The first lock system, using wooden bolts secured by pins and a wooden key, appeared around 4000 BCE. Several millennia later, the Romans were making locks out of bronze and iron. Locks and keys have continued to evolve over the years, but one truth never changes: A lock only does its job if somebody maintains it.
When a hotel, an apartment complex, or any other public-access property lets its security slide and a guest or tenant is hurt by a criminal act, that failure can become a claim against the property owner.
Washington does not treat a property owner as an insurer against crime. The duty runs to conduct that is reasonably foreseeable, which usually means the owner knew, or should have known, that this kind of thing was happening on or around the property. Foreseeable is the word that does more work than any other in these cases, and it’s why a broken lock plus a crime doesn’t automatically equal a lawsuit.
It also makes these claims hard to prove, which is why the conversation belongs with a Seattle negligent security lawyer who works in Washington premises liability and knows what a property owner actually owes the people inside the building.
Common Security Failures at Washington Hotels and Motels
When you check into a hotel room, you check whether it’s clean, whether the TV works, whether the thermostat responds. You also want the door to hold. Some hotels and motels have real holes in their security, and the result can be a robbery or an assault.
Multiple Entry Points
The bigger the property, the more ways in. A large hotel can have several public doors, a garage, loading areas, and elevators, all of which are difficult to watch at once.
Uneven Screening
A hotel is private property open to the public, which means guests come and go freely and so can people who aren’t guests. Some properties restrict elevator access to guest floors but leave lobbies, corridors, and lower-level event space open to anyone who walks in, and those restrictions often lapse outside of certain hours.
Locks and Keys That Aren’t Controlled
Keycard systems are standard now, but the system is only as good as its administration. Cards that are never deactivated, master keys that aren’t accounted for, doors that don’t latch behind a guest, and locks that are never rekeyed after a card goes missing all put a working lock on a door that anyone can open.
Security Guard Lapses
Hotels often keep an in-house or contract security team. Washington licenses private security guards through the state, and an unarmed guard has to be at least 18, work for a licensed private security company, pass a fingerprint background check, and finish pre-assignment training. Whether the guard on duty that night actually met those requirements is a record somebody can pull, not a matter of opinion.
If you move to file a negligent security claim, you’ll need to identify the specific failure to establish who is liable for it.
Inadequate Security Measures in Seattle Apartment Complexes
Hotels and motels aren’t the only type of property where inadequate security measures harm the people inside. When property managers neglect basic safety measures, they expose residents to crime and open themselves to negligent security lawsuits.
Scenarios that come up repeatedly:
- Compromised Access Control: If fob scanners, intercom systems, and garage gates are broken for extended periods, they can lead to unlawful access.
- Dark Common Areas: Parking structures, stairwells, and perimeter paths need to have proper lighting. Dark spaces and burnt-out bulbs create opportunities for crime.
- Defective Hardware: A lack of functional deadbolts, loose window latches, and shoddy locks can provide access for unwanted intruders.
- Unmonitored Premises: Surveillance cameras are only effective if they are operational.
- Understaffed Security: Some apartment complexes rely on a single guard to monitor hundreds of units across sprawling complexes. That is not adequate to prevent crime.
Evidence Needed to Support a Negligent Security Lawsuit
A negligent security claim needs evidence on two questions: what happened to you, and what the property owner knew before it happened.
For the first, the police report is a starting point, not the whole case. In Seattle, a crime victim can request their own incident report through the department’s records request center. From there, the file usually grows to include:
- Photographs of the scene, including lighting, doors, and locks
- Surveillance footage and security logs
- Witness statements
- Expert testimony on security standards
- Medical and financial records
The second question is where these cases are won or lost. Prior incidents at the property, unanswered tenant and guest complaints, work orders for a broken gate, and crime reported at that address before yours are what make the harm foreseeable.
Much of it sits in the owner’s own files, and it does not stay there forever.
Talk to a Seattle Negligent Security Attorney
Tracking that evidence down is difficult, and surveillance footage in particular has a way of disappearing while a case is still being put together. That is where Law Offices of Justin R. Boland, PLLC comes in.
We have helped Seattle residents who were victims of crimes that traced back to a property owner’s neglect. The justice system should hold the assailant accountable. But the fault often doesn’t stop with the person who committed the crime, and the owner or manager of a hotel or apartment complex can be answerable too.
If you were hurt at a hotel or an apartment building, you owe it to yourself to understand your options before the record gets cold. Contact our office to schedule a free consultation and learn what your situation looks like.
