August 31, 2025
Florida HB 837 represents the most significant tort reform in decades, fundamentally reshaping how property owners face liability claims. Signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis on March 24, 2023, this sweeping legislation was designed to curb frivolous lawsuits and reduce predatory practices targeting property owners.
Key Changes Under Florida HB 837:
The law took effect immediately upon signing, with different provisions applying to causes of action filed or accruing after March 24, 2023.
For multifamily property owners, HB 837 offers unprecedented liability protection - but only if you meet seven specific security requirements and achieve substantial compliance with a CPTED assessment.
This reform shifts the legal landscape dramatically. As one legal expert noted, the law creates "a presumption against liability for owners or principal operators of multifamily residential property that substantially implements specified security measures, in connection with certain criminal acts that occur on the premises."
Florida HB 837 didn't just tweak a few legal rules - it completely rewrote how civil lawsuits work in the Sunshine State. These changes reach far beyond property law, creating a new reality for anyone involved in negligence cases.
Think of it this way: if Florida's legal system was a game, HB 837 changed the rules, shortened the playing time, and moved the goalposts. Let's break down what this means for real people facing real legal situations.
Here's where Florida HB 837 gets serious about timing. The law slashed the statute of limitations for general negligence cases from four years down to just two years. That's a 50% reduction in the time you have to file a lawsuit after someone's carelessness causes you harm.
This change affects anyone injured after March 24, 2023. Whether you slipped on a wet floor, got hurt in a car accident, or suffered injuries due to someone else's negligence, you now have half the time you used to have to take legal action.
Why does this matter so much? Evidence disappears, witnesses forget details, and security camera footage gets deleted. The shorter timeline pushes everyone to act faster, which can actually lead to stronger cases with fresher evidence.
But here's the important part: wrongful death and medical malpractice cases keep their original timelines. The legislature recognized these cases often take longer to find and investigate, so they carved out exceptions.
This might be the biggest game-changer in Florida HB 837. Florida used to follow what lawyers call "pure comparative negligence." Under that system, even if you were 90% responsible for your own accident, you could still recover 10% of your damages.
That is no longer the case. Florida now follows a modified comparative negligence standard with a 50% fault bar. If a jury finds the plaintiff more than 50% at fault, the plaintiff’s recovery is entirely barred.
Let's say you're texting while walking and trip over a broken sidewalk. Under the old system, if you were 70% at fault and the property owner was 30% at fault, you'd still get 30% of your damages. Under Florida HB 837, you'd walk away empty-handed because you're over that 50% threshold.
But here's where it gets really interesting for property owners. The law now allows juries to assign fault to criminals in negligent security cases. If someone gets robbed in a parking lot, the jury can now consider how much fault belongs to the actual criminal versus the property owner.
This shift in comparative negligence analysis means property owners aren't automatically stuck holding the bag for crimes they didn't commit. It's a more balanced approach that considers everyone's role in what happened.
Florida HB 837 also tackled some of the more technical aspects of how lawsuits work, especially when it comes to medical bills and insurance disputes.
Medical expenses got a major overhaul. You used to be able to show a jury the full amount a doctor billed, even if insurance paid much less. Now, you can only present what was actually paid. If your surgery bill was $50,000 but insurance negotiated it down to $15,000, that's all the jury sees.
For unpaid medical bills covered by letters of protection, the law sets strict caps. Medical services with Medicare rates are capped at 120% of that rate. Services with Medicaid rates but no Medicare rate are capped at 170% of Medicaid. Everything else is limited to 120% of what similar services actually cost in your area over the past three years.
The law also demands more transparency about medical referrals. If your attorney referred you to a doctor, that relationship now comes out in court. The goal is to prevent inflated medical bills that serve lawyers more than patients.
Insurance bad faith cases got tougher to win too. Insurance companies now get a 90-day "cure period" after you notify them of a problem. Simple negligence by an insurance company can't form the basis of a bad faith claim anymore.
Perhaps most significantly, Florida HB 837 eliminated one-way attorney's fees in most insurance cases. This used to mean that if you beat your insurance company in court, they'd pay your lawyer's bills. Now, you're likely paying your own legal costs regardless of who wins.
These changes work together to create a legal environment that's more predictable for businesses and property owners while still protecting people who are genuinely harmed by others' negligence.
If you own or operate a multifamily residential property in Florida, Florida HB 837 offers something that's been a long time coming: real protection against frivolous negligent security lawsuits. But here's the catch—you have to earn it.
The law creates what's called a "presumption against liability" for properties that meet specific security requirements. Think of it as a legal shield that makes it much harder for plaintiffs to win negligent security cases against you. Instead of you having to prove you did everything right, they now have to prove you did something wrong—and that's a much steeper hill to climb.
This protection is codified in Florida Statute 768.0706, and it applies to any building or group of buildings with at least five dwelling units on a particular parcel. The law recognizes that property owners shouldn't bear full responsibility for criminal acts they didn't commit—as long as they've taken reasonable steps to prevent them.
But here's what makes this law different from typical "feel-good" legislation: it has teeth. You can't just throw up a few cameras and call it a day. The requirements are specific, and require an expert to come out and provide considerations to improve safe navigation by legally present individuals on your property.
You can learn more about how this statute has played out in real cases at Florida HB 837: Reflecting on Statute 768.0706 One Year Later.
The first requirement is a security camera system at each entrance and exit, retaining video for at least 30 days. This means every way in and out of your property needs coverage, and you need to keep that footage long enough for law enforcement to actually use it. Too many properties have cameras that don't work or storage systems that delete footage after a week.
Next, ensure there is adequate lighting in parking lots, walkways, laundry rooms, and common areas. "Adequate" is not defined in the statute, but it means residents should feel safe moving around at night and that security cameras can capture clear images. Burned-out bulbs and dark corners are magnets for liability. For parking lots, the requirement is clear: they must be illuminated to a minimum of 1.8 foot-candles, measured at a height of 18 inches.
Every dwelling unit door must have a 1-inch deadbolt. Standard spring-latch locks that come with most doors won't cut it. The law specifically calls out the one-inch measurement because shorter deadbolts are easier to defeat.
You also need a locking device on every window and exterior sliding door. This includes ground-floor windows, sliding patio doors, and any other openings that could provide access. The locks need to actually work—we've seen too many properties where window locks are painted shut or broken.
Each dwelling unit door requires a peephole or door viewer. This simple measure lets residents see who's at their door before opening it. It's basic, but it works. In addition, pools need to remain in a locked state.
Your staff needs proper crime deterrence and safety training. This goes beyond basic customer service. At Tricorn, we've developed specialized training programs in several languages that meet this requirement.
Finally, and most importantly, you need substantial compliance with a CPTED assessment. This isn't just getting the assessment done—you have to actually implement the key considerations for your property. We'll dive deeper into this requirement in the next section.
These seven measures work together to create layers of security that deter crime and protect residents. We've completed over 200 assessments across Florida, from Miami to Pensacola, and we've seen how these measures transform properties from security liabilities into safe communities.
Of all the security measures required by Florida HB 837, the CPTED assessment requirement is both the most important and the most misunderstood. CPTED stands for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, and it's not just another security checklist—it's a comprehensive approach to making your property inherently safer.
CPTED works on the principle that the physical environment can be designed and managed to reduce crime opportunities. It focuses on four core strategies: natural surveillance (can people see what's happening?), natural access control (are you guiding people where they should go?), territorial reinforcement (does the space feel owned and cared for?), and maintenance and management (are you staying on top of problems?).
Here's what makes CPTED different from traditional security: instead of just adding more locks and cameras, it looks at how criminals think and behave, then uses design to make crime less likely to happen in the first place. A well-designed CPTED approach might involve trimming bushes to improve sightlines, adding lighting to eliminate hiding spots, or changing traffic flow to increase natural surveillance.
Florida HB 837 requires that your CPTED assessment be conducted by a certified Florida CPTED Practitioner or a law enforcement agency. More importantly, you must be in "substantial compliance" with the assessment's recommendations.
"Substantial compliance" doesn't mean you have to implement every single recommendation—that would be impossible on most properties. It means you need to address the major security vulnerabilities identified in the assessment. Our experience with hundreds of assessments has taught us what substantial compliance looks like in practice, and we can help you prioritize improvements that give you the biggest security impact for your budget.
The assessment itself is property-specific. What works for a garden-style complex in Orlando might not work for a high-rise in Miami. That's why cookie-cutter security approaches often fail. A proper CPTED assessment looks at your specific property, neighborhood, crime patterns, and resident demographics to develop customized recommendations.
Our team at Tricorn uses proprietary CPTED Tech for efficient, real-time reporting, which means you get your assessment results faster and can start implementing improvements sooner.
For more detailed information on how CPTED assessments play a role in security negligence cases, read Florida Statute 768.0706 and the Role of CPTED Assessments in Security Negligence Cases. You can also learn more about CPTED principles at What is CPTED?.
The bottom line is this: the CPTED assessment requirement isn't just about legal compliance—it's about creating a genuinely safer environment for your residents while protecting your investment from costly litigation.
Florida HB 837 has transformed Florida's legal landscape in ways that affect property owners, businesses, and residents alike. It's natural that such sweeping changes would raise important questions. We've gathered the most common concerns we hear from property owners and provided clear, straightforward answers based on our extensive experience helping clients steer these new requirements.
Florida HB 837 became law the moment Governor Ron DeSantis signed it on March 24, 2023. But here's where it gets a bit tricky - different parts of the law apply to different situations depending on when things happened.
The key thing to understand is that most provisions apply to incidents that occur after March 24, 2023. So if someone gets injured on your property today, the new rules apply. But if the incident happened before that date, the old rules might still be in effect.
The shortened two-year statute of limitations is particularly important. This applies to any negligence case filed after the effective date, regardless of when the incident occurred. This means people have less time to file lawsuits, which generally benefits property owners.
We always recommend talking to a lawyer about your specific situation, since the timing rules can be complex. You can read the complete legal text in the official bill text if you want all the details.
Florida HB 837 creates several layers of protection that work together to shield property owners from excessive liability. Think of it as building a legal fortress around your business interests.
The most powerful protection is the presumption against liability for multifamily properties. When you implement all seven security measures and achieve substantial compliance with a CPTED assessment, the law assumes you weren't negligent if a crime happens on your property. This flips the script - instead of you having to prove you did everything right, the injured party has to prove you did something wrong. That's a much harder battle for them to win.
The new comparative negligence rules also work in your favor. Under the old system, someone could be 90% responsible for their own injury and still collect damages from you. Now, if they're more than 50% at fault, they get nothing. This prevents people from profiting off their own poor decisions.
In security cases, juries can now consider the criminal's fault too. If someone gets mugged in your parking lot, the jury can assign most of the blame to the mugger, not to you. This makes sense - you didn't commit the crime, so why should you bear all the responsibility?
The changes to insurance bad faith lawsuits also help indirectly. Insurance companies get a 90-day chance to fix problems before facing a lawsuit. This should lead to more reasonable insurance rates and fewer frivolous claims against insurers.
Medical expense limitations prevent inflated damage claims. Plaintiffs can only claim what was actually paid for medical bills, not the full "sticker price" that nobody ever pays. This keeps settlements and jury awards more realistic.
These protections work best when you're proactive about security. The law rewards property owners who take reasonable steps to keep their residents safe.
This is probably the question we get asked most, and for good reason. "Substantial compliance" is the key to open uping Florida HB 837's liability protections, but the law doesn't spell out exactly what it means.
Think of substantial compliance as making a sincere, good-faith effort to implement the most important recommendations from your CPTED assessment. It's not about achieving perfection - that's often impossible due to budget constraints, building limitations, or other practical factors. Instead, it's about addressing the biggest security vulnerabilities that the assessment identifies.
The focus should be on high-impact improvements that genuinely make your property safer. If your CPTED report says your parking lot lighting is dangerously inadequate, fixing that lighting should be a top priority. If it recommends trimming overgrown bushes that create hiding spots, that's probably more important than installing decorative security cameras that don't actually improve surveillance.
Documentation is absolutely crucial. You need to keep detailed records showing what your CPTED assessment recommended, what steps you took to implement those recommendations, and why you made the choices you did. If you ever face a lawsuit, this documentation will be your best defense.
Substantial compliance is also an ongoing commitment. The initial assessment gets you started, but maintaining a secure property requires continued attention. Broken lights need to be replaced, landscaping needs to be maintained, and security systems need to stay functional.
At Tricorn, we've completed over 200 CPTED assessments across Florida, so we understand exactly what substantial compliance looks like in practice. We help property owners prioritize the most effective security improvements and create clear documentation showing their compliance efforts. Our proprietary CPTED Tech makes the whole process more efficient, giving you real-time reporting that proves your commitment to resident safety.
The bottom line? Substantial compliance means taking your CPTED assessment seriously and making meaningful changes based on its recommendations. It's about protecting your residents and protecting your investment.
Florida HB 837 has fundamentally changed the game for multifamily property owners across the state. This isn't just another piece of legislation you can ignore—it's a golden opportunity disguised as legal reform. The law creates a clear path: implement the right security measures and gain powerful legal protection against negligent security claims.
Think about it this way: you're already investing in your property's maintenance, aesthetics, and amenities to attract residents. Now, investing in the seven specific security measures and achieving substantial compliance with a CPTED assessment isn't just about following the law—it's about protecting your bottom line while creating a safer community for your residents.
At Tricorn, we've completed over 200 CPTED assessments across Florida, from Miami to Pensacola. We've seen how these security improvements transform properties—not just legally, but practically. Residents feel safer, staff members are more confident, and property owners sleep better knowing they've taken proactive steps to protect their investment.
Our proprietary CPTED Tech makes the assessment process efficient and transparent, providing real-time reporting that helps you understand exactly what needs to be done and why. We don't just hand you a report and walk away—we guide you through implementation, helping you prioritize the most critical recommendations to achieve substantial compliance.
The beauty of Florida HB 837 is that it rewards property owners who do the right thing. By improving security, you're not just checking boxes for legal compliance—you're creating a competitive advantage in the marketplace while protecting yourself from costly litigation.
Ensure your property is compliant with our expert CPTED services. Don't let this opportunity pass you by. Your residents, your investment, and your peace of mind are worth the proactive approach that Florida HB 837 incentivizes.
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cpted learning platform
Multilingual CPTED Training for Multifamily Properties. A self-paced CPTED video course for property managers, HOAs, and business owners. Explains CPTED principles and helps prepare for HB 837 compliance.
