Mid-America Apartments v. Tracz, 50 Fla. L. Weekly D2042 (Fla. 2nd DCA Sept. 12, 2025):

The parties entered into a residential lease agreement that contained an arbitration provision noting that “all claims arising between you and the landlord” will be resolved through binding arbitration. The lease then defined the term “claim” as any claim, dispute, action, proceeding, cause of action, or controversy of every kind and nature, whether arising in contract, tort, and not limited to personal injury, death, damage to property or otherwise for damages, etc. The lease defined the property as the entire apartment complex at the property address. It also specified the rented residential unit and the additional rentable item of boat slips within the complex.

The plaintiff tenant sued the defendant apartment complex. The complaint alleged that the plaintiff had a lease agreement with Mid-America Apartments and alleged he was injured on its premises. The gravamen of the factual allegation was that in order to perform repairs on the boat slip the plaintiff had rented, the landlord had to move the plaintiff’s boat to an adjacent slip, and when he attempted to move it, the non-working mechanical lift system required him to try and get it working, and in the process, he was injured.

The defendant moved to compel arbitration, which the trial court denied, concluding there was no arbitrable issue, as there was no nexus between the dispute and the contract containing the arbitration clause.

The court disagreed. Examining the lease’s definition of a claim in the arbitration clause, it was clear that it encompassed the plaintiff’s future personal injury claim and found that the parties’ lease expressly and unambiguously agreed that claims such as this one would be arbitrated.