Our client was a 78-year-old woman living in a residential community in Miami-Dade County governed by a homeowners association. On December 22, 2022, she was on the property when a Great Dane -- kept off its leash by its owner in violation of the community's own rules -- approached her and her small dog. As she reached down to protect her Yorkie from the large dog, she was knocked to the ground. The fall shattered her right ankle.Two days after the fall, she underwent open reduction and internal fixation surgery to realign and stabilize the comminuted fracture of her right distal tibia and fibula with internal hardware. Five days later, a second surgical procedure was required -- irrigation and debridement of the wound with closure and application of a wound vacuum. She suffered acute blood loss anemia post- operatively and required a red blood cell transfusion. Medical bills exceeded $272,000.The dog's owner was a sitting member of the HOA board of directors. She had allowed her Great Dane off the leash on HOA property on five to ten separate occasions. As a board member, she was supposed to serve as the eyes and ears of the community. She never reported her own violations. The HOA had a written rule requiring all dogs to be leashed at all times. In practice, the rule was never enforced. No fines. No penalties. No notices. No signage. No monitoring. The case settled for $750,000.Note: The complaint was filed on March 21, 2023 -- before Florida's tort reform legislation took effect on March 24, 2023. That timing preserved our client's full legal rights under prior law.
We traced the negligence directly to the HOA board. This was not a simple dog bite case. It was a systemic failure by an HOA that created a dangerous condition, wrote rules it never enforced, and whose own board members were among the worst offenders.We used the HOA's own admissions to establish liability. The HOA's corporate representative admitted no penalties had ever been imposed for leash violations. He admitted the rules were never circulated to residents. He admitted no one was assigned to monitor the property.We exposed the board member's conflict. The dog's owner was on the HOA board -- tasked with identifying and reporting safety violations -- while repeatedly violating the leash rule herself.We filed before tort reform cut off the claim. The complaint was filed on March 21, 2023 -- before Florida's tort reform legislation took effect on March 24, 2023. Three days made the difference.
