Do I have a case?

We were burglarized the night before we actually slept in the new place by our landlord's helper. The landlord had given the helper a key to the basement that leads directly into our apartment in order to access the lawn mower. The landlord is well aware his helper is a felon on probation. Also, this helper now lives in the apartment upstairs from us. It took a month before someone came forward and gave their statement to the police that the helper told them he robbed us and this person saw our belongings in the helper's fathers house. The police are working on a search warrant for that home. We need to know if we can hold the landlord liable for giving access to our apartment to anyone else, much less a known thief.

Of course you can. It isn't a stretch at all to assume that a landlord know and be informed about the caliber of people he trusts with such important tasks as having access to tenants property. Shouldn't be a stretch at all.

I would, however, wait until the criminal case against the "helper" has been adjudicated---it would be good solid grounds for the civil case.

Good luck.

You may want to read this article: Landlord Liability for Criminal Acts of Tenants

I'm in agreement with Grace. It is common practice (sometimes the law) for a landlord to run a criminal background check on potential tenants. If your landlord had notice of this tenant's criminality, he could possibly be held negligent for allowing a criminal access to your rented space.

Also, it would be a good idea to wait for the end of the criminal prosecution, provided that there is no worry about the Statute of Limitations. However, the criminal case against the guy may take longer than you epxect, and your SoL may run, which would leave you with no legal recourse. LegalMatch can help you find a lawyer in your area that has experienced with Landlord-Tenant law and can make sure that your lawsuit is still viable when it comes time to file.

No we cannot tell you anything about that site--if you want to know about it, ASK them and stop SPAMMMING here. No one is fooled..........you're just another ridiculous spammer.