Miami and Tampa negligent security lawyer

Someone else attacked you. The property let them.

A negligent security claim is not about the attacker. It is about whether the business or landlord that controlled the property knew the danger was there and did nothing — broken gates, dead cameras, unlit stairwells, no guard where the history plainly called for one.

Free case review Miami (305) 662-4323 Tampa (813) 930-5422

The test: ForeseeabilityProved from prior crime at or around the address
Multifamily: § 768.0706A 2023 statute creating a presumption for compliant apartment owners
Deadline to sue: 2 yearsFla. Stat. § 95.11, for incidents on or after 24 March 2023
Evidence: Call historyPolice calls for service at the address, pulled by records request

01 How foreseeability is proved

How foreseeability is proved in a Florida negligent security case

The question is whether the owner should have anticipated a criminal act. It is answered with the record of what already happened there: calls for service, prior reports, incident logs and security complaints from residents or staff.

A property with a documented history of robberies in its parking structure, broken perimeter gates and lights nobody replaced is in a different position from one with no history at all. That record is obtained through public records requests and through discovery, and it is usually the case.

02 What changed in 2023

What Florida’s 2023 apartment security law changed

Florida created a presumption against liability for the owner or operator of a multifamily residential property that substantially implements a specified set of security measures — lighting to a defined standard, locks, cameras at entry, a peephole, and documented crime prevention training.

It did not immunise landlords. It shifted what has to be shown, and it made the property’s own compliance records a central issue. Whether a complex actually met the standard, rather than claimed to, is the fight.

03 Where these cases come from

Miami-Dade

This is a recurring matter across Miami-Dade — apartment complexes, parking structures, stairwells and commercial premises where the history was on the record long before the assault. Claims are filed at the Circuit Court on West Flagler.

The Miami office · Homestead

Hillsborough

Hillsborough claims arise around apartment complexes, motels and late-trading commercial property, with the same evidentiary route through calls for service at the address.

The Tampa office

04 What damages a claim

Treating it as a police matter only and never looking at the property.
Waiting while the lights get fixed and the cameras get replaced.
Not requesting the police call history for the address early.
Assuming a criminal act by a third party ends the civil claim. It does not.

Frequently asked questions about Florida negligent security

The attacker was never caught. Do I still have a claim?

Yes. The claim is against the property, not the attacker, and it does not depend on anyone being arrested.

What it depends on is what the owner knew about the risk and what they did about it.

It happened in my own apartment complex. Can I sue my landlord?

Potentially. A residential landlord owes duties regarding security in common areas, and § 768.0706 now defines a set of measures that bear directly on it.

Whether the complex actually implemented them — and whether it can document that — is where these cases are won or lost.

05 Related matters

The full list is on the personal injury page.

Tell Jose what happened

A free review of your negligent security case, with no obligation, and no fee and no costs unless there is a recovery. English or Spanish, whichever you would rather use. You speak with Jose A. Dapena directly at every stage, not with an intake department — and if there is no claim worth bringing, he will tell you that.

Miami (305) 662-4323 Homestead (786) 900-0184 Tampa (813) 930-5422