MIAMI (Legal Newsline) – Property owners did not have a duty to motorists to maintain the areas next to nearby roads, a Florida appeals court has ruled.
The Third District Court of Appeal on Aug. 10 ruled against Alfredo Lopez, who sued Miami-Dade County, the Florida Department of Transportation and others after he hit a pothole covered with water on SW 187th Avenue.
Lopez hit a guardrail after striking the pothole in 2017, and his initial suit two years later blamed the county and FDOT for not maintaining the road in a safe condition. He later amended his complaint to add owners of the properties abutting the roadway where his accident occurred.
Eusebio Verrier and Nelida Navarro owned one of those properties and were alleged for failing to maintain the proper elevation of the swale by the roadway, pursuant to Miami-Dade County Code.
The two filed a motion for dismiss, which was granted by Judge Vivianne Del Rio. The Third District affirmed, finding the two did not owe Lopez a legal duty.
“Miami-Dade County Code provides a property owner is responsible for maintaining proper elevations within the swale,” the decision says. “It does not, however, impose liability on the property owner to private individuals for a violation or injuries caused by a violation of the section.”
Only Miami-Dade County can pursue action against property owners, the ruling says.
“When the County fails to include a provision imposing liability upon a property owner for injuries that occur because of an alleged code violation, an injured person cannot seek a remedy against that property owner based on the violation,” the ruling says.
Lopez never alleged the water that traveled from the swale area was the same water that covered the pothole. He also never alleged the two property owners had prior warning or knowledge of the water-covered pothole.
Giasi Law of Tampa was pursuing the theory on behalf of Lopez.