Landlord responsiblities (apartment, lease, tenants)

[jbsgirl3646]

Can a landlord be held responsible for a tenants car damage if the security gate only works half of the time and the security cameras don't work?

[CESpeed]

If the landlord represented the parking as secured area and your car was parked where it should have been secured, then yes.

[jbsgirl3646]

Thank you very much CESpeed, I am asking this question on behalf of my daughter, her can was parked in the parking structure of her apartment and someone scratched her car, she told me that her security gate only works half of the time and there are security cameras in the parking scruture but are not working, if you need more info on this matter then i will be talking to her again tonight and will ask her more about it and will let you know. thank you again for the help.

[CESpeed]

I would recommend that she report the damage to her landlord as soon as possible. If she thinks she knows who did it, and if it was deliberate. She should file a police report, as well.

[greggd]

Check the lease agreement.

Generally there is a clause that states the owner is not responsible for damage to vehicles or theft of personal belongings in the parking & common areas.

[CESpeed]

This is true but those clauses are as legal as the disclaimers on parking tickets sayongthat the parking lot owner is not responsible for damages. It depends on the situation. The truth is, more security they provide the more liability they have. That's why malls, for the most part, don't patrol their parking structures. If they do, they are, by action, representing that they are keeping the persons and property safe from harm. The same with the apartment building: By providing a gate and security cameras, they are representing that they intend to keep the property within the gate safe.

[Ultrarunner]

As long as she can convince a judge that the damaged happened on the property as a result of someone gaining access through the open security gate... I think your daughter will prevail.