Negligent security is a form of premises liability. A property owner or manager can be held liable when they fail to take reasonable security measures and a foreseeable crime injures a lawful visitor, tenant, customer, or employee. In Timberwalk Apartments, Partners, Inc. v. Cain, 972 S.W.2d 749 (Tex. 1998), the Texas Supreme Court set the modern framework: while owners are not insurers of safety, they owe invitees ordinary care when criminal conduct is both unreasonable and foreseeable.

That standard was later expanded in Del Lago Partners, Inc. v. Smith, 307 S.W.3d 762 (Tex. 2010), where the court recognized that an owner can also be liable when violent conduct is foreseeable from events unfolding right in front of staff. In short: if the danger is obvious or the owner has a track record of similar crime on or near the property, doing nothing is not an option.

How Texas Courts Decide Foreseeability: The Timberwalk Factors

Foreseeability is the heart of every Austin negligent security case. Texas courts evaluate it using the Timberwalk factors:

• Proximity — How close prior crimes occurred to the property in question.
• Recency — How recently those prior crimes happened.
• Frequency — How often similar criminal activity has taken place.
• Similarity — Whether prior incidents resembled the crime that injured you.
• Publicity — Whether the owner knew or should have known through news reports, police calls, or tenant complaints.

The more these boxes check, the harder it becomes for a landlord, hotel, or business to argue your attack was a surprise.

Where Negligent Security Attacks Happen in Austin

Austin’s nightlife, dense apartment market, and tourism economy create dozens of high-risk environments. Our firm regularly investigates incidents at:

Apartment Complexes & Condominiums

Broken gates, propped-open access doors, burned-out walkway lights, and management who ignore repeated tenant complaints about break-ins or assaults. Apartment cases are the most common negligent security claims in Travis County.

Hotels, Motels & Short-Term Rentals

Unsecured entry points, malfunctioning keycard systems, untrained front-desk staff, and a known pattern of room invasions or parking-lot crime.

Bars, Nightclubs & Music Venues

Overserved patrons, no ID checks, unqualified bouncers, and failure to intervene during clearly escalating altercations. Sixth Street, Rainey Street, and the Red River District generate a steady volume of these cases.

Parking Lots & Parking Garages

Poorly lit decks, broken cameras, no roving security, and a documented history of carjackings or armed robberies on the property.

Shopping Centers, Gas Stations & Convenience Stores

High-volume retail locations with a long crime history but minimal investment in cameras, lighting, or guards.

Office Buildings, Hospitals & Mixed-Use Properties

Unrestricted lobby access, broken elevator security, and a failure to lock down floors after hours despite earlier incidents.

Common Crimes and Injuries in Negligent Security Cases

Negligent security claims arise when foreseeable violence causes serious harm. Typical incidents include:

• Aggravated assault and battery
• Shootings and stabbings
• Robbery and armed carjacking
• Sexual assault and rape
• Domestic violence attacks at residential properties
• Homicide (handled as wrongful death claims)

Victims often suffer life-changing injuries — traumatic brain injuries, gunshot wounds, PTSD, and permanent disability. When the attack is fatal, surviving family members may have a wrongful death claim against the negligent property owner.

Who Can Be Held Liable for an Austin Negligent Security Incident?

More than one party is usually responsible. Depending on the facts, liability may extend to:

• The property owner (individual, LLC, REIT, or corporate landlord)
• The property management company
• A third-party security contractor and its individual guards
• The business tenant (a bar, gym, or retailer leasing the space)
• The franchisor, hotel chain, or national brand if it directed security policy

Identifying every responsible party expands available insurance coverage — which is often the difference between a token settlement and full compensation for catastrophic injuries.

Proving a Negligent Security Claim in Texas

To win an Austin negligent security case, your attorney must prove four legal elements:

• Duty — You were a lawful visitor (invitee or licensee) and the property owner controlled the premises.
• Breach — The owner failed to take reasonable security measures despite a foreseeable risk.
• Causation — Those security failures directly enabled the criminal act and your injury.
• Damages — You suffered measurable medical, financial, physical, or emotional losses.

Evidence we move quickly to secure includes:

• Surveillance video (frequently overwritten within 7 to 30 days)
• Austin Police Department reports and 911 call logs
• Prior crime data within a one-mile radius
• Tenant complaints, work-order requests, and inspection records
• Security guard schedules, training files, and incident reports
• Lease language and corporate security policies
• Eyewitness statements and expert reconstruction

Compensation Available in Austin Negligent Security Cases

Texas law allows recovery of three categories of damages in a negligent security claim:

Economic Damages

Past and future medical bills, surgery, rehabilitation, mental-health treatment, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and out-of-pocket costs.

Non-Economic Damages

Physical pain, emotional anguish, PTSD, disfigurement, physical impairment, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Exemplary (Punitive) Damages

Available when the property owner’s conduct rose to gross negligence — for example, repeatedly ignoring documented violent crime on the premises. These damages punish the wrongdoer and deter similar conduct.

How Long Do You Have to File a Negligent Security Lawsuit in Texas?

In Texas, you generally have two years from the date of injury to file a negligent security or premises liability lawsuit under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003. Wrongful death claims also carry a two-year deadline that runs from the date of death. Miss the deadline and the court will dismiss the case — no matter how strong the evidence.

Critical evidence disappears far sooner. Surveillance footage, gate logs, and on-duty security records routinely vanish within weeks. Calling a lawyer in the first 30 days dramatically improves your case.

What to Do After a Negligent Security Incident in Austin

If you or a family member were hurt by criminal violence on someone else’s property, take these steps as soon as you safely can:

• Report the crime to the Austin Police Department and request the case number.
• Get medical care immediately — even for injuries that feel minor.
• Photograph the scene, including lighting, locks, gates, signage, and damage.
• Save evidence of prior warnings — emails, texts, tenant-portal complaints, and community alerts.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the property owner’s insurer before consulting a lawyer.
• Call an attorney quickly so a preservation letter can be sent before video is overwritten.

Why Choose Kelley Wolff Injury Attorneys?

Negligent security cases are not run-of-the-mill personal injury claims. They require courtroom-ready investigation, criminologists, security experts, and the willingness to depose corporate landlords. Founders Travis S. Kelley and Colin Wolff built this firm to handle exactly these cases — efficiently, aggressively, and without backing down.

• Texas-licensed trial lawyers focused exclusively on serious injury and wrongful death
• Deep familiarity with Travis County civil courts and Austin venues
• In-house investigation team that moves on evidence within hours, not weeks
• Direct access to your attorney — no call-center handoffs
• Contingency-fee representation: no fee unless we recover for you

Talk to an Austin Negligent Security Lawyer Today — Free, Confidential Consultation

Property owners and their insurance carriers are already working their version of the story. You deserve a team working yours. Contact Kelley Wolff Injury Attorneys for a free, no-pressure case review. We will tell you honestly whether you have a claim, what it is worth, and what we can do to protect the evidence before it disappears.