If your child drowned or nearly drowned at a Florida vacation rental pool, you may be asking what was supposed to prevent it.

Who may be responsible depends partly on which Florida pool rules applied. A pool at a rented house and a shared pool at a condo or resort follow different rules.

Nothing can undo what happened at that pool. You don’t need every detail or any records in hand to start asking questions, and your family can go at its own pace.

For injuries at Florida vacation rentals beyond the pool, see our guide: Vacation Rental Injuries in Florida: What Injured Guests Need to Know.

What Was Supposed to Protect a Child at a Florida Rental Pool

Doors, Gates, and Alarms at a Rental Pool

At a rental, the doors, gates, and latches between a child and the pool belong to a place you may have known for only a few days. Whether a door had an alarm, whether the gate latched on its own, and whether a cover was in place are facts an attorney can check.

If the Adults Are Blamed, Your Family May Still Have a Claim

You may be told the pool was your responsibility, not the owner’s or the building’s. If someone blames you, facts about the doors, gates, alarms, and safety equipment can answer that argument, rather than anyone’s memory of that day.

For backyard pools, Florida’s Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act says in Section 515.23 that a pool safety feature will reduce drownings and near-drownings when supervision lapses. At a shared pool that follows the public pool rules, the pool’s owners and managers are responsible for its supervision and safety.

Under Section 768.81, Florida’s comparative fault statute, a share of fault generally reduces a recovery rather than barring it, unless the person is found more than 50% at fault for their own harm. If the defense blames someone who isn’t part of the case, it has to raise that formally and prove it.

Which Florida Rules Applied to the Pool Where You Stayed

The rules that applied set what the pool had to have and whether the state permitted and inspected it.

Rules for a Backyard Pool at a Rented House

Under Section 515.25, a pool at a one- or two-family home or a townhouse of up to three stories is a residential swimming pool. A slide, a lazy river, or a resort-style listing doesn’t change that. The Act’s five safety features are a pool barrier, a safety cover, exit alarms on doors and windows that open to the pool, self-closing and self-latching devices on those doors, and a pool alarm.

A new pool needs at least one of them to pass final inspection, so a pool built before 2000 may not have needed any. Our guide to pool and hot tub injuries at Florida vacation rentals explains each one.

A backyard pool at a rented house is generally a private pool under Section 514.011, because it serves one household and its guests rather than five or more units. Section 514.0115 exempts private pools from the public pool law’s oversight.

Even so, the owner generally still had to keep the house reasonably safe for your family and warn you about hidden dangers they knew or should have known about.

A Shared Condo or Resort Pool May Be a Public Pool

Florida’s public pool law treats a pool serving five or more living units, such as those at apartments, hotels, motels, and townhouses, as a public pool. Anyone operating a public pool must hold a Department of Health operating permit under Section 514.031. The department’s supervision and safety rules include these requirements:

• The owners, managers, and any lifeguards in charge of the pool are responsible for its supervision and safety.
• Lifeguards, if provided, must be certified.
• Safety equipment, including a shepherd’s hook on a pole at least 16 feet long and a lifesaving ring, must be kept at the pool.

Section 514.0115 exempts some condo and association pools from most of these rules. For buildings of 32 units or fewer, the exemption applies only where the units aren’t operated as public lodging. Under Section 509.013, Florida’s lodging law, a unit rented to guests more than three times a year for stays under 30 days counts as public lodging. Larger buildings qualify only if their recorded documents ban rentals shorter than 60 days.

Records can show whether the pool your family used was permitted, inspected, and equipped as a public pool. An attorney can request them for you.

Who May Be Liable after a Drowning at a Vacation Rental

At a rented house, the owner and any manager or co-host who prepared it between stays may have controlled the pool’s gate, alarms, and cover. Any of them may be liable if a failure they should have caught contributed to the drowning. Our guide to who is liable for an Airbnb or Vrbo injury in Florida covers hosts, managers, and associations.

The Condo or Homeowners Association for a Shared Pool

When your family was using a shared pool, the association that controls the common area may be liable if its own failure contributed to what happened. Our Miami attorneys handle drowning claims at condo and HOA pools.

The Pool Service Company Hired to Maintain the Equipment

If a pool service company maintained the pool’s equipment, cover, or alarm, and its work or inaction played a part in what happened to your child, it may share liability. Its service agreement and visit logs can show what it was hired to do.

Wrongful Death and Brain Injury Claims after a Rental Drowning

A wrongful death claim and an injury claim generally have to be filed within two years under Section 95.11, Florida’s statute of limitations, with exceptions that can affect that date.

One Wrongful Death Claim for Your Family

The personal representative, the person appointed to act for your child’s estate, brings one claim for the survivors and the estate under Section 768.20, part of Florida’s Wrongful Death Act. We can explain how that appointment works for your family.

The Act counts a child’s parents as survivors, and Section 768.21 allows each parent to recover for their own mental pain and suffering when the child was under 25. If the defense blames a parent, Section 768.20 lets it raise that fault only against that parent. It doesn’t affect any other survivor’s recovery.

Our guide to wrongful death at a Florida vacation rental explains what your family may recover and how these cases are proven.

When a Child Survives with a Brain Injury

Nonfatal drowning can cause brain damage or permanent disability, the CDC reports. If your child survived with a brain injury, your family may be facing years of care rather than a single hospital stay.

A claim for your child’s injury may seek:

• The cost of care so far
• The cost of the care your child is expected to need
• Damages for the injury’s effect on your child’s life and future earning capacity

In a brain injury claim, we can coordinate with your child’s doctors, including those back home, to document what that care may cost over a lifetime.

Records to Keep or Request after a Drowning at a Rental

These records can help show what happened and when:

• The 911 call and emergency medical records, which can show when help was called, when it arrived, and what responders noted
• For a backyard pool, the building permit and final inspection records, which may show which safety feature, if any, it had when it was built
• For a public pool, the Department of Health’s permit and inspection records
• The listing and any messages from the host or manager about the pool, the gate, or the doors

Airbnb says it has long asked hosts to disclose whether a pool or hot tub is protected by a gate or lock. The listing can show what the host reported.

You don’t have to gather these records yourself. We can request the ones your family doesn’t have.

If the host’s or the building’s insurer calls, you can take the caller’s name and number and let an attorney return the call. Our guide to vacation rental insurance claims explains the policies that may apply at a rental.

Frequently Asked Questions About Drownings at Florida Vacation Rentals

Did a condo or resort pool have to have a lifeguard?

Not necessarily. Florida’s public pool rule requires lifeguards to be certified if they’re provided, and it makes the pool’s owners and managers responsible for supervision and safety either way. A pool with a water slide or climbing structures must also file a lifeguard or safety plan when it’s first permitted.

We have already gone home. Can we still bring a claim?

Generally, yes. We work with visitors regularly, and we can handle most of your case remotely by phone, email, and video. If a relative who was there speaks only Spanish, our attorneys and staff can speak with them directly.

Talk to Stabinski Law About a Drowning or Near-Drowning at a Florida Vacation Rental

Tell us what you can, and what you’ve been told since. Our swimming pool accident lawyers and wrongful death lawyers handle drowning and near-drowning claims at vacation rentals in Miami and throughout Florida.

If your family has already gone home, we can handle what needs to be done in Florida. We can review which pool rules applied, who may have been responsible, and what records still exist.

Stabinski Law has represented clients in Florida since 1970, through two generations of the same family. You can expect personal attorney attention: an attorney reviews your inquiry and explains your options in plain language. Our bilingual attorneys and staff can discuss your questions, documents, and next steps in Spanish.

Consultations are free. If we accept your case on a contingency-fee basis, you pay no attorney’s fees upfront. Your written agreement explains our fee from any recovery and how we handle case costs. Contact Stabinski Law or call 305-643-3100 whenever your family is ready to ask questions, with no obligation.