Home › Practice Areas › Premises Liability › Negligent Security
Hotels, apartment complexes, parking garages, bars, nightclubs, and shopping centers have a legal duty to protect guests, tenants, and customers from foreseeable harm. When that duty is ignored, innocent people are assaulted, robbed, sexually assaulted, or killed. Negligent security cases are a serious reality across the Bay Area. Make sure you have a serious response in Suli Law Group to hold property owners accountable. For guidance tailored to your situation, speak with a negligent security attorney tampa at Suli Law Group today.
Florida negligent security law imposes the highest duty of care on businesses toward invitees, like customers, hotel guests, and apartment tenants. That duty includes taking reasonable precautions against foreseeable third-party criminal acts. Foreseeability typically requires evidence of prior similar crimes at or near the property, putting the owner on notice.
Common settings include:
• Apartment complexes with broken gates or non-working locks
• Hotels and motels with insufficient lighting and no cameras
• Parking lots and garages where assaults are foreseeable
• Bars, nightclubs, and concert venues with inadequate security staff
• Shopping centers, gas stations, and ATMs in known high-crime areas
Florida law has evolved significantly. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.0701, juries must consider the fault of the criminal assailant alongside the property owner, meaning fault is shared. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.0706, multifamily residential property owners are entitled to a presumption against liability if they implement specific security measures. These security measures include cameras with 30-day video retention, deadbolts, peepholes, lighted parking, locked pool gates, and regular safety assessments.
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Negligent security is a type of premises liability claim in which a property owner fails to provide reasonable safety measures, thereby allowing a foreseeable crime to harm a visitor. This is the basis of a negligent security claim that Florida residents can pursue.
They often occur in apartment complexes, hotels, motels, parking garages, nightclubs, bars, gas stations, ATMs, and shopping centers. All of these places are where property owners should anticipate the risk of crime. Any business or landlord that invites the public onto their property has a duty to provide reasonable security.
While the criminal is responsible for the attack itself, the property owner, landlord, or business operator can be held legally responsible if they failed to provide reasonable security. Often, multiple parties share liability.
Under current Florida law, you generally have two years from the date of the incident to file a personal injury lawsuit. In other words, to file a negligent security lawsuit in Florida, you typically must act within two years. Missing this deadline almost always means losing your right to recover anything, so it’s important to contact a lawyer quickly.
Our attorneys bring insider knowledge from working as former insurance defense lawyers, so we know how insurers fight these cases and how to beat them at trial. When you work with a negligent security lawyer in Florida, you gain an advocate who understands both sides of these cases. We’re ready for all potential options, from settlements to trials, which means insurance companies take our cases seriously from day one.
Suli Law Group exists to protect injured people and policyholders at their most vulnerable moments — combining insider knowledge of the insurance industry, relentless preparation, and direct attorney access with the compassion, integrity, and genuine care every client deserves. We pursue justice and accountability with strategy, precision, and heart.
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