Legal Question in Personal Injury in New York
Do I Have a Case?: Vandalized on Premsis
I was patroning a bowling alley on Long Island. While I was there, my car was vanadlized and approx. $3,000 of property was stollen from my car. (Lap-top with all work from grad program, clothes, jewlery, textbooks, etc). I was parked under lights and security cams. When the employees were asked to check their security tapes, they said the cams don't work. There are no disclaimer signs (''park at own risk'': ____ does not accept responsibility...'' Can I sue the business for damage to property and/or pain and suffering damages?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Do I Have a Case?: Vandalized on Premsis
It depends on whether they own, or control the opeation of the bowling alley. From your question I will assume that it is outside the door, and appears to be theirs, and that they don't charge for parking, nor have any valets.
If they had valet parking, or charged, you would have a clear cut case of "bailment" which is damage to your property while it is in the contrl , care and possession of someone you entrusted it to.
This is a form of agreement you enter into all the time if you use parking garages. A parking garage would be liable to you for property damage of this nature incurred while the car was in the lot.
The situation you have is not as clear cut, but it sounds as though they either have fake cameras
or real ones and are giving you the run around.
If they put lights and security cameras in the lot, arguably they assumed a duty to their patrons to take reasonable precautions against the type of damages you sustained. That is negligence and bailment.
In your situation, I would sue them in small claims court. You will need two receipts to establish damages, the original, and either an estimate or repair bill. Small claims court costs $20. You can't be represented as an attorney (as a plaintiff) but as a deft the corporation can appear by one. Outside of the city, the small claims courts are part of the district couts, and they are both day and night sessions.
Probably they have insurancew, and if you dont have complete documentation try to settle for 80%.
Re: Do I Have a Case?: Vandalized on Premsis
Possibly for property damage, no for pain and suffering. You would need to show that the owners failed to take proper care of the premises to prevent the theft considering the circumstances that existed when your car was entered.
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