Phelps Secures Appellate Win in Premises Liability Case and Strengthens Protections for the Short-Term Rental Industry

Phelps won a significant appellate victory after Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s decision to grant summary judgment in a premises liability claim for the owners of a short-term vacation rental property. At the trial court, the case centered on a negligence claim where the plaintiff alleged that a single step in the rental home constituted a dangerous condition due to an “optical illusion”—typically an issue of fact for the jury.  The Phelps team of Evan Dahdah and Rhett Parker successfully strategized and marshalled the discovery evidence to prove that the environment in the rental property was not dangerous and could be resolved as a matter of law under the open and obvious doctrine. 

The team was also able to navigate around a novel and unique challenge posed by plaintiff’s architectural expert, who asserted that the rental property, though built as a residential dwelling, violated applicable commercial building codes due to its use as a rental property. Through tailored deposition questioning, the team demonstrated that the expert’s interpretation of the commercial building codes was unsupported, as the property remained classified as a single-family dwelling under Florida’s Building Code, a position reinforced by the local municipalities’ zoning department’s regulations. Both the trial and appellate courts agreed, affirming the rental owners’ lack of liability for a common architectural feature that was readily apparent to a reasonable person.

This appellate ruling underscores Phelps’ commitment to protecting short-term rental owners and this industry against liability claims while also creating valuable precedent about what Florida building codes can be applicable within the short-term rental industry.