WHY KEY
CONTROL
WHY KEY CONTROL
Premises Liability, Audit Trail
Premises security liability is the application of principles in the tort of negligence. It arises when a business is sued by an individual who was the victim of a violent crime on the property of the business and is claiming that the lack of security was a factor in allowing the crime to occur.
A claim for inadequate security is a claim that the property owner failed to provide a reasonable level of security, given the risk of crime at the property during the time of the attack.
FACT:
One of the largest jury verdicts ever awarded in a premises liability case involved poor key control.
A Texas property management company was ordered to pay $17 million to a woman who was assaulted on its property. The criminal broke into the management office, searched the files until he found a single woman with a good job, then stole her labeled key, entered her apartment and raped, beat and robbed her.
Poor record keeping is another major area of concern. The ability to track who took a key, for what purpose, when, for how long, and when it was returned is critical.
Manual sign-out sheets are notoriously sloppy. Forgotten or illegible entries will be construed by a good attorney as unreliable. Sloppy Key Release Log - Systematic record keeping is vital to proper key management.
If you find yourself the defendant in a liability case you need complete, accurate records of all key transactions. An audit trail.
HandyTrac provides a secure, archived audit trail.
Significant monetary judgements have been awarded against owners and management companies.
Awards were based on premises liability - where there was an "unforced entry" by a perpetrator who use a key to gain entry for criminal purposes.
HandyTrac Key Control reduces liability by prevent apartment keys from falling into the wrong hands and provides a secure Audit Trail