HO Insurance vs Apartment's Insurance vs Small Claims Court

[CaliBuckeye]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I reside in Los Angeles county, if that is deemed relevant.

Issue:
I was the victim of a burglary and had several items stolen from a storage unit within the garage of my apartment building. I have HO insurance and they will likely cover the damages, minus my deductable.
I have considered taking the owner to small claims court to be reimbursed for my deductable despite the line in my renter’s agreement that says that they are not responsible for anything stolen in storage lockers.
Additionally, I heard it may be possible to file a claim against the insurance policy that the owner of the building has; thus keeping my claim history clear with my insurance company.

Details:
I had three (expensive and relatively new) snowboards stolen from my rented storage unit. I filed a police report the day I noticed the theft. Several other units were also broken into and many items stolen. I haven't filed a claim yet as I think this matter shouldn't be handled hastily.
I feel that the owner of the building was negligent in maintaining proper security. Notably, the front door to the building was broken for a period of 8 weeks, and anyone could have had access to the property. Management was notified several times, and they never properly fixed the problem.
Like I mentioned before, in our rental agreements they state that they are not responsible for stolen items in the storage units. I feel that their negligence may negate this clause in the contract and that they are in fact liable. The building owner owed me a duty of care, they breached that duty by failing to secure the building in a timely manner, and there were actual damages. I have to use the 'but for' method here: 'but for' the front door being broken and unfixed, my items were stolen.

Conclusions:
With the stated information, do you feel I have a legitimate case of negligence that I could bring against the owner of the building? I would seek compensation for my deductable to the total loss of my possessions.
That issue aside, I also heard that apartment buildings carry their own version of homeowners insurance. Would it be possible to make a claim against theirs?

 

[ecmst12]

They are not responsible for preventing breakins as that is not possible. They are not responsible for your deductible and the reason you have renters insurance is to protect you if your things are stolen.

The landlord's insurance does NOT cover the posessions of the tenants, it covers damage to their building under some circumstances. You should have put a better lock on your storage unit if you were worried about the door to the building being unlocked. Even if it HAD been locked, the theft might still have occurred. Good thing for you that you had insurance!

 

[moburkes]

Agreed - OP is making the assumption that someone who didn't belong in the building was the thief. It could have been antoher tenant OR the guest of another tenant who broke in to the unit.

 

[CaliBuckeye]

True, I am trying to make that connection. It may be spurious, but doesn't the building owe a duty of care to the tenants by providing us with a safe and secure building. Once they were notified of a broken front door, I think it reasonable to assume that it would require an immediate fix action. It's like a plumber discovering a leak and then doing nothing about it. Further, the locks on the storage lockers were provided by the building. They were just handles with locks and small plates over the latch. When queried about taking additional measures, the owner of the building said that additional locks would take away from the aesthetic of the building. When I asked them to fix the lock that was broken by the burglars, it took them 3 weeks before they finally fixed it.
I will file a claim, I am aware that the insurance policy of the building won't cover it, now. (after talking to a claims agent) I am just frustrated with the lackadaisical attitude of the building management and owner when it comes to securing our building.

Thank you for your responses.

 

[Zigner]

So, you had all these concerns, yet you still kept your expensive stuff there?

 

[CaliBuckeye]

Not being experienced in the realm of burglary, I believed that the storage door locks provided adequate protection from break-ins. It was only AFTER the fact that I discovered how they were of poor quality and that some were even installed improperly. If I recall from my psycology classes correctly, it's called the self-negativity bias. Next time I'll be more aware, thanks theives!
Also, I attribute my illusory belief in my safety and the security of my belongings from the substantial amount I pay in rent, and that this is a brand new building. I guess this is where I should mention something regarding 'hindsight' and about visual clarity of '20/20.'
Regarding storing 'expensive' items in a storage locker: it's not like I had a drawer-sized coin collection; I'm talking snowboards, three of them. I also have seven or eight surfboards in that locker. I don't think sporting equipment of such large dimension would fall out of a reasonable list of candidates for storage locker items.
I only hoped to entertain the notion of alternate compensation rather than taking the traditional route. I realize that there is either nothing I can do, or that no one has experienced anything similar in which they can share their insights. I suppose if I can convince a judge that I have enough cause then it may be worth the effort. I just won't get my hopes too high.

 

[Dave1952]

As others have pointed out there does not seem to be a connection between the front door and the stolen items. I think that there is a duty to fix the door in a timely fashion but that does not help you with this theft. There's no clear connection.

Good luck