Common Area: Duty to Prevent Criminal Activity

By collecting fees from individual condominium owners, a condominium association typically agrees to maintain the common areas of the complex. However, the association may also be required to take reasonable precautions to prevent criminal acts by third parties in the common areas. Third parties are people who do not own a condominium within the complex or are not the invited guests of current condo owners.

Association’s Liability

When a person is injured by the criminal act of a third party, the condominium association may be liable under a negligence cause of action for failing to take reasonable precautions to prevent such acts. To bring action, the injured person must establish that the association had a reasonable duty to protect the person from a third party’s criminal act.

Foreseeable Dangers

If the injured person is a resident or a guest, the association may have a duty to protect against foreseeable dangers. The duty stems from circumstances that indicate criminal activity is present. Such circumstances include past criminal activity, notification of recent criminal activity, or steps the association has taken against criminal activity. Under these circumstances, the association has actual knowledge of the crimes, or should have known of crime. Some examples are high crime rates, strangers on the property, dim lighting, and a lack of security devices such as gates, cameras, or locks.

Duty Assumed Voluntarily

The condominium association may also voluntarily assume the duty in a number of ways:

• An oral commitment to the injured person
• Precautions already taken to improve security
• Written items in the association’s bylaws about certain security requirements.

Special Relationships

Under certain circumstances, the court may view the relationship of the injured person and association as similar to a landlord and tenant. In such cases, there is a special relationship, and a duty to protect against criminal acts is “owed.” Not all courts follow this view, and some hold that landlords generally do not have a duty to protect tenants from criminal acts.

Security Regulations Statutes

Finally, there may be certain statutes that require minimum security standards. Examples are city ordinances requiring dead bolts on exterior doors, or requiring that vacant structures be locked up. Violations of these statutes or ordinances by a condominium association are strong indicators of liability, but the injured person must prove that those violations directly contributed to the criminal activity.

© 2026 NextClient.com, Inc. All rights reserved.

• Families & Lawsuit Immunity
  Over the years, intra-family immunity from lawsuits against other family members developed; “parental immunity” and “spousal immunity.” Some have suggested that these immunities were part of a body of rules that historically... Read more.
• Possible Consequences for Voluntary Dismissal
  Many people embark on a lawsuit without taking into consideration all possible consequences. Litigation can be very costly and not all the costs are obvious. Most expect the costs of hiring an attorney and make payment arrangements,... Read more.
• The Effects of Compensation From Multiple Sources in Tort Litigation
  In addition to laws passed by legislatures, there exists a body of principles derived from court decisions and other judicial sources called the “common law.” Courts frequently rely on common law in deciding cases. One common law... Read more.
• Liability for Injuries From Defective Products
  Product or products liability is the area of personal injury law concerning liability for injuries caused by “defective” products. “Defective” products include products that are “unreasonably dangerous” for their intended... Read more.

• Coach and Quince End Lawsuit Over Alleged Lookalike Handbags
• Supreme Court Leaves Texas Paid Voter Assistance Ban in Place
• 47 Ronin Director Carl Rinsch Sentenced to Prison for $11 Million Netflix Fraud
• Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order, Reaffirming 14th Amendment Protection
• Mississippi Law Authorizes Statewide List of Undocumented Residents