Florida Airbnb & VRBO Injury Lawyer
Experienced Florida Premises Liability Attorneys
Every year, thousands of visitors to Florida stay in Airbnb, vrbo and other short-term vacation rentals. When property owners fail to maintain safe conditions, guests suffer serious injuries that can derail their lives. At Mausner Group Injury Lawyers, we represent injured guests in claims against negligent vacation rental hosts throughout Florida.
Vacation rentals often lack the professional maintenance and safety standards that hotels provide. Dangerous conditions like defective pool barriers, broken stairs, faulty smoke detectors and hidden hazards put guests at risk. When property owners prioritize profits over safety, they should be held accountable.
If you or a loved one was injured at a vacation rental in Florida, you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and other damages. Contact us today for a Free Case Review to discuss your case with an experienced premises liability attorney.
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Vacation Rental Injury Cases We Handle
Our firm represents guests injured at Airbnb, vrbo and other short-term rentals across Florida. We handle cases involving:
- Slip and fall accidents on wet pool decks, stairs and walkways
- Drowning and near-drowning incidents in pools and hot tubs
- Carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty appliances
- Burns and injuries from defective water heaters
- Electrical shocks from faulty wiring
- Injuries from broken balconies and railings
- Fires caused by defective smoke detectors or electrical hazards
- Injuries from inadequate security
- Accidents caused by undisclosed property hazards
Whether your injury occurred at a beachfront condo in Miami, a lakeside cabin in Orlando or a rental home anywhere in Florida, our attorneys can evaluate your claim and fight for the compensation you deserve.
The Rise of Vacation Rentals and the Injuries That Follow
Florida leads the nation in vacation rental activity. The state collected nearly $390 million in Airbnb taxes in 2023 alone, a figure that grew 25% in just two years. This boom reflects a fundamental shift in how people travel, but it has also created new categories of injury risks.
Unlike hotels with dedicated maintenance departments, many vacation rentals are managed by individual property owners who may cut corners on upkeep. Unlike resorts with trained safety staff, short-term rentals often lack basic safety features like adequate pool fencing or properly maintained stairs.
Common vacation rental injuries include slip and fall accidents on wet pool decks or stairs, drowning and near-drowning incidents in pools and hot tubs, injuries from defective balconies or railings, burns from faulty water heaters or electrical systems, cuts and lacerations from broken glass or sharp edges, injuries from inadequate security and criminal activity and carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly maintained appliances.
When these injuries occur, guests often assume they have no recourse. They believe that because they booked through an app and clicked through terms of service, they gave up their right to seek compensation. This assumption is wrong.
Florida Premises Liability Law and Vacation Rental Guests
Florida premises liability law establishes the duties property owners owe to people who enter their land. These duties vary depending on the visitor’s classification. As a paying guest at a vacation rental, you are classified as a business invitee, the category that receives the highest level of legal protection.
Property owners owe business invitees a duty to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition, to warn of known hazards that are not obvious to guests, to conduct reasonable inspections to discover dangerous conditions and to take reasonable steps to remedy hazards or protect guests from harm.
These duties apply to Airbnb and Vrbo hosts just as they apply to hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The fact that a property is listed on a vacation rental platform does not reduce the owner’s legal obligations or provide immunity from liability claims.
Florida Statute 768.0755 specifically addresses slip and fall cases involving transitory foreign substances like spilled liquids or debris. This law requires injured guests to prove that the property owner knew or should have known about the hazard. Evidence that helps establish this includes showing the hazard existed long enough that a reasonable owner conducting inspections would have discovered it or proving the owner created the hazardous condition.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Your Vacation Rental Injuries
The Property Owner
The individual or entity that owns the vacation rental property bears primary responsibility for maintaining safe conditions. Property owners cannot delegate away their legal duties simply by listing on a rental platform. Whether the owner lives nearby or across the country, they remain responsible for the property’s condition.Property Management Companies
Many vacation rentals are operated by professional management companies that handle maintenance, cleaning, guest services and turnover between bookings. If a management company’s negligence contributed to your injury, they may share liability. This could include failing to address reported hazards, conducting inadequate inspections or hiring unqualified maintenance contractors.Maintenance and Service Contractors
Third parties who perform work on vacation rental properties can face liability if their negligence causes guest injuries. A pool maintenance company that improperly treats chemicals, an electrician who creates a fire hazard or a landscaper who leaves dangerous conditions may all share responsibility for resulting injuries.The Rental Platform
Airbnb, Vrbo and similar platforms generally maintain limited direct liability for guest injuries. They structure themselves as marketplaces that connect hosts and guests rather than as property owners or operators. Federal law, specifically Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, provides additional protection for online platforms. However, the platforms do provide insurance coverage that may help compensate injured guests. Understanding how this coverage works is an important part of pursuing a vacation rental injury claim.Get Your Free Case Review
Understanding Airbnb and Vrbo Insurance Coverage
Both major vacation rental platforms provide liability insurance that may cover guest injury claims.
Airbnb’s AirCover and Host Liability Insurance
Airbnb’s AirCover program includes Host Liability Insurance that provides up to $1 million in coverage for guest injury claims. This coverage is automatic for hosts and provided at no additional cost. However, it functions as secondary coverage, meaning it typically applies only after the host’s personal homeowner’s or renter’s insurance has been exhausted or denied.
The coverage has important limitations and exclusions. It may not cover injuries resulting from certain activities, intentional acts or conditions the host knew about and failed to address. Claims must be submitted through Airbnb’s resolution center and are subject to investigation.
Vrbo’s Liability Coverage
Vrbo requires hosts to maintain at least $1 million in liability insurance coverage. The platform offers its own liability insurance program that hosts can purchase. Like Airbnb’s coverage, Vrbo’s insurance is subject to terms, conditions and exclusions that may affect whether a particular claim is covered.
Navigating these insurance programs requires understanding how they interact with the host’s personal insurance, what documentation is required and how to present claims in a way that maximizes the likelihood of full coverage.
How Terms of Service Affect Your Injury Claim
When you book a vacation rental, you agree to the platform’s terms of service. These lengthy documents contain liability limitations, arbitration clauses and other provisions designed to protect the platform from lawsuits. Property owners and insurance companies may point to these terms and argue you waived your rights.
However, these terms primarily govern your relationship with the platform, not with the individual property owner. More importantly, Florida law places limits on what can be waived through click-through agreements.
Florida courts enforce liability waivers only when they clearly and unambiguously express the intent to release a party from liability. General language buried in lengthy terms of service may not meet this standard. Additionally, Florida law prohibits waiving liability for gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
A host who knows about a dangerous condition and fails to address it may be liable for gross negligence that no terms of service can waive. The specific facts of your case determine whether waiver arguments will succeed.
The Two-Year Deadline for Florida Injury Claims
Florida law imposes strict time limits for filing personal injury lawsuits. Under Florida Statute 95.11, you have two years from the date of your injury to file a claim. This deadline changed in March 2023 when HB 837 reduced the statute of limitations from four years.
Missing this two-year deadline typically bars you from pursuing compensation entirely, regardless of how strong your case might be or how serious your injuries were. The clock begins running on the date of your injury, not when you finish treatment or realize the full extent of your damages.
For visitors who live outside Florida, this creates additional challenges. Pursuing a claim in Florida courts while managing your medical care in another state requires careful coordination. Starting the process early ensures critical evidence is preserved and legal deadlines are met.
What to Do After an Injury at a Vacation Rental
The steps you take immediately after an injury significantly impact your ability to pursue fair compensation. Here is what to do.
Get medical attention immediately. Your health is the priority, but prompt medical evaluation also creates documentation connecting your injuries to the accident. Delayed treatment gives insurance companies ammunition to argue your injuries were not serious or resulted from something else.
Document everything you can. Photograph the hazard that caused your injury, the surrounding area, any visible injuries and the overall condition of the property. Take video if possible. Note lighting conditions, weather, time of day and any other relevant circumstances.
Collect contact information from witnesses. Other guests, neighbors or anyone who saw the accident or can speak to the property’s condition may provide valuable testimony later.
Report the incident to the host and through the rental platform. Request written documentation of your report. Save all correspondence, messages and emails related to your stay and the incident.
Do not accept quick settlement offers. Insurance adjusters may reach out with offers designed to close your claim before you understand the full extent of your injuries. Consult with an attorney before agreeing to anything.
Contact a Florida attorney who handles vacation rental injury cases. An experienced attorney can evaluate your claim, identify all potentially liable parties and navigate the insurance claims process.
Types of Compensation Available for Vacation Rental Injuries
Injured vacation rental guests may recover compensation for various categories of damages.
Medical expenses include all costs related to treating your injuries: emergency room visits, hospitalization, surgery, medication, physical therapy, medical equipment and any future medical care you will need. Keep records of every expense.
Lost income covers wages and benefits you missed while recovering. If your injuries affect your ability to work long-term, you may also recover compensation for reduced earning capacity.
Pain and suffering compensates for physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, depression and overall diminished quality of life. These damages often represent the largest portion of recovery in serious injury cases.
Property damage covers personal belongings damaged in the accident, such as phones, cameras, jewelry or luggage.
Loss of consortium provides compensation to spouses or family members whose relationship with the injured person has been affected by the injuries.
How Comparative Negligence Affects Your Recovery
Florida follows a modified comparative negligence rule. Under this system, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault for the accident. If you are found 51% or more at fault, you cannot recover any damages.
Insurance companies and defense attorneys routinely try to shift blame to injured guests. They may argue you were not paying attention, ignored warning signs, were intoxicated, wore inappropriate footwear or otherwise contributed to your own injury.
Building a strong case means thoroughly documenting the hazard and demonstrating why a reasonable guest would not have anticipated the danger. This is where having an attorney experienced in premises liability claims becomes valuable.
Why Vacation Rental Cases Require Experienced Legal Representation
Vacation rental injury cases present unique challenges that differ from standard premises liability claims. Multiple potentially liable parties, layered insurance policies, platform terms of service and out-of-state claimants all complicate the process.
An attorney who handles these cases understands how to navigate Airbnb and Vrbo’s claims processes, identify all available insurance coverage, investigate property ownership and management structures and build strong evidence of liability.
Most personal injury attorneys, including our firm, work on contingency, meaning you pay no fees unless we recover compensation for you. This allows injured guests to pursue their claims without upfront financial risk.
Contact a Florida Vacation Rental Injury Attorney
When a negligent property owner’s failure to maintain safe conditions causes your injury, you deserve experienced legal representation. At Mausner Group Injury Lawyers, attorney Eric Mausner brings his background as a former Miami-Dade County prosecutor to fighting for injured vacation rental guests throughout Florida.
We handle Airbnb and Vrbo injury cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay no fees unless we recover compensation for you. Our team will investigate the property, identify all liable parties, navigate the insurance claims process and fight for maximum compensation on your behalf.
Call 305-344-4878 or contact us online for a Free Case Review. We represent injured guests statewide and are ready to discuss your vacation rental injury case today.
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