Premises security liability is the application of principles in the tort of negligence. It arises when a business is sued by an individual who was the victim of a violent crime on the property of the business and is claiming that the lack of security was a factor in allowing the crime to occur.

A claim for inadequate security is a claim that the property owner failed to provide a reasonable level of security, given the risk of crime at the property during the time of the attack.

	A messy key cabinet with labeled keys and a manual sign-out sheet is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

FACT:
One of the largest jury verdicts ever awarded in a premises liability case involved poor key control.

A Texas property management company was ordered to pay $17 million to a woman who was raped and assaulted on its property. The criminal broke into the management office, searched the files until he found a single woman with a good job, then stole her labeled key, entered her apartment and raped, beat and robbed her.

Poor record keeping is another major area of concern. The ability to track who took a key, for what purpose, when, for how long, and when it was returned is critical.

Manual sign-out sheets are notoriously sloppy. Forgotten or illegible entries will be construed by a good attorney as unreliable.

If you find yourself the defendant in a liability case you need complete, accurate records of all key transactions.

HandyTrac provides a secure, archived audit trail.