Legal help Please! Commercial Burglary Question. Any help very appreciated.?

Question

I have a small clothing boutique in Oklahoma. It was burlarized Sat night and approx 50,000 in clothes stolen.

They got in by a vacant unit that was next to me. The back doors of the vacant unit were unlocked, they entered the unit and broke through the wall onto my side.

Police reports were made and my landlord told me to claim the wall on my insurance b/c his deductibles were too high.

Also, he had two other shopping centers that were broken into the same night.

For some reason my insurance excludes theft. I, know, I am an idiot, please dont make fun of me about that. Im already very upset. I was never told and didnt read the book of policies I was given.

Is my landlord at any fault at all? Since they did not brake in through a door or window but from the wall of one of his unlocked units.

Any help greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance.

If you need any additional details I will be checking all night.

I am calling my attorney tomorrow morning. I just wanted other opinions tonight b/c I am just sick to my stomach.

Answer 1

Yea, I won't berate you for not reading that policy, although normally I would have. It looks like you're beating yourself up enough about that without my help. (I would also tell your landlord to go and screw himself about the wall thing. Who cares about his deductibles? Tell him to suck it up -- it's his wall!)

Hopefully you read your lease, and hopefully, there's some clause in there about the landlord providing "reasonable security measures" or something like that. If there was, then you're in luck, because "breaking through a wall" and entering through an unlocked unit definitely would qualify as your landlord's breach of that clause of the contract. Look through your lease, and contact an attorney who specializes in real estate to review the facts for you to see if you have a case against the landlord.

In the meantime, contact the police and make sure you account for everything that was stolen or damaged -- if these guys were burgling all over town, they might be easier to catch, and if the cops catch them, you can get at least some of your property back. Good luck!

Answer 2

Forget claiming damage to the wall, unless you had damaged fixtures on it , the building is the liability of its owner, unless there is something in the lease.

You could certainly argue that leaving an adjoining unit unlocked with no security patrols , contributed to the theft by allowing the thieves the time and concelament to do it .

Your lawyer can tell you better . You may have a lawsuit against your insurance agent , if he advised you that your policy was sufficient coverage , but didnt include theft , then it may be actionable . Again , your lawyer will know for your state .

sorry about the theft, thats always rough. Remember its probably a deductable expense at tax time . Stock losses due to theft .

Answer 3

A case might be made for lack of security. Chances are there is a clause in your lease that will get the landlord off the hook.

Answer 4

You might very good have a case in opposition to your landlord. Let this be a priceless lesson to you to learn all of your coverage records and make certain you are getting the entire coverage you wish to have.

Answer 5

You can get free legal advice on websites like LawGuru, FindLaw. Check this out for more info http://www.uelp.org/freelegal.html