Negligent security evidence checklist What you keep, and what we request.

The first 72 hours

• A preservation letter to the property ownerYour lawyer sends it, by email and overnight mail, to the owner of record within 24 to 72 hours. It asks the owner to keep all camera video, access and gate logs, work orders, complaints and incident reports, and to stop automatic deletion. We found no California law that makes a private owner keep camera footage for a set time; the owner's own settings decide. Once the owner is told in writing, a jury may consider any later "willful suppression of evidence" (Evidence Code section 413). You do not need to contact the owner yourself.
• A preservation letter to the property managerThe management company often received the complaints and keeps the tenant portal, the work orders and the file on the person who caused the harm. The letter asks for those, for eviction notices the manager served, and for its messages with police. It also asks that broken locks, gates or lights be photographed before they are repaired, and that removed parts be kept. Your lawyer sends it, not you.
• A preservation letter to the security companyIf guards worked the property, the security company holds the post orders, daily activity reports, patrol and checkpoint data, schedules, timesheets and incident reports. A licensed security company generally may not share what it learns on a job except at its client's direction or as the law requires (Business and Professions Code section 7582.26), so these records come through the letter and, later, the lawsuit. We found no statute that sets how long post orders or patrol logs must be kept.
• Letters to camera, access and intercom vendors, and nearby businessesVideo and key fob, gate and intercom logs often sit in a vendor's cloud account and are overwritten on the system's own schedule. Neighboring businesses and homes may have cameras facing the scene. Your lawyer sends each of them a preservation letter as well.
• A request for the police report and witness statementsA victim, or the victim's authorized representative, can get the names, statements and diagrams in the police report for listed crimes, unless release would endanger a witness or the investigation (Government Code section 7923.605). Victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking can get one free copy of the report, its photographs and any 911 recording within five working days, for requests within five years of the report (Family Code section 6228). The county tables below give each office's address and fee. Find your county: Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County.
• A request for 911 audio and dispatch recordsThese are the public records that disappear first. A city or county department may destroy telephone and radio recordings after 100 days (Government Code sections 34090.6 and 26202.6), and the Santa Ana Police Department says its 911 "audio is only retained for 180 days." Ask for the call about the attack and for earlier calls about the same person or problem. Find your county: Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County.
• A request for police body camera videoOfficers' cameras may have recorded the response to the attack and earlier calls to the same address, including what a manager told them. State guidance says video that is not evidence "should be retained for a minimum of 60 days, after which it may be erased" (Penal Code section 832.18), and agencies' schedules vary. Agencies often withhold video while an investigation is open, so the request and a preservation letter go out at once.
• A request for the call history at the addressPolice agencies must make public "the time, substance, and location of all complaints or requests for assistance received by the agency and the time and nature of the response thereto," subject to safety and investigation exceptions (Government Code section 7923.615). The Los Angeles Police Department's public calls-for-service data has no address column, so a building's history comes only by records request or, once a lawsuit is filed, a subpoena. An agency has 10 days to answer a request, and up to 14 more in unusual circumstances (Government Code section 7922.535). How far back a request reaches is a question for your lawyer.

Records that prove notice

• Your own written complaints, emails, texts and portal messagesScreenshot every message to or from the landlord, manager or security company now, with the dates showing, and keep the phone. Do not delete threads, because tenant portal accounts can close when a tenant moves out. The strongest cases usually involve written reports to the landlord or manager about threats or violence by a specific person, and no meaningful response; our page on California negligent security cases explains why.
• Replies, promises and notices from managementKeep any written reply, including a promise to deal with a problem, a warning letter sent to another tenant, or a notice the manager posted. A promise to act followed by no action is evidence of what management knew. Keep your lease and any written rules about gates, locks, cameras or guards.
• Earlier police report numbers and calls about the same problemWrite down the report number, date and agency for each earlier call you made about the same person or condition. A lease clause cannot limit a tenant's right to call police as a victim of crime, and a landlord may not penalize a tenant for it (Civil Code section 1946.8).
• A protective order or lock change request you gave the landlordIf you gave the landlord a copy of a restraining order or police report, keep proof of when and how. When the person accused of abuse or violence does not live in your unit, the landlord must change your locks at its own expense within 24 hours after you ask in writing and give it the order or report (Civil Code section 1941.5). If the landlord received a copy of a protective order, that is strong evidence of what it knew.
• Photos of a broken lock, gate, door or light, and repair requestsIf it is safe to do so, photograph the condition, with the date, before it is repaired, and keep every written repair request and work order. California requires working dead bolts, window locks and common-entry locks (Civil Code section 1941.3). A known, unrepaired lock is strong evidence, but the injured person must still show it mattered.
• Court records about the person who caused the harmEviction cases, restraining orders and criminal cases involving that person can show the landlord already knew. An eviction case is usually closed to the public, but a resident of the building can see it with one party's name or the case number and proof of residency (Code of Civil Procedure section 1161.2). You can leave the search to your lawyer. The county tables below give each court's search fees. Find your county: Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County.
• Housing and building code records for the propertyCode inspectors may have cited a broken entry door, fence or light before the attack. In the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Housing Department handles rental housing code cases, and the Department of Building and Safety handles code complaints for commercial buildings, hotels and motels and keeps online building records. In unincorporated Los Angeles County, Public Health posts rental housing inspection results, and Santa Ana runs a proactive rental inspection program. Elsewhere, ask the city.
• The security company's licenseThe Department of Consumer Affairs License Search shows whether a security company is licensed as a private patrol operator and whether a guard holds a security guard license. A licensed private patrol operator must carry liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 for any one loss or occurrence (Business and Professions Code section 7583.40).
• Other tenants' complaints about the same personNeighbors may have complained too, and their complaints can be strong evidence of what management knew. Do not contact other tenants to collect them. Your lawyer asks for management's files once a lawsuit is filed, and the court decides any privacy objections.

Medical and injury records

• Emergency and hospital records, and every place you were treatedList each ambulance, emergency room, hospital, clinic and doctor, with the dates, and keep discharge papers and prescriptions. Your lawyer requests the full records with your written authorization.
• Counseling and mental health careKeep the names of counselors and therapists and the dates of care. The California Victim Compensation Board lists "Mental health treatment or counseling" among the costs it can pay after a covered crime (what CalVCB covers).
• Bills, receipts and proof of lost incomeKeep medical bills, pharmacy receipts, pay stubs and a note from your employer about missed work. Each defendant pays only its own share of noneconomic damages, such as pain and emotional distress, but economic damages, such as medical bills and lost earnings, are not divided this way (Civil Code section 1431.2).
• Safety costs, such as new locks and movingKeep receipts for lock changes, security devices, moving costs and temporary housing. CalVCB lists "Home security installation or improvement" and "Relocation" among the expenses it can pay, up to $70,000 in total, after other sources (what CalVCB covers).
• Photos of injuries, if any were takenIf you or someone you trust took photos as the injuries healed, keep them somewhere private, such as a device or account only you use. Nothing more is needed now.
• A CalVCB applicationThe California Victim Compensation Board can help victims of crimes such as assault, robbery, sexual assault and stalking with medical, counseling, income and relocation costs, up to $70,000, but not pain and suffering. Apply within seven years of the crime, with later dates in some cases (who is eligible). CalVCB is a "payor of last resort": it must be repaid from a later recovery for the same expenses, and it must be told of a lawsuit within 30 days of filing (repayment). Our guide on the criminal case, CalVCB and your civil claim explains how they fit together.

Safety and support

• Call 911 if you are in danger nowEmergency help comes first. Nothing on this list has to be done before you are safe.
• Free help lines in Los Angeles CountyThe Los Angeles County Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 978-3600, or dial 211. Peace Over Violence runs a 24/7 rape and battering hotline in English, Spanish and American Sign Language at 213.626.3393, 310.392.8381 or 626.793.3385. The District Attorney's Bureau of Victim Services is (800) 380-3811. These services are free and independent of Wise Law.
• Free help lines in Orange and Ventura countiesIn Orange County, Waymakers runs Victim Assistance Centers and a rape crisis hotline available 24/7 at (949) 831-9110 or (714) 957-2737, and 211 OC can point to other services. In Ventura County, the District Attorney's Crime Victims' Assistance Unit is (805) 654-3622. These services are free and independent of Wise Law.
• National lines, open any timeThe National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800.799.SAFE, or text START to 88788. The National Sexual Assault Hotline is 1-800-656-4673. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline answers calls, texts and chats at 988.
• A confidential mailing address, if you moveSafe at Home, run by the California Secretary of State, is a confidential address program that gives a substitute mailing address to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, child abduction, and elder or dependent adult abuse. Its number is (877) 322-5227.
• Ending a lease early, or changing the locksA tenant who was the victim of a crime that caused bodily injury, or that involved a weapon or the use or threat of force, may give the landlord notice to end the tenancy, with a copy of a protective order, police report or other listed document (Civil Code section 1946.7). A lock change is covered in the notice records above (Civil Code section 1941.5).
• Leave evidence gathering to your lawyerDo not contact the person who caused the harm, other tenants or management to collect evidence or ask questions. Your lawyer sends the letters and requests, and the court handles disputes over other people's files.
• Keep this checklist privateThis page does not save your check marks. They clear when you close or reload the page, and nothing you check is sent to Wise Law. The page has no text message option. If someone else uses this device, a private browsing window keeps the page out of the browser's history.

Los Angeles County records

Orange County records

Ventura County records