Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Reviewed
Local differences in Anaheim
This page is for a person hurt in an attack on someone else's property in Anaheim, including a hotel guest or visitor, and for that person's family. The local facts were checked on November 9 and 11, 2026, and where we could not confirm an Anaheim agency's process, we say to ask the agency. It is general information, not advice about any one case. Our negligent security lawyer page covers every setting, and our Anaheim personal injury lawyer page covers other injuries.
The owner's duty in California
California's jury instruction on crime on property, CACI No. 1005 (2026 edition), says that a landlord or the owner of a business open to the public "must use reasonable care to protect" tenants, guests or patrons "from another person's criminal conduct on" the property "if the [owner/landlord] can reasonably anticipate that conduct." Whether that duty exists is decided by the judge; whether the steps the owner took were "adequate and reasonable under the circumstances" is decided by the jury. An injury from an unsafe condition with no attack, such as a fall, follows the rules on our premises liability lawyer page.
Anaheim hotels and motels
An Anaheim hotel or motel owes its guests reasonable care against crime it can reasonably anticipate. In O'Hara v. Western Seven Trees Corp. (1977) 75 Cal.App.3d 798, a Court of Appeal noted that "an innkeeper was under a duty to protect his guests." The hotel's owner and operator are usually the responsible companies; a brand can be responsible when it controlled the practice at issue. Proof often comes from the hotel's own records: earlier incidents at the property, broken room locks or door hardware, and what staff were told before the attack. Our guide to hotel and motel assaults explains key control and the owner, franchisee and operator question.
Hotel worker safety records
Anaheim Municipal Code chapter 6.101 requires hotels to give a personal security device, such as a panic button, to each worker assigned alone to a guest room or restroom. The chapter took effect January 1, 2024 (section 6.101.060). A hotel must "at all times have designated and assigned response personnel" who can answer an alert, and must keep records of who was assigned. It must keep records of panic button activations "for a period of three (3) years from the incident" (section 6.101.050). The chapter protects hotel workers. It does not give guests rights against the hotel or show that a hotel was negligent. Its value in a guest's case is the records, so in an Anaheim hotel assault case we ask the hotel to preserve the activation records and the response personnel assignments.
| Record | What it can show | How long it is kept |
|---|---|---|
| Panic button activation records | Alerts by hotel workers, including any near the time of the attack | Three years from the incident (section 6.101.050) |
| Response personnel assignments | Who was assigned to answer alerts on that shift | The chapter requires accurate, contemporaneous records but states no period |
| Camera video | Who entered the hotel or a hallway, and when | Only as long as the hotel's system settings allow |
| Key card and door lock records | Which key opened a room door, and when | Only as long as the hotel's system keeps them |
| 911 audio held by police | Calls for help from the property | A city department may destroy telephone and radio recordings after 100 days |
Threats from another tenant
The strongest cases usually involve written reports to the landlord or manager about threats or violence by a specific person, and no meaningful response. Complaints about noise or suspected drug activity, without threats or violence, are weaker evidence that violence was foreseeable. The two key cases are Castaneda v. Olsher (2007) 41 Cal.4th 1205 and Madhani v. Cooper (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 412. In Castaneda, the Supreme Court said a tenant's "behavior and known criminal associations may, in some circumstances, create such a high level of foreseeable danger to others that the landlord is obliged to take measures to remove the tenant from the premises." Our guide for a tenant attacked by another tenant explains the steps short of eviction.
Eviction tools under state law
A landlord with written reports of threats or violence by a specific occupant has tools, up to eviction. California's Tenant Protection Act (Civil Code sections 1946.2 and 1947.12) covers many Anaheim apartments. After 12 months, it requires a just cause, stated in the written notice, to end a covered tenancy, and the at-fault causes include a nuisance and "Criminal activity by the tenant on the residential real property, including any common areas." The statute allows an eviction on those grounds; it does not require one. Whether a unit is covered, and whether a landlord should have acted, are questions for a lawyer.
Bars and other businesses
Bars, nightclubs, parking operators and stores in Anaheim owe customers reasonable care against crime they can reasonably anticipate. When a business has actual notice of an impending assault, Delgado v. Trax Bar & Grill (2005) 36 Cal.4th 224 says its duty includes "reasonable, relatively simple, and minimally burdensome steps to attempt to avert that danger." In Morris v. De La Torre (2005) 36 Cal.4th 260, the Supreme Court called a 911 call "a well recognized and generally minimally burdensome method of seeking assistance." Guards are a heavier burden: under Ann M. v. Pacific Plaza Shopping Center (1993) 6 Cal.4th 666, the foreseeability needed "rarely, if ever, can be proven in the absence of prior similar incidents of violent crime on the landowner's premises."
Anaheim police reports
In Anaheim, the Anaheim Police Department takes reports on crimes in the city. The Orange County Sheriff's Department handles the unincorporated county islands inside Anaheim's borders, so we confirm which agency responded before we ask. We could not confirm the Anaheim Police Department's fee, form or timeline for a copy of a report, so ask the department how to request one. California law lets a crime victim, or the victim's authorized representative, get the names and statements of witnesses from the police report for listed crimes, unless that would endanger a witness or the investigation (Government Code section 7923.605).
Calls and 911 audio
Anyone may ask a police agency for the time, substance and location of calls for help it received, and the time and nature of its response (Government Code section 7923.615). Calls to the same address before an attack can help show a pattern, though what the owner itself knew still has to be shown. A city department may destroy telephone and radio recordings after 100 days (Government Code section 34090.6), so 911 audio is requested early. Victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking can get one free copy of the report, its photographs and any 911 recording (Family Code section 6228).
Code complaints and locks
A written complaint is a dated record of what was wrong before an attack. Tell the manager in writing first. We could not confirm how the City of Anaheim takes code enforcement complaints, so ask the City how to file one, and keep a copy. California requires residential landlords to keep working dead bolts on main entry doors, window locks and common-area entry locks (Civil Code section 1941.3). The landlord is not liable under that section unless it fails to fix the problem within a reasonable time after notice, and a violation does not by itself decide negligence. A dated email to the manager and a City complaint give two records of when the owner was told.
Records the owner should keep
Private camera systems keep footage only as long as the owner's settings allow, and no California law makes a private owner keep it before a lawsuit, so a preservation letter goes out first. It asks the owner, the operator and any security company to keep video, door and key logs, incident and guard reports, work orders, and complaints about the person who attacked you. Our negligent security evidence checklist lists each record, who holds it in Orange County and how to ask for it.
Victim services for Anaheim
The Orange County District Attorney's Office lists Waymakers, which operates a Victim/Witness Assistance Program for crime victims and witnesses. Waymakers runs Victim Assistance Centers that include the North Justice Center in Fullerton, 714-773-4575, and the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, 714-834-4350; call to ask which center serves your case. The help is free, whether or not you hire a lawyer. The California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) accepts applications within seven years of the crime, and later in some cases. CalVCB is a payor of last resort, so money later recovered in a civil case must be repaid to it.
Courthouse nearby
An Anaheim injury case is filed in Orange County Superior Court at the Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, which hears limited civil, unlimited civil and small claims cases for every city in the county (checked November 9, 2026). If a lawsuit is needed, we file it, and you do not have to go to the courthouse to start the case.
Filing deadlines
Most California injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the injury (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). If a city, a county, the State, a school district, a transit agency or another public entity may be responsible, a written claim must first be presented to that entity within six months after the claim accrues (Government Code section 911.2). The lawsuit against the entity then has its own deadline: six months after a written rejection notice is delivered or mailed, or two years from the date the claim accrued if no written notice is given (Government Code section 945.6). The dates in any one case should be calculated by a lawyer.
Some claims have more time. Our negligent security deadlines guide lists each period, and our deadline calculator gives a first look at the dates.
Insurance and who pays
When someone is attacked on property in California, the people who may be responsible include the property owner, the property management company, the security company and any business that controlled the area. Each may have its own liability insurance. California requires every licensed private patrol operator to keep commercial general liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 for any one loss or occurrence (Business and Professions Code section 7583.40). Whether a policy pays for a particular attack depends on its terms, so the policies must be obtained and read. Our guide to insurance and who pays explains assault exclusions.
After you call
You do not have to describe the attack to start. We begin with the property: who owns it, who operates it, who provides security and which agency took the report. With your written authorization, we request the police records, send the preservation letters and deal with the insurers, in English or Spanish, by phone or video. Our guide on how to prove a negligent security case explains what the records need to show.
Other Orange County pages
Our Orange County negligent security lawyer page covers Sheriff's Department records, and our Santa Ana negligent security lawyer page covers Santa Ana's police records and just cause ordinance. If a family member died in an attack, our guide to fatal attacks and wrongful death and our Orange County wrongful death lawyer page explain the family's claim.
Sources cited
- CACI No. 1005, 2026 edition: courts.ca.gov (PDF)
- O'Hara v. Western Seven Trees Corp. (1977) 75 Cal.App.3d 798: CourtListener
- Castaneda v. Olsher (2007) 41 Cal.4th 1205: CourtListener
- Madhani v. Cooper (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 412: CourtListener
- Delgado v. Trax Bar & Grill (2005) 36 Cal.4th 224: CourtListener
- Morris v. De La Torre (2005) 36 Cal.4th 260: CourtListener
- Ann M. v. Pacific Plaza Shopping Center (1993) 6 Cal.4th 666: CourtListener
- City of Anaheim, Municipal Code chapter 6.101 (Hotel Worker Protections), text presented to the City Council on June 27, 2023: agenda and ordinance text (PDF)
- Civil Code sections 1946.2, 1947.12 and 1941.3
- Orange County Sheriff's Department: North Patrol
- Government Code sections 7923.605, 7923.615 and 34090.6; Family Code section 6228
- Orange County District Attorney: victims' services resources
- Waymakers: supporting victims
- California Victim Compensation Board: who is eligible
- Orange County Superior Court: Central Justice Center
- Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1; Government Code sections 911.2 and 945.6; Business and Professions Code section 7583.40