prevent the risk of reoccurrence was not acted upon, there is a high possibility the owner or landlord may be liable for damages.

Courts review all factors of the crime in question with previous incidents. The relativity they have to each other includes the location and nature of each, as well as other factors that would indicate a possibility of prevention. Although they do not have to be identical, there needs to be sufficient evidence that shows that owner should have been alerted to the fact that precautionary measures needed to be taken. Owners are often not held liable if similar incidents have not occurred on their property. Juries are normally used to determine liability in these types of cases. Due to the various laws in each state, it is wise to seek counsel from an experienced Premises Liability attorney if you have been a victim of a crime.

Failure to Act

Knowing of the presence of possible danger and failing to remove the threat, may indicate the owner or landlord is liable. Threats of these types include intoxicated or drug influenced persons, someone causing a public disturbance by relaying threats, and allowing previous offenders to return to the property. If there is a history of tenant aggression and the tenant has not been evicted, or other action has been taken to remove the threat, an owner may be liable for that tenant's assault. Owners are not responsible for knowing that a tenant is frequently mean, verbally abusing a spouse or children, as this may not indicate a violent nature of the tenant. If the owner or landlord employs security guards, they may be liable if the security officers fail to reasonably execute their duties.

No Liability Situations

Taking personal risk by putting oneself in danger relieves owners of liability. Knowingly sitting alone outside in a known high crime area, engaging in physical altercations (such as in parks or nightclubs), or being injured by someone you know are examples of this. Employees may not seek compensation if they are the victim of an attack from someone they know, as the act was not random, nor related to employment. Other unpredictable events, such as drive-by shootings, are not cases where owners or landlords are held liable.

Alcohol Liability

Alcohol related traffic fatalities were 39% in 2005.1 Not all of the drivers in these crashes drank alcohol at home. They may have been at a friend's home, a party, or the bar on the corner. The alcohol may have been purchased at a convenience store, where they purchased more while under the influence. The fact is that anyone that willfully or knowingly sells or furnishes alcohol to someone they know will be driving, they may be held liable for any injuries or deaths that is shown to be specifically caused by the act of serving, furnishing or selling the alcohol. It must be proven, such as in the case of grocery or convenient stores, that the person receiving the alcohol was noticeably intoxicated. Expert testimony may prove the person was noticeably intoxicated due to the blood alcohol content, even if witnesses state otherwise.

Underage drinkers will use false identification cards to obtain alcohol. When these are used, it is possible the owner or an employee of the owner may not knowingly sell alcohol to the minor. If an owner or employee should have known the purchaser was underage, it is a criminal act in itself to sell the alcohol to them. Liability for injuries attributed to the sale is extremely possible. An owner is not liable for damages from injuries linked to the sale of alcohol to underage friends of a driver if it was not known the driver was also underage and the alcohol may be consumed by the driver. The owner is still guilty of a criminal act of selling alcohol to minors in this case.

The actual consumer of alcohol may not recover any damages for personal injury from anyone that provided the alcohol. Passengers riding with the intoxicated driver, however, may be able to recover damages, even when both parties were drinking. Injuries not caused by the operation of a motor vehicle, such as falling down, may not be recovered. Owners that do not live in or on commercial property, or do not have a license to sell alcohol, are not liable unless they provide consent to drink on their property.

Governmental Immunity

Sidewalks, roadways, parks and other public areas are often sites of accidents and injuries. If there is a flaw on the public property, or repairs have not been completed, members of the public may be injured. If the accident or injury related to the property itself was privately owned, the owner would be liable. Public property is regulated by a different set of laws. Sovereign immunity, or governmental immunity, is where no governmental body can be sued unless it gives permission2. These laws stemmed from days when kings set the rules, and was negated by the Federal Tort Claims Act relating to federal concerns and state waivers in each individual state, allowing certain cases.

If you are a victim of a crime on public property that is committed by someone who is not a public employee (including police officers and firemen) on duty, neither Federal nor State governments may be held responsible. Limited exceptions apply to law enforcement officers.

The FTCA does allow monetary damages, but they are only for specific amounts. The procedures for filing a claim against the federal government law, and this also may be determined largely by the laws of the individual state. Before a lawsuit may be filed, written claims must be submitted. Premises liability laws are unique and have rules and requirements that vary from state to state. Experienced premise liability attorneys will be able to assist you to determine if you have a premises liability case if you have been injured on public property.

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DISCLAIMER: The information you obtain at our firm web site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. It is recommended that you should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

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