Can I sue my landlord or apartment complex for an injury in Florida?

Can you sue your landlord or apartment for an injury?

Yes, you may be able to sue your landlord or apartment complex for an injury: if a landlord fails to follow Florida's landlord-tenant law, you may recover the damages that failure caused. Landlords must follow applicable building, housing and health codes, and apartment landlords must make reasonable provisions for clean, safe common areas unless otherwise agreed in writing.

Landlord liability for a tenant's injury has limits, though:

• Under section 83.51, the landlord is not responsible to you for conditions that you, your family or someone there with your consent created or caused through a negligent (careless) or wrongful act or omission (failure to act).
• If you rent a single-family home or duplex, the landlord's duties to follow codes and keep the structure and plumbing in repair may be changed in writing.
• In a negligence case, your own share of fault reduces the damages you can recover, and if you are found more than 50 percent at fault for your own harm, you cannot recover any damages.
• There is a deadline to file a lawsuit, covered in the steps below.

For more on injuries at homes, apartments and businesses, see premises liability lawyers in Melbourne.

What does Florida law say about landlord liability?

Florida's rules for renting a home are in part II of chapter 83, Florida Statutes, the residential landlord-tenant law.

Section 83.51: the landlord's duty to maintain the property

Under section 83.51, Florida Statutes, the landlord "at all times during the tenancy" (the whole time you rent) must "comply with the requirements of applicable building, housing, and health codes." Where there are no such codes, the landlord must keep the "roofs, windows, doors, floors, steps, porches, exterior walls, foundations, and all other structural components in good repair" and the plumbing in reasonable working condition.

For an apartment, or any rental other than a single-family home or duplex, the landlord must also, at all times during the tenancy and unless otherwise agreed in writing, make "reasonable provisions for" extermination of rats, mice, roaches, ants, wood-destroying organisms, and bedbugs; locks and keys; "the clean and safe condition of common areas" (the shared spaces tenants use); garbage removal; and working heat in winter, running water, and hot water.

Section 83.55: damages when the law isn't followed

Under section 83.55, Florida Statutes, if the landlord or the tenant fails to comply with the rental agreement or the landlord-tenant law, "the aggrieved party" (the party harmed) "may recover the damages caused by the noncompliance."

Section 83.48: injury claims and attorney fees

Section 83.48, Florida Statutes, lets the winner of a lawsuit to enforce a lease recover reasonable attorney fees from the loser, but attorney fees "may not be awarded under this section in a claim for personal injury damages based on a breach of duty under s. 83.51." So Florida law itself refers to injury claims based on the landlord's maintenance duty, and this section's fee rule does not apply to them.

Section 768.81: your own share of fault

Comparative fault means your own share of the blame for your injury. Under section 768.81, Florida Statutes, in a negligence case your share of fault "diminishes proportionately" the damages you are awarded, but does not by itself bar recovery. For example, if you are found 20 percent at fault, your damages go down by 20 percent. But anyone found "greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages." That bar does not apply to injury or wrongful death claims arising out of medical negligence.

The more-than-50-percent bar came from Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida, and applies to lawsuits filed after March 24, 2023. Judges decide how the law applies to the facts of each case, and some have ruled differently for injuries that happened before the change, but the law on the books stands.

What does this mean if you are hurt where you rent?

A fall on stairs, in a parking lot, laundry room or pool area

Under section 83.43, Florida Statutes, "premises" in the landlord-tenant law means your unit and the building it is part of, plus the "grounds, areas, facilities, and property held out for the use of tenants generally." So shared walkways, parking lots, laundry rooms and pools held out for tenants are part of the premises. Whether a particular hazard broke a code or a duty depends on the facts of your case.

Something broken inside your own unit

The duty to follow codes, or to keep floors, steps, doors and plumbing in repair, applies "at all times during the tenancy." But the landlord still isn't responsible under section 83.51 for conditions you, your family or a guest created or caused through a negligent or wrongful act or omission, such as a spill.

Renting a house or duplex

The extra apartment duties above, such as locks and keys and common areas, apply to rentals other than a single-family home or duplex. For a house or duplex, the code and repair duties may be changed in writing, so your lease matters. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the landlord of a single-family home or duplex must install working smoke detection devices at the start of the tenancy.

Which insurance may pay is its own question; see Whose insurance pays if I'm hurt at a store or someone's home? What a claim may be worth depends on many factors, explained in How much is my personal injury case worth?

What else do tenants ask about injury claims?

Can my lease stop me from suing my landlord?

Generally not, but it depends on what your lease says and what kind of home you rent. Under section 83.47, Florida Statutes, a lease provision is "void and unenforceable" (it has no legal force) to the extent that it tries to waive the rights, remedies or requirements of the landlord-tenant law, or tries to "limit or preclude any liability of the landlord to the tenant" arising under law. At the same time, the law lets a written agreement change the landlord's basic repair duties for a single-family home or duplex, and some apartment duties apply "unless otherwise agreed in writing."

Is my apartment complex responsible if I was attacked there?

It may be, depending on the facts of your case, and a 2023 Florida law looks at the security measures the owner had in place. Section 768.0706, Florida Statutes, added in 2023 by Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida, applies to lawsuits filed after March 24, 2023. It covers a multifamily residential property: a building or group of buildings, such as apartments, townhouses or condominiums, with at least five units on one parcel. If the owner or principal operator substantially carries out the security measures the statute lists, such as cameras, lighting and locks, it has a presumption against liability (a legal starting point in its favor) for crimes on the premises by third parties who are not its employees or agents. To get that presumption, the owner or principal operator has the burden of proving it substantially carried out the security measures the statute lists. The section "does not establish a private cause of action," so it does not by itself create a right to sue.

Who is my landlord if a management company runs the complex?

Under section 83.43, the "landlord" is "the owner or lessor of a dwelling unit," meaning the owner or whoever rents the unit out to you. Under section 83.50, Florida Statutes, at or before the start of your tenancy, you must be told in writing the name and address of the landlord or of a person authorized to receive notices and demands for the landlord. In a negligence case with more than one party at fault, such as an owner, a manager and a repair company, the court enters judgment against each one based on its own percentage of fault, not under joint and several liability (a rule that could make one party pay the whole amount).

What should you do after an injury at your apartment?

• Get medical care, and go to your follow-up visits.
• Photograph the hazard, the area around it and your injuries before anything is fixed or cleaned up.
• Get the names and phone numbers of anyone who saw what happened.
• Report the injury to your landlord or manager in writing, and keep a copy. A practical tip: send it to the name and address you were given for notices to the landlord, and check your lease for it.
• Keep your lease and copies of earlier repair requests, maintenance tickets, texts and emails about the problem.
• Read anything before you sign it, and talk to a lawyer first.

For the full list of steps, see What should I do after a slip and fall? For what happens next, see How long does a slip and fall case take in Florida?

Under section 95.11, Florida Statutes, a lawsuit for an injury caused by negligence must be filed within two years. That two-year rule applies only to claims that arose after the 2023 change took effect on March 24, 2023, and under section 768.28, Florida Statutes, a negligence lawsuit against a Florida state or local government agency must be filed within 4 years after the claim arises, except medical malpractice and wrongful death claims, which follow the deadlines in section 95.11(5). Before you can sue a government agency, a written claim generally must be presented within 3 years after the claim arises (2 years for wrongful death) and then denied, or left without a final decision for the time the law allows. Older claims follow different rules, explained in How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in Florida?

Talk to a Melbourne premises liability lawyer

Douglas R. Beam, P.A. is a personal injury law firm in Melbourne, Florida. If you were hurt where you rent, a lawyer can review your lease, find out who owns and manages the property, check the deadline that applies, and help you pursue a claim. You can talk with us in a free consultation.

Call us at (321) 723-6591, or send us a message through the form on our website. Our office is at 25 West New Haven Avenue, Suite C, Melbourne, FL 32901.

Sources

• Section 83.51, Florida Statutes
• Section 83.55, Florida Statutes
• Section 83.48, Florida Statutes
• Section 83.47, Florida Statutes
• Section 83.43, Florida Statutes
• Section 83.50, Florida Statutes
• Section 768.81, Florida Statutes
• Section 768.0706, Florida Statutes
• Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida
• Section 95.11, Florida Statutes
• Section 768.28, Florida Statutes