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713-521-0059
Get the exam first. It is free, it does not require a police report, and for an adult it is available within 120 hours. The Houston hospitals that perform it are listed on our Houston SANE exam locations page.
If you are able to, report to the police now. You are not required to, but the same early evidence that builds a prosecution builds a civil claim.
Then call 713-521-0059, or message us, and say it happened this week. We will tell you what your case needs and get it started, beginning with written notice to whoever holds the video and records so it is kept. There is no guaranteed response time, but we typically respond within 12 to 24 hours of a call or message.
Not before you talk to a lawyer. Some of the paperwork that comes with a refund, a comped stay, a moved room or an early lease release contains a release of claims. Signing it can end a civil claim before you know you have one. A refund for your stay is not compensation for what happened to you.
The step that cannot wait is still the video. Call 713-521-0059. We will tell you what your case needs and get it started, beginning with written notice to whoever holds the video and records so it is kept. Do it before the business reviews the video and keeps only what suits it.
A refund, a comped night, a gift card, a transfer to another room or unit, or a release from your lease. Sometimes a written incident statement to sign. Sometimes an apology from a manager who has already been told by the company what to say.
Some of this is ordinary customer service. Some of it is the business managing its own exposure on the night it learned something happened on its property. You cannot tell which from the outside, and you do not have to.
A release is language saying that in exchange for something, you give up claims against the business. It can be a sentence inside a refund form, a lease termination agreement or a “guest satisfaction” document. Look for words like release, waive, discharge, settle, in full satisfaction, or any claims arising from. If you see them, do not sign.
If you already signed something, keep a copy and call us. Whether it is enforceable depends on what it says and the circumstances, and that is a question for a lawyer, not one to decide alone.
Take the room transfer or the safe place to stay if you need it tonight. Do not sign anything to get it; ask for it without paperwork. If you are able to, report to the police now; a prompt report dates your account before the business’s version takes shape. Keep every email, text and document the business gives you.
Write down the name and title of each person you spoke to and what they said. Do not give a recorded statement to the business or its insurer. Do not post about it.
If you want to break a lease after an assault, Texas law may give you a path that does not require signing the landlord’s form. See breaking a lease after sexual assault.
Pressure to sign quickly is a reason to slow down, not speed up. A civil claim in Texas has a deadline measured in years, not days. A refund offered tonight can be accepted next week, and if it cannot, it was not a refund.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
If you remember nothing else from this page, remember these.
When you call, we listen first. Then we do what your case needs. That usually begins with written notice to the hotel, apartment complex, bar, rideshare company or anyone else holding video and records, so the evidence is kept.
Where the case calls for it, we bring in the right experts and, where it serves you, co-counsel with the resources a case like this demands. That decision is made in writing, with your consent, and it does not increase your total fee.
We tell you plainly whether a civil claim may exist and what it would take. Schiffer Law Firm is a Houston firm and has handled injury cases in Harris County for 50 plus years. There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Call 713-521-0059.
Not by taking a refund alone, as a general matter. The question is whether you signed anything, and what it said. Keep the paperwork and have a lawyer read it.
Not before a lawyer reads it. You can tell the manager what happened without signing the company's form, and you can give your own written account later.
Yes, if you need a safe place tonight. Ask for it without signing anything.
Not necessarily. Whether a release is enforceable depends on its wording and the circumstances. Keep a copy and call.