People who have been injured by an assault or criminal act of an unknown third party may still recover by going after a premises owner. In Texas, the statute of limitation for an injury or death is only two years. This means that you only have two years to recover from the right party.
The Exception to Premises Owner Liability in Texas Personal Injury Cases
In 1998, the Texas Supreme Court decided in Timberwalk Apartments, Partners v. Cain that a premises owner can be forced to compensate victims for their injuries as the result of the criminal act of a third party. Generally speaking, a premises owner is under no legal duty to protect invitees from an assault or violent crime from others. However, in Timberwalk the Supreme Court carved out an exception to this general rule. The court stated that parties who have control of their premises have “a duty to use ordinary care to protect invitees from criminal acts of third parties if he knows or has reason to know of an unreasonable and foreseeable risk of harm to the invitee.” In order to bring this type of action against a premises owner, an injured party is required to present evidence of “specific previous crimes” around the premises.
