Hurt Because a Property Owner Failed to Keep You Safe?

If you were assaulted, robbed, or attacked at an apartment complex, hotel, bar, gas station, parking lot, or business in Jacksonville or anywhere in Florida, the property owner may share responsibility for what happened to you. Florida law requires businesses and landlords to take reasonable steps to protect the people they invite onto their property. When they ignore known dangers, our trial attorneys hold them accountable.

What Is Negligent Security?

Negligent security is a type of premises liability claim. Broken gates and locks, burned-out lighting, missing or fake cameras, untrained or absent security staff, and a history of crime the owner ignored can all make an attack foreseeable and preventable. The criminal who hurt you is rarely the only one responsible; the property owner who made the attack easy may be liable too.

Recent changes to Florida law give certain property owners new defenses in these cases, so what the owner knew, when they knew it, and how the property was actually maintained matter more than ever. These cases move on evidence: prior police calls to the property, incident reports, maintenance records, and surveillance video that can be erased quickly. We act fast to preserve it.

Where Negligent Security Cases Happen

Apartment complexes and rental communities. Hotels, motels, and short-term rentals. Bars, nightclubs, and restaurants. Shopping centers, gas stations, and parking lots and garages. Concert venues and special events. If a business invited you in and failed to protect you from a danger it should have seen coming, you may have a claim.

Negligent Security FAQs

The person who attacked me was arrested. Can I still bring a civil case?

Yes. The criminal case punishes the attacker. A civil negligent security case is separate and holds the property owner accountable for failing to prevent a foreseeable crime, and it is often the only path to real compensation for your medical care and losses.

What do I have to prove?

Generally, that crime at or near the property was foreseeable, that the owner failed to take reasonable security measures, and that the failure contributed to your attack. Evidence like prior incidents at the property and police call logs is critical, and we know how to get it.

How long do I have to file?

In most Florida negligence cases, two years from the date of the injury. Surveillance video is often overwritten within days or weeks, so contact an attorney as soon as possible.

What does it cost to hire you?

Nothing up front. Injury consultations are free, and we work on contingency: no fees unless we win.

I was shot at an apartment complex in Jacksonville. Can I sue the complex?

Often, yes. An apartment owner or management company can be held liable if the shooting was foreseeable and reasonable security could have prevented it. Since Florida’s 2023 tort reform, complexes with five or more units can claim a “presumption against liability” under Florida Statute 768.0706, but only if they prove they substantially implemented a specific checklist: cameras at every entrance and exit that keep footage for 30 days, dusk-to-dawn lighting in parking lots and walkways, one-inch deadbolts, window and sliding-door locks, locked pool gates, peepholes, a crime-prevention (CPTED) assessment by a certified practitioner, and documented employee safety training. Many Duval County complexes cannot show all of that. Even when a complex meets the checklist, the presumption can be rebutted with evidence of prior violent crime the owner knew about. The details of your property determine the case, so get a lawyer to pull the records early.

I don’t live there. I was visiting a friend. Does that matter?

No. You do not have to be a tenant to bring a negligent security claim in Florida. Guests, visitors, customers, delivery drivers, and anyone else lawfully on the property are owed a duty of reasonable care. What matters is that you were on the premises legally, not whether your name was on a lease. The same rule applies at hotels, bars, gas stations, shopping centers, and parking lots throughout Jacksonville and Northeast Florida. The one group with almost no protection is trespassers, so if the property owner claims you were not allowed to be there, tell your attorney right away so we can address it with witnesses, invitations, receipts, or text messages.

Won’t the jury just blame the person who attacked me instead of the property owner?

The jury will be asked to consider the attacker’s fault, but that does not end your case. Under Florida Statute 768.0701, in negligent security cases filed after March 24, 2023, the jury must weigh the fault of everyone who contributed to the injury, including the criminal. That is a real change from the old law, and property owners rely on it heavily. Our job is to prove that the owner’s own choices, such as ignoring prior shootings, letting gates and lights fail, or cutting security staff, created the opportunity for the crime. A well-prepared case shows the jury that the criminal did the shooting, but the owner opened the door. Any percentage assigned to the owner is what the owner and its insurer pay.

What should I do right now to protect a negligent security case?

Get medical care, make sure a police report exists, and call a lawyer within days, not months. Apartment and business camera systems commonly overwrite footage in 30 days or less, and the statute only requires compliant properties to keep it that long. An attorney can send a preservation letter immediately and request Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office calls-for-service records, prior incident reports, and 911 logs for the address, which are the core proof that crime was foreseeable. Photograph broken gates, dark walkways, and missing cameras before they are repaired. Save texts and social media showing you were invited or were a customer. Do not give a recorded statement to the property’s insurance company before speaking with counsel.

Speak Directly with a Jacksonville Trial Lawyer

Call, text, or email us today for a free, confidential case review. Our firm is fully bilingual, and you will work directly with your attorney, never a call center.