768.0706(1)(b)
Does it cover your property, and what does it give
The statute applies to a “multifamily residential property.” Check yours against the definition:
0 of 3 so far. The definition counts at least five dwelling units on a particular parcel.
What meeting the measures gives
A presumption against liability
An owner or principal operator that substantially implements the measures “has a presumption against liability in connection with criminal acts that occur on the premises which are committed by third parties who are not employees or agents of the owner or operator.”
What it doesn’t give
Immunity
The burden of proof is on the owner or principal operator to show it substantially implemented the measures (subsection 3). The section “does not establish a private cause of action” (subsection 5).
Has it changed? Not since it was enacted as section 8, chapter 2023-15: the 2026 text is the same. The one 2026 Senate bill citing it, SB 956, died in Judiciary on 13 March 2026. No other state has enacted a safe harbor like it that we know of: Oregon’s 2025 House Bill 3781 copies it but is still in committee, and Georgia’s 2025 reform lists no measures.
768.0706(2)
The statute’s list, measure by measure
The measures in the statute’s order. Tick the ones your property has; nothing you tick leaves this page.
- (2)(a)1
Cameras
What it asks
“A security camera system at points of entry and exit which records, and maintains as retrievable for at least 30 days, video footage to assist in offender identification and apprehension.”
What it doesn’t name
- A resolution
- A number of cameras
- Coverage inside the property
- Anyone watching the cameras
If someone watches your cameras, the measure still asks the same of them: recording at the points of entry and exit, kept 30 days.
- (2)(a)2
A parking lot lit to an average of at least 1.8 foot-candles per square foot at 18 inches above the surface, from dusk until dawn.
- (2)(a)3
Lighting from dusk until dawn in walkways, laundry rooms, common areas and porches.
- (2)(a)4
At least a 1-inch deadbolt in each dwelling unit door.
- (2)(a)5
A locking device on each window, each exterior sliding door and any other door not used for community purposes.
- (2)(a)6
Locked gates with key or fob access along pool fence areas.
- (2)(a)7
A peephole or door viewer on each unit door that has no window in it or beside it.
- (2)(b)
A crime prevention through environmental design assessment
No more than 3 years old, and the owner stays in substantial compliance with it.
- Who may make it
- A law enforcement agency, or a Florida Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) Practitioner designated by the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute of the Department of Legal Affairs.
- Who may not
- Anyone else: not a camera vendor, not a monitoring company, and not us.
- (2)(c)
Crime deterrence and safety training for employees
- Who is trained, and when
- Current employees by January 1, 2025, in the measures listed above; after that date, each new employee within 60 days after the hire date. The training is reviewed at least every 3 years.
- The curriculum
- The owner may ask whoever made the assessment to review it, and the Florida Crime Prevention Training Institute develops a proposed curriculum (subsection 4).
0 of 9 ticked
Passed
January 1, 2025: the assessment and current employees’ training were due.
What keeps the presumption current
- An assessment no more than 3 years old
- Each new hire trained within 60 days
- The training reviewed at least every 3 years
Beyond the statute
Recording is what the law asks. What owners weigh at night
The statute’s cameras are there for afterward: footage kept 30 days “to assist in offender identification and apprehension.” No apartment security law we know of, Florida’s included, names a person watching the cameras or counts watching toward compliance. Where a rule does say who sees the footage, it’s the police.
A person watching adds what recording can’t: seeing it while it happens, speaking to the person, and telling the people your plan names. The law asks for none of it, so whether your property needs a watch at night is a separate decision from the statute. Owners make it on other grounds.
Ownership weighs it against negligent-security exposure
A guard broker’s guide for property managers cites median apartment negligent-security payouts of about $1.5 million at trial and $1.7 million in settlement.
The site proposes, ownership approves
In operators’ accounts quoted in security sellers’ case studies, a regional, portfolio or community manager proposes it, and ownership approves it through the budget.
It’s set against patrols and guards
Where operators say what a watch replaced, it was patrols or guards they were already paying for: one property spent over $14,000 a month on overnight patrols. A guard broker’s 2026 price ladder puts mobile patrol at $600 to $2,500 a property a month, and a posted 12-hour guard at $8,000 to $12,800.
Directional only: in two small polls of operators run by security sellers (eight and thirteen respondents), recording-only cameras were the commonest measure (5 of 14 mentions) and remote guards the least (none), and five of six called their approach reactive.
Free · no site visit
A free remote review of your entry and exit coverage
We check your cameras against the one measure we can read from outside: the camera measure. It’s open to single properties and portfolios: apartments, condominiums and townhouses.
It isn’t the design assessment, a compliance certificate or legal advice.
For after-hours monitoring of apartment and condominium properties in general, see residential & commercial properties.
- Send the address and your camera list. The cameras already up, and how long the recorder keeps footage.
- We read it remotely. From the satellite view and your list: which points of entry and exit a camera covers, which it misses, and whether footage is kept 30 days.
- You get a written plan. What gets watched, from where and when, what happens when someone is seen, and who is told. If you want us watching, the plan is the quote.
Request the free review
The property’s address and the cameras already up are enough to start. Nobody needs to come out.
Sources and dates
- Florida Statutes, section 768.0706, in the 2026 Florida Statutes, read 3 October 2026. History: s. 8, ch. 2023-15.
- The Florida Senate’s 2026 bills citing section 768.0706: SB 956, “Multifamily Residential Properties,” last action 13 March 2026, died in Judiciary. Read 3 October 2026. House bills were not checked.
- Oregon House Bill 3781 (2025), in the House Committee on Judiciary, as of October 2026.
- Negligent-security payouts and the 2026 patrol and guard prices: a guard broker’s guide for property managers, which cites industry analyses for the payout figures.
- Who proposes and approves night security, and the $14,000 patrol bill: security sellers’ case studies quoting apartment operators.
- The operator polls: two polls run by a security seller, eight and thirteen respondents.
This page reports the statute’s text as of the date above. It isn’t legal advice; your attorney can tell you how it applies to your property.