Fell at a condo, a hotel pool deck, or a beach-area restaurant in Fort Lauderdale? How you prove the owner knew, before the video is gone

Many falls in Fort Lauderdale do not happen in a grocery aisle. They happen on a hotel pool deck along A1A, on the polished lobby floor of a condo tower, on the tile by a beachside bar, on a restaurant patio on Las Olas after a rain shower, or on the stairs of a short-term rental. The hazards are familiar: wet tile, spilled drinks, a worn step, a dark garage ramp, a loose pool coping stone. The legal question is always the same, and it is the one people least expect: did the owner know, or should they have known?

Why isn’t it enough to show the floor was wet?

Because Florida does not make property owners responsible for every accident on their property. They are responsible for hazards they knew about or should have found and fixed. For a slip on a spilled or tracked-in substance inside a business, the Legislature wrote that rule into Fla. Stat. § 768.0755: the injured person has to prove the business had actual knowledge of the substance or constructive knowledge of it. Constructive knowledge can be shown in two ways:

• the substance was there long enough that the business, using ordinary care, should have noticed it; or
• the problem happened regularly, so the business should have expected it.

Falls caused by other things, such as a cracked tile, a broken step, a loose handrail, or poor lighting, are decided under general premises liability rules rather than § 768.0755, but the question of what the owner knew or should have known still sits at the center of the case.

Who is responsible depends on who controls the spot

Where you fell	Who usually answers for it
Condo hallway, lobby, pool, garage, or stairwell	The condominium association, which generally must maintain the common elements (Fla. Stat. § 718.113(1))
Hotel pool deck, lobby, or room	The hotel operator, and sometimes a management or maintenance contractor
Restaurant dining room, restroom, or patio	The restaurant, and sometimes the landlord for areas the landlord controls
Short-term rental home or unit	The owner or host, and in a condo building, possibly the association for common areas
Public sidewalk or beach access	A public body, which requires written notice before suit (Fla. Stat. § 768.28(6))

Many beach-area properties involve layers: a hotel inside a condo building, a restaurant leasing space from a landlord, or a pool run by a contractor. Naming the right party early matters, because each has its own insurer and its own records.

What proves the owner knew?

The evidence usually belongs to the property, not to you:

• Surveillance video of the area in the hours before the fall, showing when the hazard appeared and whether staff walked past it.
• Cleaning and inspection logs for the pool deck, lobby, restrooms, or patio.
• Work orders and maintenance records, including requests to repair the exact spot.
• Earlier complaints and incident reports about the same area, which can show the problem happened regularly.
• Condo association records, such as board minutes or notices about a known repair.
• Staff statements about what they saw and when.

Why does the video window matter so much?

Most commercial camera systems record over old footage on a rolling basis, often within a few weeks. A hotel or condo has no reason to keep an ordinary day’s video. Once it has received written notice of a claim, though, it is expected to preserve relevant evidence, and destroying it after that can lead a court to sanction the property, including telling the jury to assume the missing evidence would have hurt the owner.

That is why the first thing Wolfson & Leon sends after a fall is a written preservation letter to the property and its management company, naming the date, time, and location, and asking for the video, logs, and prior-incident records to be kept.

What should I do the day I fall?

1. Report it before you leave, to the front desk, the manager, or the condo’s management office, and ask for a written incident report.
2. Photograph the spot before it is mopped or fixed, including any sign or the lack of one, the lighting, and your shoes.
3. Get names and phone numbers of witnesses, including other guests who may be checking out soon.
4. Get medical care that day. Broward Health Medical Center and Holy Cross Health are both in Fort Lauderdale, and any urgent care can document the injury.
5. Do not sign a statement about how you fell, and do not accept a payment that comes with a release before you know your injuries.

What if they say it was my fault?

Expect it, especially around a pool or a bar: wrong shoes, a drink in hand, not watching your step. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.81(6), a share of fault reduces what you recover, and it bars recovery only if your share is more than 50 percent. The records described above are what answer that argument. The deadline to file suit for a fall on or after March 24, 2023 is generally two years (Fla. Stat. § 95.11), but the video deadline arrives first.

What Wolfson & Leon does on the first call

We ask where you fell, who you reported it to, and whether there are photos or witnesses. If the fall was recent, the preservation letter goes out promptly. Then we identify who controls the property, obtain the incident report, video, and maintenance records, and gather your medical records, whether you live in Broward or are back home in another state.

Our office is at 110 SE 6th St #1717, in the Las Olas area of downtown Fort Lauderdale, and we can come to you if you cannot travel. Call (754) 305-0820, any hour. The first conversation is free and can be in English or Spanish, and you pay no fee unless the firm recovers money for you.