Can a hotel be responsible for a firearm stolen out of a car in their parking lot?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can a hotel be responsible for a firearm stolen out of a car in their parking lot?
I am in the process of moving my family and I out to another state for the military. We were staying at an extended stay hotel waiting to close on a house, and my truck was broken into in the hotel parking lot. I was forced to keep my handgun in my truck because the hotel has a policy which doesn’t allow firearms inside. They also have signs saying that there are cameras outside, which there are absolutely none. Can the hotel hold any liability against my stolen firearm since I had no other place to put it due to their policy or because they have no security in a high crime area?
Asked on June 24, 2012 under Business Law, North Carolina
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
No, they are most likely not liable. As a general rule, a person or business is not responsible for the criminal actions of third parties not under its control. Sometimes you can establish liability, if you can show unreasonable carelessness which led to the loss; to do that here, you'd have to show 1) that it was unreasonable to not actually have cameras in the parking lot, which is itself far from a given--many or most motels and hotels don't; and 2) that if they had the cameras, the theft would most likely not have happened (i.e that the cameras would have actively deterred it).
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.