Negligent Security Lawyer in Miami

If you or a family member was shot, assaulted, robbed, or raped on property someone else owned — an apartment complex, a hotel, a nightclub, a parking garage, a shopping center, a gas station — the property owner may be legally responsible for failing to provide reasonable security. Florida law has recognized a property owner's duty to protect lawful visitors from foreseeable criminal acts of third parties for decades, and recent legislation has reshaped the framework. The Law Offices of Albert Goodwin represents Miami-area victims and surviving family members in negligent security cases.

The Legal Theory

A negligent security case is a premises liability case in which the dangerous condition on the property is a foreseeable risk of criminal attack — not a wet floor or a broken stair. The plaintiff must prove (1) the property owner owed a duty of reasonable care to the victim, (2) the criminal act was reasonably foreseeable, (3) the owner breached the duty by failing to take reasonable security measures, and (4) the breach caused the victim's injuries. The leading Florida cases include Czerwinski v. Sunrise Point Condominium and Holley v. Mt. Zion Terrace Apartments.

Florida's 2023 Negligent Security Statute

In 2023 the Florida Legislature enacted § 768.0706, which provides multifamily residential property owners a "presumption against liability" in negligent security claims if they implement and maintain a specific list of security measures: a properly functioning security camera system at points of entry and exit; a lighted parking lot from dusk to dawn; lighted walkways, laundry rooms, common areas, mailbox areas, and porches; at least 1-inch deadbolts in each dwelling-unit door; locking devices on every window, sliding door, and exterior front door; locked gates with key/fob/code access at pool, fitness center, and other common areas; a peephole or door viewer on each unit door without a window; and proper security training of employees. The statute also requires CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) assessment by January 1, 2025. The statute changes the landscape but does not eliminate liability — the presumption can be rebutted, and the statute does not protect non-residential properties such as hotels, bars, and shopping centers.

Foreseeability — The Heart of the Case

The single most contested issue in a negligent security case is whether the crime was foreseeable. Foreseeability is typically proven by:

• Prior crime history on the property — police calls for service, arrest reports, prior incident reports, particularly for violent crimes within the past three to five years
• Prior crime history in the surrounding area — crime statistics for the census tract or police reporting district
• The property's own knowledge — internal incident reports, tenant complaints about safety, security memos, prior lawsuits
• Industry standards — IAHSS, ASIS, and other industry guidelines for apartment complexes, hotels, and similar properties

A property with a documented pattern of armed robberies in the parking lot cannot reasonably claim that the next armed robbery in the parking lot was unforeseeable. We pull police records under Florida's public records law (Ch. 119) and CAD logs at the start of every case to establish the foreseeability record.

Reasonable Security Measures

Depending on the property type and the level of risk shown by the foreseeability evidence, reasonable security measures may include:

• Functional security cameras with proper coverage and adequate recording retention
• Adequate exterior and interior lighting maintained at consistent levels
• Secure perimeter — fencing, controlled-access gates, key-fob access to common areas
• Functional door locks and access control
• Uniformed security officers or off-duty police officers at appropriate hours
• Security guard training, supervision, and incident response protocols
• Trespass policies and "no trespass" enforcement against known troublemakers
• Coordination with local police, including off-duty contracted officers

Common Negligent Security Cases in Miami

• Apartment-complex shootings in the corridor, parking lot, or breezeway
• Nightclub and bar assaults involving fights, ejected patrons, and intoxicated aggressors
• Parking-garage attacks at office buildings, shopping centers, and entertainment venues
• Hotel-room invasions and sexual assaults on guests
• Gas-station and convenience-store robberies at the pump or inside the store
• Shopping mall and outlet center attacks
• School-bus stop and college-campus assaults — limited by sovereign immunity rules

Damages and Insurance

Apartment complexes, hotels, and commercial property owners almost always carry general liability insurance with policy limits ranging from $1 million per occurrence up to large excess and umbrella towers. Identifying every layer of coverage is part of the case work-up. Damages in a negligent security case include past and future medical bills, lost wages and earning capacity, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and — in fatal cases — Florida Wrongful Death Act damages for survivors.

The criminal who committed the attack is rarely a meaningful defendant. The viable case is against the property owner, the management company, and any contracted security firm whose security failures created the conditions for the crime.

HB 837 and the Criminal Actor as Non-Party — § 768.0701

The single most significant structural change to Florida negligent-security law in a generation was enacted as part of HB 837 in March 2023 in new § 768.0701. The statute requires the trier of fact in any negligent-security case to apportion fault not only among the named defendants but also to the criminal actor who committed the underlying attack — even though the criminal is virtually never sued, virtually never appears in the case, and virtually never has assets to satisfy any judgment. The practical effect is that a jury that finds the apartment complex 25% responsible and the shooter 75% responsible reduces the plaintiff's recovery against the apartment complex to 25%. The defense bar has aggressively exploited the change since the day it took effect.

Plaintiffs' counsel now have to build cases to maximize the premises owner's share by hammering the specific security failures that made the attack possible — broken or unaimed cameras, dead lighting fixtures, propped-open gates, unsecured stairwells, lack of any security guard on a property with a documented history of armed robberies. The premises case has to make the jury understand that the criminal could not have done what the criminal did but for the owner's choices.

Evidence Preservation — Move Fast

Surveillance video is the most important piece of evidence in most negligent-security cases, and it is also the most perishable. Most commercial DVR systems overwrite footage on a rolling 14- to 30-day cycle. Spoliation letters must go out within days of intake, and we typically follow up with formal records demands and, if necessary, emergency motions to preserve. Other critical evidence:

• Police reports and 911 audio for the incident itself
• Police CAD logs and call-for-service records for the property and surrounding blocks for the prior three to five years, obtained under Ch. 119
• The property's internal incident reports and prior tenant or guest complaints
• Security guard post orders, daily logs, and shift schedules
• Vendor contracts with security companies
• Camera maintenance and downtime records
• Lighting maintenance records and most-recent CPTED assessment
• The property's pre- and post-incident security audits
• Insurance declarations for primary, umbrella, and excess coverage

Trespasser Limitations — § 768.075

Florida § 768.075 limits a property owner's duty to undiscovered trespassers — generally only refraining from willful or wanton injury — and significantly limits duties to discovered trespassers. Negligent-security cases require the plaintiff to have been lawfully on the property. The defense will scrutinize whether the victim was a tenant, an invited guest, a paying patron, or an unauthorized visitor. We document the victim's lawful status (lease, ticket, invitation, employee badge) at the very start of the case.

Common Defense Tactics

• "The criminal act was unforeseeable." Met with three to five years of police CAD data showing prior crime patterns at the same location.
• "The plaintiff was a trespasser." Met with proof of lawful presence — lease, guest registration, employee status.
• "The plaintiff was at fault." Defense will attempt to apportion fault to the victim for being out at night, in a particular area, or with particular people. We push back hard on victim-blaming theories.
• Apportionment to the criminal under § 768.0701. Met by building a compelling premises-failure narrative that puts the owner's choices at the center of the case.
• Statutory presumption under § 768.0706. Available only to multifamily residential owners who actually meet every element. We discovery the full security package and identify the elements the owner failed to implement.

What to Do If You Were Attacked on Someone Else's Property

1. Call 911. Get medical care. Get the police report number.
2. Photograph the scene — lighting, fencing, gates, broken cameras, missing signage — as soon as it is safe.
3. Identify every witness on the spot.
4. Report the incident in writing to the property owner or management — request a copy of the incident report.
5. Do not give a recorded statement to the property's insurance adjuster.
6. Apply to Florida Crime Victim Compensation under Chapter 960 for interim assistance.
7. Contact a Miami negligent-security lawyer immediately so a spoliation letter goes out before video is overwritten.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the attacker was never identified or caught?

The premises case does not require identifying the attacker. It turns on the owner's security failures and the foreseeability of the crime.

How long do I have to file?

Two years from the date of the incident for cases accruing on or after March 24, 2023, under amended § 95.11.

What is the case worth?

Value depends on injuries, available insurance coverage, the strength of foreseeability evidence, and the apportionment exposure under § 768.0701. Catastrophic-injury and wrongful-death cases against properties with documented prior similar crimes can produce seven- and eight-figure recoveries.

If you have been the victim of a violent crime on someone else's property anywhere in South Florida, contact the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin. Call 786-522-1411 or email [email protected]. All consultations are confidential, and there is no fee unless we recover for you.