State law protecting Florida homeowners from shoddy home construction has been in flux since Florida followed other jurisdictions in abandoning the doctrine of caveat emptor—under which buyers purchased at their own risk, generally without recourse for defects—and adopting the doctrine of implied warranties, under which builders may be liable for damages caused by defects in a new home. Initially, Florida’s District Courts of Appeal disagreed over which home defects should be covered under the doctrine of implied warranties. The Florida Supreme Court granted certiorari on the issue in Maronda Homes and approved the Fifth District’s “essential services” test, thereby furthering the buyers’ protections by expanding the scope of damages for which developers may be liable. Complicating the matter, however, was the Florida Legislature’s disagreement with the essential services test and passage of Section 553.835 while Maronda Homes was pending appeal.
This Article asserts that Section 553.835, now controlling authority for future new home defect cases, does not answer the key question of when Florida homebuyers are protected from new home defects and how far that protection reaches. After explaining the history of the implied warranties doctrine in Florida and its expansion, the Author explains how Section 553.835 limits the doctrine. The Author argues Section 553.835 is poorly drafted and misses the mark by failing to create a bright—line rule. The Author then proposes an amended version of the Statute by rejecting part of the current language and modeling new language after other jurisdictions’ implied warranties provisions.