Landlords Duty to Protect
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Many states and some local governments now have statutes and ordinances governing tenant security
Governments obligation to preserve and protect
Until very recently landlords have had no legal duty to protect tenants from criminals. It has been a principle of our American republic that governments primary purpose is to preserve and protect its citizens life and property from threat, both foreign and domestic. However, in some areas of the U.S., government has abdicated that responsibility and has actually abandoned some city neighborhoods to criminal control. The usual "cop-out" is that they dont have the money or manpower to do their job.
Residents of many urban neighborhoods have been forced to put bars on their windows and install double locked steal doors. Landlords have built walls, erected gates and employed private guards to provide security. There was no law that required property owners to take those extraordinary measures, they did it voluntarily in order to attract and keep tenants.
Deep pockets pay
American liberals have long advocated, and many American courts have since adopted, the Deep Pocket Theory. It holds that someone, somewhere, should pay for every injury, no matter his or her complicity. Under that illogical conclusion, if anyone with money can be found in an ever-extending chain of responsibility, they should be forced to compensate any victim. You will find all too many cases where a very minimal responsibility did not protect a financially solvent defendant in a personal injury lawsuit from paying the entire bill.
Courts and juries using the Deep Pocket Theory have been so free with other peoples money that some state legislatures are now trying to limit financial responsibility to actual liability.
Rich landlords should be liable
Some courts are now even holding landlords liable for a criminals assault on a tenant. Seemingly, they are doing so under some implied duty to protect tenants from criminals, in much the same way that courts of the 60s tried to protect tenants from a leaky faucet, by finding that there is some Implied Warranty of Habitability, even when a tenant knowingly rents a property "as is".
Lawsuits against landlords based on criminal assaults are on the rise
The current trend is for courts to find that landlords have a duty to use reasonable care to protect tenants against foreseeable criminal acts. Other variants of this new standard are that landlords have to protect tenants against foreseeable criminal acts based on a defect such as broken lock, or when the act occurs in a common area. Another reason landlords are being found liable is because they voluntarily provided security, only to have a tenant claim the security measures gave tenants a false sense of security.
In liability cases across the country, landlords have been ordered to pay damages after a criminal injured the tenant. These include cases where the landlord:
- failed to warn tenants of a dangerous situation or criminal activity
- failed to warn a new tenant about a violent neighbor
- did not protect neighbors from a tenant known to cause problems
- failed to secure an apartment's doors or windows
- didn't secure doors or windows in a common area from non-residents
- allowed access to tenant's apartment keys
- misrepresented security
- reduced security that was already in place
- didn't provide any security in a known high-crime area
- hired a security guard who performed poorly
- provided improper lighting or failed to repair broken lights
- left a ladder accessible to intruders
- allowed access to a fire escape
- allowed obstructions to exist or tall weeds to grow on the property
Other courts have found landlords were not liable under very similar facts to those listed, however . . .
Prevention is Nine-Tenths of the Law
It is now imperative that landlords regularly inspect rental property and the surrounding area to identify conditions that are likely to endanger tenants, and then do what they can to minimize any risk.
If vandals break the lights, replace them. If a tenant complains about a broken window latch or door lock, correct it immediately. If someone reports that an entry is not secure, check it that day and repair any problems that you find. Make sure your common areas and parking lots are well lit and all of the lights actually work. If you hear about crimes in the area, warn your tenants and do everything you can, within reason, to prevent similar crimes on your property.
Assuming some responsibility for tenant security takes a considerable amount of time and money, but with the current state of the nation it will likely save you time and money in the long run. Most lawsuits based on criminal activity that are brought against landlords, claim there were repeated requests for the landlord to fix a broken lock, window latch, or some other security device.
Assume that courts will conclude that landlords must take reasonable measures
Assume a definition of reasonable that your tenant is likely to agree with. That is the only way you are likely to avoid lawsuits in the event of criminal activity in or around your property.
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