REV. GEORGE SAWYER, APPELLANT,
v.
W. R. ROBBINS, JR., APPELLEE
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Reverend Sawyer sued his landlord seeking injunctive relief under Florida's nuisance statute, arguing that the landlord's violation of Miami's minimum housing code (specifically providing inadequate hot water) constituted a nuisance. The court affirmed dismissal, holding that a housing code violation is not necessarily a nuisance under the statute, which targets threats to public health and morals rather than individual contractual breaches.
A violation of minimum housing standards set by a governmental authority may be, but is not necessarily, a nuisance within the meaning of § 823.05. The trial court correctly ruled that the complaint alleged a contractual violation for which the tenant had adequate remedies at law, rather than a public nuisance actionable under § 823.05.
“An examination of § 823.05 convinces us that it is designed to protect the public health and morals of the community. A violation of the minimum standard for rental housing as set by a governmental authority may be but is not necessarily a nuisance within the meaning of that section.”
Establishes the key holding that housing code violations are not automatically nuisances under the statute; the statute is intended to protect community health and morals broadly, not to provide private remedies for individual breaches.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceReverend Sawyer resided in apartment four of a building owned by W.R. Robbins, Jr. The apartment was equipped with an outdated and ineffectual solar w…
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The Reverend George Sawyer appeals a final judgment dismissing his complaint. The complaint was framed on the theory that a housing unit operated in violation of the minimum housing requirements of the City of Miami was a nuisance and, as such, was subject to injunctive relief pursuant to § 823.05, Fla.Stat.,1 F.S.A.
The complaint sets forth that the City of Miami Code § 24-12 provides that every dwelling shall have water heating facilities and that the apartment building in which the appellant resides is equipped with “an out-moded and grossly ineffectual solar water heating apparatus which provides no hot water.” The complaint then prayed that the court permanently enjoin the defendant-appellee from maintaining a rental business and collecting rents from apartment four, which the appellant occupied, until the nuisance was abated.2
Appellant maintains that since the City of Miami Code provides minimum standards for rental premises, any violation *517of the housing code is a nuisance under § 823.05. The trial judge did not agree and entered an order dismissing the complaint. We affirm.
The appellee contends that the substance of the court’s holding is that a violation of the minimum standard for rental housing as set by a governmental authority is not a nuisance within the meaning of § 823.05 and urges us to expressly so hold. We expressly decline to so hold. An examination of § 823.05 convinces us that it is designed to protect the public health and morals of the community. A violation of the minimum standard for rental housing as set by a governmental authority may be but is not necessarily a nuisance within the meaning of that section.
The trial judge correctly ruled that, if anything, the complaint before him alleged a contractual violation for which the appellant had adequate remedies at law.
Affirmed.
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State of Fla. ex rel. Sandra Brown v. Sussman, 235 So. 2d 46 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970)…dismissal we have held, “[a] violation of the minimum standard for rental housing as set by a governmental authority may be but is not necessarily a nuisance within the meaning of * * * section [823.05 Fla. Stat.].” Sawyer v. Robbins, Fla.App. 1968, 213 So. 2d 515, 517. The complaint must be tested upon a motion to dismiss by the sum of its parts. Stripped of its verbiage the amended complaint alleges: (1) the premises are infested with vermin, insects, and rodents inside and out; (2) furniture supplied by t…