Lucoff v. Navient Solutions, LLC, Case No. 19-13482 (11th Cir. 2020).
A person who consents online to be contacted regarding past due debts even though he earlier advised the company he did not wish to be contacted has, as a legal matter, changed his preference and cannot claim a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”), 47U.S.C. § 227.In Re: Amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.120 And 9.210, Case No. SC20-597 (Fla. 2020).
Changes to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, including certification and required fonts.Galleon Bay Corporation v. Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Florida, Case No. 3D19-1783 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).
Florida Statute sec. 73.111 (the money to satisfy a condemnation judgment award must be deposited in the court registry within 20 days of the judgment) does not apply to inverse condemnation awards.Kachkar v. U.S. Bank National Association, Case No. 3D19-1961 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).
A signatory to a mortgage, even if not a party to the foreclosure case, is permitted to intervene in proceedings to set a foreclosure sale.Wahnon v. Coral & Stones Unlimited Corp., Case No. 3D19-2387 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).
A trial court faced with invocation of a witness’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination which impacts a party’s right to discovery and access to the courts may fashion an appropriate balancing remedy, including but not limited to, staying the case, preventing awitness from testifying or a party from presenting evidence, and recognizing anadverse inference.Torruella v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, Case No. 5D19-3298 (Fla. 5th DCA 2020).
A party that has not been served in a lawsuit is not a “prevailing party” entitled to attorney’s fees when the suit is dismissed.M & M Realty Partners at Hagen Ranch, LLC v. Mazzoni, Case No. 18-13536 (11th Cir. 2020).
A “binding financial commitment” from a third party, including a wholly owned business entity, is required in order to satisfy the financial requirement of the “ready, willing and able” standard for awarding specific performance.Persaud Properties FL Investments, LLC v. Town of Fort Myers Beach, Case No. 2D19-1282 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020).
Abandonment of a non-conforming use requires voluntary discontinuation of the use combined with the intent the discontinuation be permanent, i.e., more than the passage of time is required for abandonment.Schlechter v. Community Housing Trust of Sarasota County, Inc., Case No. 2D19-3619 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020).
Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540 cannot be used to vacate the dismissal of an action based on a party’s assertion it would not have agreed to the dismissal if it had the knowledge or information at the time of dismissal that it has now.JAK Capital, LLC v. Adams, Case No. 2D19-4371 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020).
A party claiming unenforceability of a mortgage due to fraud must plead fraud (not forgery) as a defense and must also prove the mortgagee seeking enforcement participated in the fraud.Bank of America, N.A. v. De Morales, Case No. 3D19-1782 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).
Certiorari relief generally is not available to avoid the expense of continued litigation (including discovery) but is available where immunity from litigation altogether is asserted.Bridge Financial, Inc. v. J. Fischer & Associates, Inc. Case No. 4D19-348 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020).
The owner of 5% of a corporate entity is a sufficient “owner” such that he cannot tortiously interfere with a contract with “his” company.Accardi v. Regions Bank, Case No. 4D20-0662 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020).
The statute of limitations set forth in Florida Statute section 95.11(5)(h) applies to a motion for a deficiency judgmentbrought within an existing mortgage foreclosure action.Digiport, Inc. v. Foram Development BFC, LLC, Case No. 3D18-1651 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).
The question of whether an idea constitutes a “trade secret” under the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets is a typically a fact issue and thus summary judgment cannot be granted for a claim that design of a data center for a building constitutes a trade secret.Koyfman v. 1572 Pledger LLC, Case No. 3D19-1521 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).
On rehearing, the Third District re-affirms that a person primarily liable on an obligation who pays the obligation is not entitled to subrogation against third parties, e.g., a party cannot pay off a second mortgage on which is it liable, have the mortgage assigned to it instead of having the mortgage satisfied, and then foreclose the “unsatisfied” second mortgage to extinguish junior liens.1440 Plaza, LLC v. New Gala Building, LLC, Case No. 3D20-0120 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).
A trial court stating that it was “granting” a party’s motion but then asking for additional argument reflects the trial court was leaning toward a particular outcome but does not demonstrate the trial court had prejudged the case.Skylink Jets, Inc. v. Klukan, Case No. 4D20-615 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020).
The Fourth District recedes from prior precedent and holds that in some situations neither party in a contract action may be the prevailing party for purposes of an attorney’s fees award.Baldwin v. Harris, Case No. 5D19-2791 (Fla. 5th DCA 2020).
Directing that a payment be made in an estate planning document does not satisfy a contractual obligation that the payment be made.Wilcox v. Cupstid, Case No. 5D20-359 (Fla. 5th DCA 2020).
An award of attorney’s fees under Florida Statute section 704.04 (statutory right of way) requires a finding that oneparty unreasonably refused to comply with 704.01(2) and not just that one party prevailed.USF Federal Credit Union v. Gateway Radiology Consultants, P.A. (In re: Gateway Radiology Consultants, P.A.), Case No. 20-13462 (11th Cir. 2020).
Debtors in bankruptcy are not entitled to receive Paycheck Protection Program payments due to the limitations set forth in the CARES Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Pub L. No. 116-136, 134Stat. 281 (2020).Herrell v. Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Case No. 2D19-1911 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020).
Aligning itself with the Third District Court of Appeal, the Second District holds that for purposes of an award of attorney’s fees a dismissal without prejudice is not the same as the dismissal with prejudice required by Florida rule of Civil Procedure 1.442, Florida Statute section 768.79, and MX Investments, Inc. v. Crawford, 700 So.2d 640 (Fla. 1997).Gursky Ragan, P.A. v. Association of Poinciana Villages, Inc., Case No. 3D19-0696 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).
The attachment of a bar complaint to pleadings filed in a separate replevin action is not defamatory if the alleged defamation bears some relation to the replevin action.Somerset Academy, Inc. v. Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, Case No. 3D19-1053 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).
Certiorari is not the proper procedure to challenge the constitutionality of a land use decision even if the decision arises from a local administrative agency.In Re: Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors of Miami Perfume Junction, Inc. v. Osborne, Case No. 3D20-1317 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020).
Following federal bankruptcy law, the Third District holds the Assignee under an assignment for benefit of creditors under Florida Statute section 727.104(b) has the apparent authority to succeed to the attorney-client privilege held by the assignor.
