Someone gets violently assaulted at the hotel. The injuries sustained left the person with many injuries. This situation can happen on any public property where the owners have a legal responsibility to protect everyone. Along with physical harm, assault victims can suffer psychological harm and conditions like PTSD. Having PTSD could trigger flashbacks, nightmares, and uncontrollable thoughts about the event.
What Damages Could You Collect?
Let’s say that you were injured in a physical assault. You may have a right to compensation for things that include:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Cost of therapy
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of future earnings
When violence was stirred up needlessly on the property and it happened as a direct result of the owners not taking enough precautions to prevent violence, they could be held liable.
Under What Circumstances Could Owners Have to Pay?
You have a few situations where a landlord or other property owner might have some legal obligation to pay for the damages. Examples of this include:
- Maintaining lighting around the property
- Keeping items that could be used for harm clear of areas
- Security system on the grounds
Public property owners must protect visitors from harm by securing their property from violence. This could include hiring security in reasonable circumstances where you have a high risk of it. If the property owner didn’t take reasonable actions to protect the property and it led to harm, they could have to pay in the courts.
How Owners Could Secure a Property
Some of the active measures that a landlord might take in order to keep violence from breaking out on the property include:
- CCTV cameras
- Good lighting
- Fences
- Metal detectors
- Emergency buttons
- Secure entry gates
To successfully defend against a lawsuit like this, a property owner would have to show that they took all the right precautions to stop the violence. If they took no actions to protect the property and it led to a robbery, rape, homicide, or assault, they could be held liable for their negligence.
Other Legal Complications
Property owners have a legal responsibility to oversee the property. In some cases, violence happens on the property because someone was dealing drugs on the premises. This can further complicate matters for the landlord. Because of a threat to public safety, the property owner could be held liable. Furthermore, if the person took drugs and became violent on the premises, the landlord could face severe criminal penalties if they knew about it.
Bring Those Accountable to Justice
Unfortunately, many landlords don’t take enough action to stop criminals. They don’t put enough security on the premises, or they let the misconduct take place. Under these cases, holding landlords liable will ensure that they take it seriously with all future tenants. Cases like this will usually unfold in a civil court.
You should contact a lawyer soon after the violence occurred because every state will have a statute of limitations. Visiting a medical doctor creates a written record that the attack happened. You may want to collect evidence from eyewitnesses. A lawyer will help to gather and present the evidence to the courts.
Usually, violent events like this happen from someone who knows the property and seeks it out for one reason or another. In especially high-risk areas, property owners have a legal responsibility to take the necessary precautions like better locks, secured gates, and hiring security.
If you’re a property owner and you have any concerns about the potential for violence on your property, you may want to consult an attorney to learn more about your responsibilities in this regard. You may also want to speak to a home security expert to find out options for keeping your property safe.
