Short answer: it depends on negligence. A complex can be liable if it knew about a hazard and failed to fix it, but routine theft, an unforeseeable break-in, or a car broken into in the lot is usually on you and your own insurance.
Break-in or assault: negligent security
A landlord isn't automatically liable when a resident is burglarized or attacked. Liability turns on "negligent security", did the complex know about a foreseeable crime risk and skip reasonable precautions (locks, lighting, gates, cameras)? California runs this through its general duty-of-care statute:
California Civil Code §1714: "Everyone is responsible ... for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property..."
Texas goes further, making security hardware a statutory duty, exterior doors and windows must already have working latches, dead bolts, and pin locks:
Texas Property Code §92.153: "a dwelling must be equipped with: (1) a window latch on each exterior window of the dwelling; (2) a doorknob lock or keyed dead bolt on each exterior door..."
Deciding factor: negligence. Document broken security features in writing before and immediately after an incident.
Stolen packages: usually your renters insurance
The default is that the tenant, not the landlord, absorbs the loss of a stolen package, and it is a renters insurance claim. The Insurance Information Institute speaks to renters who assume otherwise:
"If you rent a house or apartment and think that your landlord is financially responsible when there is a fire, theft or other catastrophe..."
"Standard renters insurance protects your personal belongings against damage from fire, smoke, lightning, vandalism, theft, explosion, windstorm, water and other disasters listed in the policy."
Insurance Information Institute, Renters insurance
That can change if the complex took on the job, a staffed mailroom or package lockers, and was careless with it. That is the same ordinary-care test as a break-in under Civil Code §1714. More on this: does renters insurance cover theft?
Deciding factor: did the complex undertake a duty to protect deliveries? If not, file a police report and a renters insurance claim.
Car broken into in the parking lot: usually not the complex's problem
Your car and what is in it are your property, so a break-in in the lot does not by itself make the complex liable. Belongings taken from the car are a theft claim under the same renters coverage above; damage to the car itself is a question for your auto policy.
That can flip if the complex ignored a known pattern of break-ins or left lighting or cameras broken after complaints, the same notice-plus-inaction logic as negligent security.
Deciding factor: notice of a pattern, not the break-in itself. File a police report and put management on written notice.
Injury in a common area (stairs, pool, gym): premises liability
Common areas stay under the landlord's control, so the duty to keep them safe stays with the landlord. A tenant hurt there generally has to show a dangerous condition existed, the landlord knew or should have known about it, failed to fix it or warn, and that caused the injury. California's jury instructions put it this way: a landlord "must take reasonable precautions to prevent injury due to any unsafe condition ... if the landlord knows or reasonably should have known about it" (CACI No. 1006).
Deciding factor: notice plus failure to fix. Photograph the hazard, report it in writing, and keep medical records tied to the date.
Bedbugs and pests: a treatment duty, not a replacement duty
Bedbugs spread through shared walls, so response is often building-wide: "some researchers recommend treating all adjacent units ... to improve odds of successful control" (EPA). Maine's statute spells out the landlord's timeline once notified:
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 14, §6021-A: "Upon written or oral notice from a tenant that a dwelling unit may have a bedbug infestation, the landlord shall within 5 days conduct an inspection of the unit for bedbugs."
That kind of statute typically stops short of covering ruined belongings, and a tenant who blocks access can be charged for the delay.
Deciding factor: state bedbug law governs inspection and treatment, not your belongings.
Belongings destroyed by a building fire or flood: your renters insurance
The complex's property insurance covers the building structure, not your belongings or living costs while it's repaired.
Insurance Information Institute: "Your landlord may have insurance to protect the building you are living in. But your landlord's policy won't replace your personal possessions or pay for your living expenses while the building is being repaired."
Deciding factor: insurance, not liability. This rarely turns on fault for the fire; it turns on whether you carried renters insurance, the difference between a minor inconvenience and a total loss.
- Break-in / assault: negligent security, known hazard + no fix
- Stolen packages: your renters insurance, unless the complex ran a mailroom/locker
- Car broken into: your auto/renters insurance, unless a known unfixed pattern
- Common-area injury: premises liability, notice + failure to fix
- Bedbugs/pests: landlord treatment duty (state-dependent), not belongings
- Fire/flood-destroyed belongings: your renters insurance, not the landlord's policy
Look up state-specific rules at the lookup, or ask about your situation at /ask/.
This is general information, not legal advice; premises-liability outcomes turn on the specific facts.