A battle six years in the making finally made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court today when justices heard the case of Fane Lozman v City of Riviera Beach.
After hearing an hour of arguments, the court is set to decide whether Lozman’s floating home, which has since been destroyed by the city, was a vessel subject to federal admiralty laws.
What started as a landlord/tenant dispute could lead the nation’s highest court to set a new definition of vessel, affecting centuries of law.
The court must rule whether Lozman’s home is a vessel. If it is, it is subject to maritime laws.The case turns on the question of what is a vessel and what it means to be “practically capable” of transportation. In more simple language, it will decide whether the city had the right to impound and then destroy Lozman’s floating home when he refused to sign a new lease agreement or make improvements required by the city.
If the house was a vessel, the city had the right to impound it when Lozman refused to sign a new lease or pay overdue rent the city claimed he owned. Century’s old maritime laws treat vessels almost as people who can be arrested, preventing ship captains from skipping port on their boats when they owed money.
If the floating home was like any other house, the city acted improperly by towing it away.
On the steps outside on the court after the hearing, Riviera Beach City officials and Lozman each declared victory. The court could take months to issue its decision.
Palm Beach Post
Supreme Court weighs whether houseboat in Riviera Beach was a vessel
A battle six years in the making finally made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court today when justices heard the case of Fane Lozman v City of Riviera Beach.
After hearing an hour of arguments, the court is set to decide whether Lozman’s floating home, which has since been destroyed by the city, was a vessel subject to federal admiralty laws.
What started as a landlord/tenant dispute could lead the nation’s highest court to set a new definition of vessel, affecting centuries of law.
The court must rule whether Lozman’s home is a vessel. If it is, it is subject to maritime laws.The case turns on the question of what is a vessel and what it means to be “practically capable” of transportation. In more simple language, it will decide whether the city had the right to impound and then destroy Lozman’s floating home when he refused to sign a new lease agreement or make improvements required by the city.
If the house was a vessel, the city had the right to impound it when Lozman refused to sign a new lease or pay overdue rent the city claimed he owned. Century’s old maritime laws treat vessels almost as people who can be arrested, preventing ship captains from skipping port on their boats when they owed money.
If the floating home was like any other house, the city acted improperly by towing it away.
On the steps outside on the court after the hearing, Riviera Beach City officials and Lozman each declared victory. The court could take months to issue its decision.
Palm Beach Post
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The Fane Lozman Story
This is a true story of a persistent and tenacious underdog who fought against the governmental seizure of 2200 homes and businesses in 2006 only to see that same government arrest and destroy his floating home three years later, for an alleged failure to pay one month’s rent at the marina. Fane Lozman did not give up but continued the improbable climb from a county court eviction case to the US Supreme Court.
