Our law firm receives a steady flow of inquiries from tenants, mostly residential, regarding dangerous conditions inside their units. If someone has been injured, we ask if the landlord or maintenance company had notice of the dangerous condition in advance of the incident. If nobody has yet been injured, we instruct the callers to notify their landlord and maintenance company in writing (email will do).
The reason for this is because landlords and maintenance companies have a continuing duty to repair dangerous conditions upon notice of their existence, unless waived by the tenant. Mansur v. Eubanks, 401 So. 2d 1328, 1330 (Fla. 1981 and § 83.51(1), Fla. Stat. (2021).
In Perez v. Belmont at Ryals Chase Condo, 393 So. 3d 859 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2024), the tenant was injured by falling on loose tiles inside his unit. On two occasions, his wife made complaints about the loose tile to the property management company and its maintenance supervisor. Nevertheless, in reliance on an appellate case in which the landlord was not notified in advance of the dangerous condition (a loose and unsecured towel rack, which was used by the tenant to support herself while exiting a shower), Youngblood v. Pasadena at Pembroke Lakes South, Ltd., 882 So. 2d 1097 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004), the trial judge granted summary judgment for the defendants, the building owner and maintenance company, effectively throwing the case out of court. In essence, the trial judge decided that because the tenant knew of the open and obvious condition, the landlord and maintenance company did not have a duty to eliminate the danger. The Second District Court of Appeal disagreed with the trial judge, reversing the summary judgment.
Another key to the appellate decision in the Perez case is that the condition was considered inherently dangerous. In Menendez v. Palms West Condominium Association, Inc., 736 So. 2d 58 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999), a tenant was shot in the head by an unknown assailant after he opened the front door to answer a knock. In his lawsuit for damages, the tenant alleged that the defendants were negligent for failing to install a viewing device in the front door of the apartment. In finding that “[t]here is no evidence that any specific person had any actual or constructive knowledge of any fact that arguably would make the incident described in [the complaint] reasonably foreseeable,” the trial judge granted summary judgment for the defendants. In essence, the trial court had decided that the lack of a viewing device was not inherently dangerous. The First District Court of Appeal agreed.
The landlord’s duty to a residential tenant: “A landlord’s duty to its residential tenant can be properly divided into a prepossession duty and postpossession duty. Before allowing a tenant to take possession of the residence, a landlord “has a duty to reasonably inspect the premises … and to make the repairs necessary to transfer a reasonably safe dwelling unit to the tenant unless defects are waived by the tenant.” Mansur v. Eubanks, 401 So. 2d 1328, 1330 (Fla. 1981). “After the tenant takes possession, the landlord has a continuing duty to exercise reasonable care to repair dangerous defective conditions upon notice of their existence by the tenant, unless waived by the tenant.” Id.; see also § 83.51(1), Fla. Stat. (2021).” Perez at 861.
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Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. is a South Florida based law firm committed to the judicial system and to representing and obtaining justice for individuals – the poor, the injured, the forgotten, the voiceless, the defenseless and the damned, and to protecting the rights of such people from corporate and government oppression. We do not represent government, corporations or large business interests.
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DISCLAIMER: This information provided by Jeffrey P. Gale, P.A. is for informational purposes only and is intended to be used as a non-legal guide prior to consultation with an attorney familiar with your specific legal situation. It should not be considered legal advice or counseling. No such legal advice or counseling is either expressly or impliedly intended. This information is not a substitute for the advice or counsel of an attorney. If you require legal advice, you should seek the services of an attorney.