Supreme Court Rules Floating Home Is Not a Boat

Byline: Associated Press/Jesse J. Holland WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Jan. 15 that a Florida man’s floating home is a house, not a boat — and, thus, is not covered by maritime law. The case that could affect thousands of people around the country who make their home on floating structures that do not resemble traditional boats — in marinas, bays and coves. The high court ruled 7-2 for Fane Lozman, who argued that the gray two-story floating home — approximately 60 feet in length — that he towed to a marina in Riviera Beach, Fla., should not have been affected by maritime law. Justice Stephen Breyer, who included a picture of Lozman’s craft in the opinion, said maritime law affects vessels that are “watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water.” The key words, Breyer said, were “capable of being used,” and the court was concerned with practical possibilities, not merely the theoretical. “We believe that a reasonable observer, looking to the home’s physical characteristics and activities, would not consider it to be designed to any practical degree for carrying people or things on water,” Breyer said. “And we consequently...