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When a crime happens to you on someone else’s property in Norristown, the person who attacked you is not always the only one responsible. Property owners, landlords, and businesses have a legal duty to keep their premises safe, and when they skip that duty, they can be held accountable for the harm you suffered. That is exactly what a negligent security claim is. If you were assaulted, robbed, or otherwise hurt because a property lacked reasonable security measures, you may have a strong civil claim against the owner, even if the attacker was a third party. At MyPhillyLawyer, our Philadelphia personal injury lawyer team is ready to review your situation and explain your legal options at no cost to you.
Table of Contents
- Norristown’s Crime Rate Makes Negligent Security Cases More Common
- What Pennsylvania Law Says About a Property Owner’s Duty to Provide Security
- Common Examples of Negligent Security in Norristown Properties
- How Pennsylvania’s Comparative Negligence Law Affects Your Claim
- What You Must Prove to Win a Negligent Security Case in Pennsylvania
- The Filing Deadline for Negligent Security Claims in Norristown
- FAQs About Norristown PA Negligent Security Claims
Norristown’s Crime Rate Makes Negligent Security Cases More Common
Norristown, the county seat of Montgomery County, sits along the Schuylkill River and serves as one of the region’s most densely populated boroughs. It is home to busy corridors like DeKalb Street and Main Street, major transit hubs near the Norristown Transportation Center, and dozens of apartment complexes, shopping centers, and parking areas. Despite its central role in the region, the borough has a crime problem that property owners cannot ignore.
According to FBI crime data, Norristown recorded 161 violent crimes in a single year, equivalent to 450 per 100,000 individuals, which is higher than the national average by 25.4%. That number includes robberies, aggravated assaults, and other serious offenses that often happen in the kinds of locations where security failures are most common, such as parking lots, apartment hallways, and commercial properties.
The chance of being a victim of violent crime in Norristown is 1 in 223. When crimes like these happen in places where a property owner had both the knowledge and the ability to prevent them, Pennsylvania law gives victims a path to compensation.
Areas near Elmwood Park, the West End neighborhood, and properties along Route 202 have seen consistent criminal activity over the years. When property owners in those areas fail to install working lights, fix broken locks, or hire trained security staff, they are not just being careless. Under Pennsylvania law, that carelessness can rise to the level of legal negligence.
What Pennsylvania Law Says About a Property Owner’s Duty to Provide Security
Negligent security is a specific type of premises liability claim. Premises liability is the area of Pennsylvania law that holds property owners and occupiers responsible for injuries that happen on their property when they fail to maintain a reasonably safe environment.
In Pennsylvania, property owners and occupiers have a duty to keep their premises safe for visitors, and this includes incorporating safety measures to prevent intentional harm from befalling their guests. That duty does not disappear simply because the harm was caused by a criminal rather than a structural defect.
If you are injured by a criminal attack on the property of a commercial business, that business is generally not liable for your injuries unless the business should have reasonably foreseen the crime occurring. If the attack could have been foreseeable, the business owner has a duty to use reasonable care to protect invitees.
Foreseeability is the central question in most negligent security cases. A property owner does not have to predict the future. They just have to pay attention to what is already happening around them. There must be a history of crime or a high level of risk in the area where the assault took place. If crime was frequent in the area, or the property owner knew or should have known about the potential for violence, they could be found negligent if they failed to provide adequate security.
Given Norristown’s documented crime rates, property owners throughout the borough have a heightened responsibility to take security seriously. Ignoring that responsibility creates legal exposure when someone gets hurt.
Common Examples of Negligent Security in Norristown Properties
Negligent security can take many forms, and it happens across all types of properties. Apartment buildings, hotels, bars, shopping centers, parking garages, and even schools can all be the site of a negligent security claim if the right (or wrong) conditions are in place.
A negligent security claim arises when a property owner or occupier has a lapse in security measures that results in a guest becoming the victim of a violent crime on their premises. These cases usually involve violent crime such as sexual assault, rape, robbery, assault, battery, shootings, stabbings, and homicide.
Common security measures that owners are expected to maintain include warning signs, locks, safety lighting, security guards, motion sensor lights, alarms, fencing, security cameras, and screening those who enter the property. When any of these are broken, absent, or improperly maintained, and someone is hurt as a result, the property owner may face civil liability.
Think about a Norristown apartment complex near Markley Street where the parking lot lights have been out for months, or a bar on Main Street where the bouncer staff was never properly trained. Properties with a high crime rate or in high crime rate areas obligate the owner or possessor to increase security measures. For example, if a property has several assaults or robberies, the landlord has a duty to install security cameras, assure that there is proper lighting, or hire additional security personnel to keep tenants or clients safe.
It is also worth noting that liability is not always limited to the property owner alone. There may be more than one person or entity that may be held responsible for your injuries. Potential liable parties include the owner, a tenant, a work crew, the landlord, a security guard or company charged with patrolling or maintaining the property, and people whose intentional, criminal actions caused your injuries while on the property.
How Pennsylvania’s Comparative Negligence Law Affects Your Claim
One question many victims ask is whether they can still recover compensation if they did something that contributed to the situation. Pennsylvania answers that question through its comparative negligence statute, found at 42 Pa. C.S. § 7102.
Under that law, your own negligence does not automatically bar you from recovering damages. The statute provides that a plaintiff’s contributory negligence does not bar recovery where that negligence was not greater than the causal negligence of the defendant or defendants. In plain terms, you can still recover as long as you were not more than 50% at fault for what happened.
If your share of the fault is 50% or less, your compensation award will be reduced by your percentage of fault. However, if you are found to be 51% or more at fault, you are barred from recovering any compensation at all.
This rule matters in negligent security cases because defense attorneys often argue that a victim made choices that contributed to their own harm, such as walking through a poorly lit area late at night. Even if that argument has some merit, it does not end your case. It just means the final award may be reduced in proportion to your share of fault.
Pennsylvania also recognizes joint and several liability in specific circumstances. Under 42 Pa. C.S. § 7102(a.1), a defendant who is found to bear at least 60% of the total liability can be held jointly and severally liable for the full damages award. This matters when multiple parties share responsibility for a security failure, such as both a property owner and a private security company.
What You Must Prove to Win a Negligent Security Case in Pennsylvania
Winning a negligent security claim requires more than showing that a crime happened on someone’s property. Pennsylvania law requires you to prove four specific elements, and each one must be supported by evidence.
First, you must show that the property owner owed you a duty of care. An invitee is someone invited onto the property for a business or commercial purpose. This includes customers in a store, diners in a restaurant, or fans at a sporting event. Property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care. They must regularly inspect their property for hidden dangers, fix any hazardous conditions, and warn visitors of any risks that cannot be immediately repaired.
Second, you must show that the owner breached that duty. Liability for negligent security arises when property owners fail to fulfill their duty of care, which could involve failing to install necessary security systems, neglecting to repair broken locks, or not responding appropriately to known security threats.
Third, you must show that the breach caused your injuries. This means demonstrating a direct connection between the security failure and the harm you suffered. To prove a negligent security case, you must demonstrate that the property owner had a duty to provide reasonable security, that they breached this duty, and that this breach directly caused your injuries. For example, if you were assaulted in a poorly lit parking lot with no security cameras, you would need to show that the property owner knew about the lack of lighting and failed to fix it.
Fourth, you must prove actual damages. These can include medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and other losses tied to the incident. If your case is successful, you may be entitled to damages including medical expenses, lost wages or loss of future earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress or PTSD, and property damage.
Building this kind of case takes time and thorough investigation. Evidence like surveillance footage, police reports, prior incident records, and maintenance logs can all make a critical difference. Acting quickly after an injury preserves that evidence before it disappears.
The Filing Deadline for Negligent Security Claims in Norristown
Pennsylvania sets a strict time limit on personal injury claims, including negligent security cases. Under 42 Pa. C.S. § 5524, you generally have two years from the date of your injury to file a civil lawsuit. Miss that deadline and you lose your right to pursue compensation, regardless of how strong your case might be.
Two years can feel like a long time, but it goes quickly when you are recovering from a serious injury, dealing with medical appointments, and trying to get back to normal life. Evidence also degrades over time. Security camera footage gets overwritten. Witnesses move or forget details. Maintenance records get lost.
The sooner you contact an attorney, the better your chances of preserving the evidence that proves your case. If your injuries were severe, such as a traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, or permanent scarring from a violent attack, the stakes of missing that deadline are even higher.
Cases involving government-owned properties, like public housing or municipal facilities near the Montgomery County Courthouse on Airy Street, may carry even shorter notice deadlines under Pennsylvania’s Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act. Those timelines can be as short as six months for filing a formal notice of claim.
Do not wait to find out which deadline applies to your situation. Call MyPhillyLawyer at (215) 227-2727 to speak with someone who can review your case and make sure your rights are protected before time runs out. Our office serves clients throughout the greater Philadelphia area, including Norristown and Montgomery County. Toll Free: 866-352-4572.
FAQs About Norristown PA Negligent Security Claims
Can I sue a property owner if I was attacked by a stranger on their property?
Yes, in many cases you can. Pennsylvania premises liability law allows victims of crime to bring civil claims against property owners when the attack was foreseeable and the owner failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it. The attacker being a third party does not automatically shield the owner from responsibility. You need to show that the owner knew or should have known about the risk and did not act on it.
What types of properties are most commonly involved in negligent security claims in Norristown?
Apartment complexes, bars and nightclubs, shopping centers, hotel parking lots, and parking garages are among the most common locations. Properties near high-traffic areas like the Norristown Transportation Center or along DeKalb Street, where foot traffic is heavy and criminal activity has been documented, carry a higher duty to provide adequate security. That said, any property where a crime was foreseeable and preventable can be the subject of a negligent security claim.
How long do I have to file a negligent security lawsuit in Pennsylvania?
Under 42 Pa. C.S. § 5524, you generally have two years from the date of your injury to file a personal injury lawsuit in Pennsylvania. If the property is owned or operated by a government entity, shorter notice requirements may apply. Do not wait to consult an attorney, because missing the deadline typically means losing your right to compensation entirely.
What if I was partially at fault for what happened to me?
Pennsylvania follows a modified comparative negligence rule under 42 Pa. C.S. § 7102. You can still recover compensation as long as you were not more than 50% at fault. Your total damages award will be reduced in proportion to your share of the fault. For example, if you are found 20% at fault and your total damages are $100,000, you would receive $80,000. A property owner’s defense team may try to shift blame onto you, which is why having legal representation matters.
What should I do immediately after a crime or attack on someone else’s property?
Call 911 and get medical attention right away, even if your injuries do not seem severe at first. Report the incident to the property owner or manager and get a copy of any incident report. Take photos of the scene, including any broken lights, missing cameras, or unsecured entry points. Write down the names and contact information of any witnesses. Preserve any clothing or personal items involved. Then contact an attorney as soon as possible to protect your right to pursue a claim before critical evidence is lost.
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