Windsor Falls Condominium Association, Inc. v. Davis, Case No. 1D17-5355 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019).
An award of fees for litigating the amount of attorney’s fees to be awarded is not permitted in a condominium assessment case when the relevant portion of the instruments provided for “costs of collection thereof,including Legal Fees”; Waverly at Las Olas Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Waverly Las Olas, LLC, 88 So. 3d 386, 388 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012), is distinguished.Leon County v. Lakeshore Gardens Homeowners’ Association, Inc., Case No. 1D18-2703 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019).
A homeowner’s association may be named in an eminent domain case as class representative for all owners; it is not necessary to individually name all members of the association.Tejera v. Lincoln Lending Services, LLC, Case No. 3D16-2746 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019).
An action for civil conspiracy to perpetrate fraud in the inducement is an action founded upon fraud and thus is subject to the Delayed Discovery Doctrine.Cone v. U.S. Bank Trust, N.A., Case No. 4D17-2285 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019).
Fraud or egregious misconduct is not a requirement for an equitable subrogation lien.Darden Restaurants, Inc. v. Singh, Case No. 5D16-4049 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019).
The 2009amendment to Florida Statute section 194.301 mandated that value of property must be determined by an appraisal methodology that meets thecriteria of Florida Statute section 193.011 and professionally accepted appraisal practices; Mazourek v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 831 So. 2d 85, 89 (Fla. 2002) (“[t]he propertyappraiser’s determination of assessment value is an exercise of administrative discretionwithin the officer’s field of expertise”), is overruled.Schwartz v. Bank of America, N.A., Case No. 4D17-3457 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019).
Failure to submit evidence in opposition to a lender’s claim that under Florida Statute section 673.3081 signatures on a negotiable instrument are presumed valid entitles lender to summary judgment.Delta Aggregate, LLC v. Hermes Hialeah Warehouse, LLC, Case No. 4D18-2252 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019).
Equitable liens can support a lis pendens so long as based on a duly recorded instrument or there exists a “fair nexus” between the property that is the subject of the lis pendens and the dispute embodiedin the lawsuit.Lyday v. Myakka Valley Ranches Improvement Association, Inc., Case No. 2D17-1726 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019).
An untimely (not filed prior to the expiration of the thirty-yearperiod) preservation notice under Florida Statute section 712.03 cannot reestablish interests extinguished by the Marketable Record Title Act.Dyck-O’Neal, Inc. v. Norton, Case No. 2D17-4968 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019).
The statute of limitations for a deficiency suit does not accrue until the foreclosure judgment and sale.LB Judgment Holdings, LLC v. Boschetti, Case Nos. 3D18-1190, 3D18-1323, and 3D18-1726 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019).
The proponent of a lis pendens must only make a minimal “fair showing” of a “nexus between the apparent legal or equitable ownership of the property and thedispute embodied in the lawsuit” and need not prove same by a preponderance of the evidence. Moreover, the amount of any lis pendens bond typically consists of attorney’s fees in having the lis pendens removed (not the entire litigation), damages relating to the effects on title measured by the difference between the value of the property on the date the lis pendens is imposed and the date it is removed, and the expenses of preservation and maintenanceof the property for the interval betweenrecordation and discharge.AP Atlantic, Inc. v. Silver Creek St. Augustine, LLLP, Case No. 5D18-1656 (Fla.5th DCA 2019).
A non-signatory to a contract containing an arbitration provision may enforce the arbitration provision when the signatory is relying on the contract to enforce claims against the non-signatory.Obduskeyv. McCarthy &Holthus LLP, Case No. 17–1307 (2019).
Non-judicial mortgage foreclosures are not subject to the requirements of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U. S. C. §1692a(6), as the Act does not apply to those merely engaged in enforcement of security interests.Managed Care of North America, Inc. v. Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, Case No. 1D16-5700 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019).
A party is entitled to the protection of Florida Statute section 812.081(1)(c) (trade secrets are not subject to Florida’s open records laws) once it proves certain information is used in the operation of its business, that the informationprovides an advantage or the opportunity for an advantage, and that measures are taken to prevent its disclosure; there is no need to independently prove the information’s value as such information is deemed “of value” under the statute.Topalliv. Feliciano, Case No. 2D18-617 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019).
Although describing the process as “problematic,” the Second District declines to prohibit the practice of granting motions for continuance conditioned upon a movant paying the fees and costs of the non-movant.MTGLQ Investors, L.P. v. Davis, Case No. 4D18-1618 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019).
Certified mail is deemed “first class mail” for purposes of contractual requirements that notices be sent via “first class mail.”Crawford v. Federal National Mortgage Association, Case No. 5D17-307 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019).
A lender who fails to obtain a spouse’s signature for a mortgage on homestead property may, under the principles of Palm Beach Sav. & Loan Ass’n v. Fishbein,619 So. 2d 267 (Fla. 1993), be entitled to an equitable lien on the homestead property if necessary to avoid unjust enrichment.
