When Do You Need an Apartment Injury Lawyer?

Were you seriously injured at an apartment complex in Texas? Assaulted, mugged, raped, burned, or worse? If so, you have legal rights that you need to be aware of, and those rights need to be aggressively defended by apartment injury attorneys.

Property owners have the responsibility of maintaining safe and secure premises for individuals who live in or visit the property. If the property owner or manager is negligent in providing adequate security and a resident or visitor is assaulted, raped, or otherwise injured as a result, the victim may be able to file a legal claim against such party.

Negligent apartment security falls under the umbrella of premises liability laws, which are very specific about a property owner’s duty of care in maintaining a safe and secure premise. These laws can be complex and generally require the assistance of a lawyer in the event of a dispute.

The attorneys at Pierce Skrabanek have helped many injured people recover millions in verdicts and settlements, and it costs you nothing to schedule a consultation, so please contact us as soon as possible at (832) 690-7000. Our Houston-based legal team is on hand to provide legal advice and representation for your case.

What Is the Compensation in an Apartment Complex Lawsuit?

Successfully litigated negligence claims can help victims recover financially from various expenses and losses caused by the injury.

A damages award from an apartment injury lawsuit can compensate the injured person for:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Mental anguish
• Pain and suffering
• Permanent disability

In cases where there has been a loss of life due to someone else’s negligence, a court may choose to issue wrongful death damages. These may cover costs like funeral expenses and other financial burdens on the surviving family.

The amount of damages obtained in a negligent security case largely depends on the individual facts of your case, such as the severity of injuries. It can also depend on the skill and experience of the lawyer handling your case.

That’s why it is important that you contact one of our apartment injury lawyers as soon as possible. We have direct experience in pursuing liability cases on behalf of injured apartment complex residents.

An apartment injury lawyer can provide services that the average citizen wouldn’t be able to perform on their own without help. As trained legal professionals, they have what is required to prove a case under personal injury laws.

Who Is Liable for an Apartment Injury?

In most cases, apartment complex owners and managers can be held liable for an apartment injury. The owners and managers are responsible for providing adequate security to residents and visitors. These measures are designed to prevent foreseeable criminal activity or intrusion.

Apartment complexes often have very unique security concerns compared to other types of residential property. They can be situated in areas of high foot traffic, and are often unfenced and exposed to the public. What constitutes adequate security may vary somewhat depending on the individual property.

In general, adequate security measures may include:

• Properly secured gates, doors, and windows
• Installation of security cameras in public areas
• Adequate lighting in hallways and parking areas
• Properly maintained emergency exits and alarms
• Presence of trained, pre-screened security guards on the premises
• Recognizing and addressing criminal history on or near the property

Texas law requires plaintiffs in a negligent apartment security claim to prove:

• They were lawfully on the premises
• The property owner had a duty of care to provide adequate security
• The property owner breached their duty of care to provide adequate security
• The breach in the duty of care caused the incident resulting in injury

So, for example, suppose an apartment property owner had a duty to ensure that a hallway remained well-lit. If they failed to repair a broken hallway light bulb, they could be held liable if their inaction resulted in an injury to one of the residents.

Liability and corresponding legal consequences may increase if it can be shown that the property owner knew or should have known of a dangerous condition yet failed to remedy it. A common example of this is where a property owner knows that a parking lot is dangerous, yet fails to install property security personnel and measures in that area.