Can I sue the apartment complex because of my stolen vehicle? 12 Answers as of February 17, 2012

Possibly if you don't have comprehensive coverage and would eat the loss then you may have a claim. You would have to prove negligence on the part of the complex.

Not unless you can allege that the complex was negligent. Simply turn this in to your insurance and be done with it.

You will have to prove that lack of security was the reason for the theft, and your note suggests that security was tight.

I hope you had theft insurance. You can sue, but you must prove that the apartment complex acted in an unreasonable fashion.

I am not sure if you can sue or not. You will need to look closely at your contract with the apartment complex. I would imagine the contract will include a clause which will indemnify the apartment complex for any loss but take a look and see. If there is not a contractual clause you should contact a local attorney for additional help.

You would have to be able to prove that the security people did something wrong, e.g sleeping on the job, not making their rounds, something like that.

Suing anybody requires proving they were negligent - that they breached their duty of ordinary care - and that their negligence was the cause of your loss. You would have to prove all of that by a preponderance of the evidence.

There is a large body of law that recognizes a right of action against apartment complexes for negligent security. Most of these cases involve serious personal injury involving an attack on a person, but there is nothing inherently stopping you from making such a claim for loss of property. The issue comes down to 1) what the complex advertised in terms of security and whether it did what it advertised, 2) what the complex knew in terms of prior thefts in the area such that it had a duty to protect your property, 3) whether reasonable steps were taken (it is possible the theft occurred despite good security - people can even successfully rob banks with good security), and 4) whether you signed a lease that affects your right to sue.

In order to prevail in a lawsuit, you would need to prove (1) that the apartment complex had a duty (including assumption of a duty to provide security), (2) that the apartment complex breached that duty (i.e., negligently performing the assumed duty), and (3) that the failure of the apartment complex to perform the duty was the proximate cause of your loss. As a general rule, your apartment complex is not liable for the criminal act of another; so it is not enough that the crime occurred. Instead, you have to show that the apartment complex failed to properly perform a duty and thereby proximately cause the loss. I suggest that you start with a careful reading of your lease for terms concerning security at the apartment complex.

You may sue. , However, in order for the apartment complex owner to be held liable, you have to provenegligence, and that his negligence was the proximate cause of your truck being stolen.