If you were attacked, assaulted, or robbed in a parking garage, you may sue the property owner, the management company, or even a third-party security firm. The core of your case focuses on the business that failed in its duty to keep you safe. This area of law is called premises liability, and it includes a specific focus on what's known as negligent security.
Property owners have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to protect people from foreseeable crimes on their property. When they don't, and someone gets hurt, they may be held financially responsible. While the criminal justice system exists to punish the attacker, a civil lawsuit is your path to securing the resources you need to rebuild your life.
At Lorenz & Lorenz, PLLC, we handle these specific types of claims. If you're unsure about your rights after being attacked in a parking garage, call us for a straightforward conversation about your case.
Reach us at (512) 477-7333.
Key Takeaways for Parking Garage Attack Lawsuits
- You may sue the property owner for negligent security. This holds the business accountable for creating unsafe conditions, which is a separate issue from the criminal who attacked you.
- The foreseeability of the crime is a key element of your case. We must show the owner knew or should have known about the risk of crime on their property for the claim to succeed.
- Act quickly to preserve evidence and protect your rights. The Texas statute of limitations is two years, and crucial evidence like surveillance footage may be deleted much sooner.
Negligent Security: When Poor Management Leads to Harm
The hard reality is that criminals rarely have the money to compensate you for your injuries, lost wages, and therapy bills. Furthermore, police clearance rates for crimes like robbery and carjacking are typically low. This leaves many victims feeling like they have no path to justice.
This is where the concept of Negligent Security applies. Under Texas law, property owners have a legal responsibility to provide a reasonably safe environment for their customers, tenants, and guests. When they cut corners on security to save money, such as ignoring broken lights, failing to repair gates, or not hiring enough security personnel, they breach that duty, as it leads to a higher likelihood for crime to occur.
Who Is Actually Responsible for Your Safety?
Figuring out who to hold accountable after an attack in a parking garage is often complicated. Ownership and management structures are typically a tangled web of different companies, each with its own responsibilities and insurance policies. Our job is to investigate and identify every single party that dropped the ball.
Several entities could share liability for the security failures that led to your injuries:
- The Property Owner: This is the individual or corporation that physically owns the land and the structure. They have an underlying duty to ensure their property is reasonably safe.
- The Garage Operator: Many property owners lease the facility to a separate company that manages the day-to-day operations, such as collecting payments, maintenance, and staffing.
- Third-Party Security Firms: If the garage owner or operator hired an outside security company, that firm may be held liable if their guards were negligent, poorly trained, or absent from their posts.
- Commercial Tenants: If the parking garage serves a specific mall, hotel, or apartment complex, those businesses may also share responsibility for ensuring the safety of their patrons and residents from the car to their door.
Why does identifying all of these parties matter? Because each may have a separate insurance policy. Pursuing a claim against all negligent parties gives you the best chance of recovering the full compensation you need for your medical treatment, lost income, and long-term trauma.
The Four Pillars of a Parking Garage Lawsuit
To successfully hold a property owner accountable, we must build a case that proves four specific elements under Texas law. The burden of proof is on us, and a failure to establish any one of these pillars causes the entire claim to fail.
1. Duty of Care
First, we must show that the property owner owed you a duty of care. Thankfully, this is usually the most straightforward part. If you were a paying customer, an employee, or a tenant's guest, you were legally on the property as an invitee. Property owners owe the highest duty of care to invitees, which includes protecting them from foreseeable harm.
2. Breach of Duty
Next, we must prove the property owner breached, or failed, in that duty. This means they did not act as a "reasonable" property owner would under similar circumstances.
For example, a reasonable owner in a high-crime area would likely install bright lighting and monitored security cameras. A negligent owner might use fake cameras and let bulbs stay burnt out for weeks to save money.
3. Foreseeability (The Big One)
This is typically the most contested element in a negligent security case. We must prove that the criminal attack was foreseeable. This doesn’t mean the owner had to know you, specifically, would be attacked on that day. It means they knew, or should have known, that a crime like this was a real possibility.
Foreseeability is established by showing:
- A history of similar crimes (assaults, robberies, break-ins) on the property or in the immediate area.
- The property is located in a known high-crime neighborhood.
- The owner received complaints from tenants or customers about security concerns that went ignored.
4. Causation
Finally, we must draw a direct line from the owner's negligence to your injuries. In other words, the security failure was a substantial factor in allowing the attack to happen.
For instance, if the garage's access gate was broken, allowing the attacker to walk in off the street, that broken gate is a direct cause. Had the gate been working, the attacker may never have gained entry, and the assault might have been prevented.
Signs the Garage Owner Was Negligent
When we investigate a parking garage attack, we look for tangible proof that the owner failed to prioritize safety. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than one in ten property crimes occur in parking lots or garages, because criminals are typically drawn to environments with obvious security gaps.
Here are some of the most common signs of a negligent property owner:
- Lighting Issues: Darkness is a criminal's best friend. Data from the FBI shows parking facilities are one of the most likely places for a violent crime to occur. Garages with burnt-out bulbs, entire sections left unlit, and shadowy stairwells create perfect opportunities for an ambush.
- Access Control Failures: Security is useless if anyone can just walk in. This includes broken boom gates that are stuck in the "up" position, keycard-only doors that are propped open or have broken locks, and unfenced perimeters that allow easy entry from the street.
- Lack of Surveillance: Many properties install dummy cameras to create a false sense of security. Other times, real cameras are present but aren't recording, aren't monitored, or are of such poor quality that they are useless for identifying a suspect. A security feed is only a deterrent if a criminal believes someone is actually watching it.
- Security Guard Absence or Inattention: In areas with a documented history of violent crime, cameras alone are not always enough. A reasonable owner might employ active security patrols. If an owner fired their security staff to cut costs despite rising crime, or if the on-duty guard was asleep or distracted, this is powerful evidence of negligence.
- Ignoring History: Perhaps the most damning evidence is a failure to react to past events. If other people were attacked or robbed in the same garage and management did nothing to upgrade security or warn customers, they knowingly left the danger in place for the next victim.
Recoverable Compensation
A lawsuit for negligent security holds a property owner accountable while securing the financial resources you need to heal and move forward. The compensation, legally known as damages, is divided into different categories.
Economic Damages
These are the tangible, out-of-pocket financial losses you've suffered. They include:
- All medical bills, from the initial emergency room visit to surgery, physical therapy, and ongoing counseling.
- Lost wages for the time you were unable to work while recovering.
- The value of any property that was stolen or damaged during the attack, such as your car, phone, or wallet.
Non-Economic Damages
These damages compensate you for the intangible, but very real, human cost of the attack. This includes:
- Pain and suffering.
- Emotional distress and mental anguish, such as the development of PTSD, anxiety, or a new fear of public places. This "loss of enjoyment of life" is a significant part of your recovery.
Punitive Damages
In some cases, a jury may award punitive damages (also called exemplary damages). These are not meant to compensate you for a loss but to punish the defendant for extreme carelessness. Under Texas law, punitive damages may be available if we prove the property owner's conduct amounted to gross negligence, meaning they were aware of an extreme risk but proceeded with conscious indifference to the safety of others. An example would be a manager who knew an attacker had assaulted someone in the garage previously but did nothing to fix the broken locks or warn tenants.
The Criminal Case vs. The Civil Case
Many victims believe they cannot take action unless the police catch the person who attacked them. This is a major misconception that stops people from seeking the help they need.
You may sue the parking garage owner even if your attacker is never identified or arrested. The criminal case and the civil case are two completely separate legal proceedings with different goals and different standards of proof.
- The Criminal Case: This is the state vs. the attacker. Its purpose is punishment (jail time, fines). The prosecutor must prove the defendant is guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt," which is a very high standard.
- The Civil Case: This is you vs. the negligent property owner. Its purpose is financial compensation for your losses. We only need to prove the owner was negligent by a "preponderance of the evidence." This is a lower standard that simply means it's "more likely than not" that the owner's negligence caused your injuries.
Even if there isn't enough evidence to convict the attacker in criminal court, there is typically more than enough evidence to hold the property owner liable in civil court for creating the dangerous conditions that allowed the attack to happen.
FAQ for Parking Garage Assaults
What is the deadline to file a lawsuit in Texas?
In Texas, the statute of limitations for most personal injury cases is two years from the date of the incident. This is a strict deadline set by the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003. If you fail to file a lawsuit within that window, you will lose your right to recover compensation forever.
Does this apply to apartment complex parking lots?
Absolutely. Landlords and apartment managers owe a duty of care to their tenants and guests. If they fail to address known security risks in their parking areas, such as broken gates or a history of break-ins, they may be held liable for an attack.
What if the security cameras weren’t working?
The fact that cameras were broken or not recording is actually evidence for your case, not against it. It demonstrates a breach of duty and the owner failed to maintain the security equipment they had in place.
How much does it cost to hire you?
There are no upfront costs. Lorenz & Lorenz, PLLC works on a contingency fee basis. This means we only collect a fee if we successfully recover compensation for you through a settlement or a jury verdict. If we don't win your case, you owe us nothing.
We Hold Property Owners Accountable
The time after an attack is difficult, and the thought of a legal battle can seem daunting. But that’s our job. We handle the difficult investigation, the negotiations with insurance companies, and all the court filings so you can dedicate your energy to healing.
In addition to securing the finances needed for your recovery, by holding negligent property owners financially responsible, you force them to improve their security. Your case could be the catalyst that prevents this from happening to someone else. Call Lorenz & Lorenz, PLLC today at (512) 477-7333 for a free and confidential consultation. We are here to listen to your story, answer your questions, and clearly explain your legal options.
