Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Reviewed
Local differences in Woodland Hills
If you are in danger now, call 911. Woodland Hills is part of the City of Los Angeles and has no police department or city government of its own. LAPD's Topanga and West Valley divisions both serve parts of Woodland Hills. California law on negligent security is on our Los Angeles negligent security lawyer page, and other injuries are on our Woodland Hills personal injury lawyer page.
The California rule
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. Negligent security is part of premises liability, the law of injuries caused by the way property is run, and the rule is the same in Woodland Hills as anywhere in California.
Local settings
Negligent security claims in Woodland Hills arise in apartment buildings, hotels, bars, parking structures and stores, under the same rule in each. What differs is what the owner may have known and where it was written down. Our guides cover attacks by another tenant, what a landlord must do about crime, hotel and motel assaults and bar, nightclub and event venue assaults.
| Setting | What the owner may have known | Where it is often recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Apartment building | Threats or violence by a specific tenant; a broken lock, gate or light | Messages to the manager, City code complaints, at-fault notices filed with the City |
| Hotel | A threat reported to the front desk; a broken room lock | Incident reports, key card logs, camera video, security staffing records |
| Bar, restaurant or nightclub | A fight building inside; a patron put out into a waiting group | Staff reports, camera video, 911 calls |
| Parking structure or lot | Earlier assaults in the same structure; dead lights or cameras | Work orders, guard logs, camera video |
| Store or shopping center | Earlier violent crime in the common areas | Incident reports, camera video, police calls |
LAPD crime reports
To get a copy of an LAPD crime report, the victim or the victim's representative mails a written request to LAPD's Records and Identification Division, Document Processing Unit, P.O. Box 30158, Los Angeles, CA 90030, with a $28 check or money order payable to the LAPD. LAPD says the fee may be refunded if no report exists, and a lawyer's request must include a release from the victim (LAPD police report page). The $28 fee is on LAPD's application form 08.42.01, with fees effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, as of November 11, 2026. The form says domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking and elder or dependent adult abuse reports "are provided at no cost to victims."
Free copies and 911 audio
California law gives victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking one free copy of the report, related photographs and "a copy of 911 recordings, if any," if they ask within five years after the report is completed (Family Code section 6228). LAPD gets 911 recordings for domestic violence and sexual assault victims through the Area, the local division where the incident happened; a January 2024 LAPD notice says "The victim shall not be directed to Communications Division."
Police calls to the address
Records of earlier police calls to a building can show what was happening there before an attack. California law requires police agencies to make public "the time, substance, and location of all complaints or requests for assistance" they receive, subject to safety and investigation exceptions (Government Code section 7923.615). LAPD takes California Public Records Act requests through its Discovery Section, using the City's online records portal (LAPD public records page). After a lawsuit is filed, a subpoena can reach records a public request does not.
Rent stabilization and just cause
Most Los Angeles apartments built on or before October 1, 1978 are under the City's Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO), which regulates rent increases and evictions; the allowed increase from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 is 3 percent. Since January 27, 2023, the City's Just Cause Ordinance has covered most other rentals, including single-family homes and condominiums, and tenants become protected at the end of their first lease or six months after a new lease, whichever comes first. Both are run by the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD), whose hotline is 866-557-7368 (LAHD renter protections, as of November 11, 2026).
Code complaints and written notice
To report unsafe conditions in a Los Angeles apartment building, a tenant files a code complaint with the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) online or through its hotline at 1-866-557-7368. LAHD also inspects rental buildings with two or more units on a regular schedule through its Systematic Code Enforcement Program. For single-family homes, hotels, motels and commercial buildings, the City's Department of Building and Safety takes code complaints. A written report to the landlord matters too: under Civil Code section 1941.3, a landlord must keep dead bolts, window locks and common-entry locks working, and is liable for a violation only after failing to fix it within a reasonable time after notice.
Landlord harassment rules
The City's Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, in effect since August 6, 2021 (Ordinance No. 187109) and strengthened effective December 29, 2024 (Ordinance No. 188416), bars landlords from bad-faith conduct against tenants, including failing to make timely repairs and threatening a tenant with physical harm. The Los Angeles Housing Department defines bad faith as "willful, reckless, or grossly negligent conduct." The ordinance regulates landlords. It does not cover harassment by another tenant.
Eviction tools and LAHD filings
Los Angeles law gives a landlord ways to remove a tenant who endangers neighbors. Under the City's Just Cause Ordinance, creating a nuisance and using a unit for an illegal purpose are at-fault reasons to end a tenancy. State law lists a tenant's nuisance and "Criminal activity by the tenant on the residential real property, including any common areas," as at-fault just causes (Civil Code section 1946.2(b)(1)(C) and (F)), but a qualifying local ordinance applies instead where it covers the building (section 1946.2(i)). Since January 27, 2023, a landlord must file any written at-fault termination notice with the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) within three business days of serving it, under Los Angeles Municipal Code sections 151.09.C.9 and 165.05.B.5. That filing is a dated public record of an eviction attempt. It shows a notice was served, not what the landlord knew.
Written reports to the landlord
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. Los Angeles eviction rules are tools a landlord had, not proof that it had to use them; under Castaneda, a duty to remove a tenant arises only when violence by that tenant is highly foreseeable. Keep your own reports to the manager, with the dates showing.
Hotel security records
Since August 12, 2022, every hotel in the City of Los Angeles, including those in Woodland Hills and Warner Center, must give a personal security device to each worker assigned to work alone in a guest room or restroom, keep a security guard ready to receive alerts and give immediate on-scene help (hotels with fewer than 60 guest rooms may use a supervisor or manager), and post a notice on the back of each guest room door (Ordinance No. 187565; Office of Wage Standards rules). The ordinance protects hotel workers. For a guest attacked at a hotel, it is a list of what the hotel had to have in place, so a preservation letter can ask the hotel to keep any records of the security staff on duty, of device alerts, and of reports workers made about a guest.
Records to preserve early
Some records of an attack disappear on a schedule, so Wise Law asks the owner and the agencies in writing to keep them. No California statute the firm has found makes a private owner keep camera footage for a set time. The negligent security evidence checklist lists, county by county, the records to request and who holds each one.
| Record | Who holds it | What the source says |
|---|---|---|
| Camera video from the property | The owner or a camera vendor | Kept as long as the system is set to keep it |
| Hotel security staffing and alert records | The hotel operator | No retention period found in the ordinance |
| 911 and radio recordings | The agency that took the call | May be destroyed after 100 days (Government Code section 34090.6) |
| Body camera video with no evidentiary value | LAPD | Kept at least 60 days under state guidance (Penal Code section 832.18) |
Free help for crime victims
Help for crime victims in Woodland Hills is free and does not depend on hiring a lawyer. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Van Nuys Victim Services office is at 6230 Sylmar Avenue, Room 201, (818) 464-5234, and its Bureau of Victim Services line is (800) 380-3811. The Los Angeles City Attorney's Victim Assistance Program also helps victims with referrals and state compensation claims. The California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) can pay some crime-related costs, up to $70,000. According to CalVCB, as of November 11, 2026, an application is due within seven years of the crime, seven years after the direct victim turns 21, or seven years from discovery, whichever is later. CalVCB is "a payor of last resort," and an applicant later paid from a civil lawsuit must repay it.
Courthouse for the case
A negligent security lawsuit from Woodland Hills is filed at Van Nuys Courthouse East, 6230 Sylmar Avenue, in the Northwest District of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(A) requires an injury lawsuit, including a premises liability case, to be filed in the judicial district where the incident arose, and the court's Filing Court Locator lists Van Nuys Courthouse East for every Woodland Hills ZIP code. The locator warns that caseload adjustments in the San Fernando Valley may move a case to a different district, so the courthouse is confirmed with the clerk when the case is filed (Local Rules, Chapter 2, effective July 1, 2026, and the Filing Court Locator).
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. Our guide to negligent security deadlines explains the claims that have more time, and the deadline calculator counts the two-year date.
Responsible companies and insurance
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 covers exclusions and each layer of coverage.
Fees and costs
Wise Law handles negligent security cases on a contingency fee, a percentage of the recovery set in a written fee agreement. No fee unless we recover. If there is no recovery, you owe no fee and no case costs. You can reach us without describing the attack: a name, a way to reach you and a safe time to call are enough to start, in English or Spanish. Nothing is filed and no one is contacted until you decide.
Call any time, or send the short form. You do not have to describe what happened.
Sources cited
- Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2026 edition), CACI No. 1005: courts.ca.gov
- Castaneda v. Olsher (2007) 41 Cal.4th 1205 and Madhani v. Cooper (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 412: CourtListener; CourtListener
- Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, on california.public.law
- Civil Code sections 1941.3 and 1946.2, on california.public.law
- Government Code sections 911.2, 945.6, 7923.615 and 34090.6, on california.public.law
- Family Code section 6228, Penal Code section 832.18 and Business and Professions Code section 7583.40, on california.public.law
- Los Angeles Police Department, Topanga and West Valley stations, police report page, Form 08.42.01 (07/26), January 22, 2024 notice on 911 recordings, and public records page: Topanga; West Valley; police reports; form; notice; public records
- Los Angeles Housing Department, RSO, renter protections, Just Cause Ordinance, Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, complaints and code enforcement: RSO; renter protections; Just Cause; anti-harassment; complaints; code enforcement
- Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, code enforcement complaints: dbs.lacity.gov
- City of Los Angeles Ordinance No. 187565, Hotel Worker Protection Ordinance, and Office of Wage Standards rules: ordinance; rules
- Los Angeles Superior Court Local Rules, Chapter 2, and the Filing Court Locator: Local Rules; locator
- Los Angeles County District Attorney, Bureau of Victim Services and office locations: victim services; locations
- Los Angeles City Attorney, Victim Assistance Program: cityattorney.lacity.gov
- California Victim Compensation Board, who is eligible and what is covered: eligibility; coverage