Who is at fault if you leave your door wide open?

Squatters ignore "Warning Danger: building condemned and unfit to occupy" signs and enter at their own risk.

Why should it be the owners fault if someone breaks in to their home and hurts themselves?

What if you are out of town and somone breaks in and while robbing you they fall down the stairs in the dark, are they going to sue you for it? Bloody insane these days. You go where your not permitted or invited, everything is all at your own risk pure and simple. Notice how im not even going as far as a criminal getting shot or hurt directly by a home owner here.

a reply to: yuppa

Left my car unlocked the other night.

Someone got in and went through the side pockets, storage bins and made a mess in there. They missed my work phone, USB sticks and threw the spare house keys on the passenger seat. CDs untouched.

Loose change on the seats.

In the eyes of me, the police and insurance companies, it'd be my fault if anything had been stolen.

It's reminded me to double-check the car's locked and to stop leaving door keys and wallet in there. I'm responsible for my side of the security and not wasting police time.

The pieces of opportunist sh*t who are out to steal a living are responsible for their own actions.

originally posted by: MagicCow
a reply to: JIMC5499

HAAAAA Love it.

I always heard the joke was th esame except a few extra sentence.

"Shut up clarence" the thief said. then the parrot said Sic em jesus.

originally posted by: yuppa
I have been having a argument of sorts with a few friends lately about this question. If you leave your door wide open and unlocked are you responsible if someone comes along and steals anything inside?
COmmon sense would say yes you bear soem responsibility correct? but for some reason my friend insist that no they are not at fault period.

What is your opinion on this question ATS?

Stores are unlocked all the time, they even invite people inside. Are those stores at fault when someone walks out with something they don't own?

a reply to: imwilliam

Where do you draw the line on this? If a woman is provocatively dressed she's somewhat responsible? What if she's dressed normally and still looks attractive? Is it her fault for not being in a burka? What if she is in a burka? Is it her fault for not having a man by her side when in public?

originally posted by: carewemust
HHS says that if we have out-of-date security on our office P.C. and a hacker steals medical records, we pay AT LEAST a $5,000 fine, depending on severity of the breach.

That's because part of your business is in securing others records. It's what you're being paid for. A persons home isn't being used to secure others valuables. Those records are more along the lines of things in a safety deposit box. The bank would be in trouble if they didn't secure them properly.

Failure to have proper security in place to store someone elses property, when that's part of what you're selling is fraud. That's why you have to have up to date security.

i believe that if you are victimized because you failed to protect yourself you are responsible for what happened. if you couldnt have protected yourself(they break down the door) then its not your fault.

I always believed that my property was my property.

Someone enters my property and steal something and i will use the force necessary to arrest you.

That includes lethal force if you are "armed in any way" and pose a threat.

originally posted by: ANNED
I always believed that my property was my property.

Possession is nine-tenths of the law.

It's only your property when you are in possession of it.

Once the thief has it in his possession, you now have to "prove" that it should really be yours.

Depending on what it is, that could be difficult.

Entering private property uninvited is basically trespassing, taking someone else's stuff without their permission is theft etc and these things are illegal. Leaving your door unlocked and open is not expressing a desire to be invaded but I suppose the likelihood of that happening depends on the neighbourhood you live in so take appropriate precautions to suit the conditions and always remember that locks only keep honest people out (mostly).

Leaving it up to the courts can get highly variable outcomes - I recall an incident where a fleeing thief tripped over a hose & sprinkler in the yard sustaining a fracture and successfully sued the property owner for injury compensation.

if you are on my grass, i can push you out. if you in my house, i can punch you. if you stealing #, i can kill you.

originally posted by: yuppa
I have been having a argument of sorts with a few friends lately about this question. If you leave your door wide open and unlocked are you responsible if someone comes along and steals anything inside?
COmmon sense would say yes you bear soem responsibility correct? but for some reason my friend insist that no they are not at fault period.

What is your opinion on this question ATS?

Hell no, all responsibility belongs to the thief. All of it. Just because it is a good idea to protect yourself doesn't mean you are at fault if you don't always. Try using this as a legal defense "but your honor the door was wide open! Charge *him*"

originally posted by: Pilgrum
Entering private property uninvited is basically trespassing, taking someone else's stuff without their permission is theft etc and these things are illegal.

But "illegal" is something we "made up".

It's not like a "natural law", say like "gravity", or a "mathematical law," like "2-squared = 4".

Natural laws enforce themselves.

But man made laws are all flawed. First, we have to "interpret" the law. Then, we have to examine the "context". We also have to know about "who" done it. It often depends on "when" he done it.

For example, a person entering your home, and removing your stuff, after you're dead, might not be a "thief".

So, these man made laws have so many "exceptions" that must be considered to correctly interpret them, it's almost impossible to use "blanket statements" like taking your stuff is wrong.

That's why humans need "courts", to go through all the "evidence", and decide on the correct interpretation of the "law" in any "particular instance".

Taking your stuff might not be illegal at all.

Maybe the thief knows something you don't. And the stuff was really his all along.