REAL ESTATE CORNER
REAL ESTATE CORNER
Florida Real Property and Business Litigation Report( Continued)
MANUEL FARACH
The Moore Law Firm, P. A. v. Fort Walton Beach Area Bridge Authority, Case No. 1D2024-2215( Fla. 1st DCA 2026). A post-decretal order granting relief from a final judgment under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540 constitutes a separately appealable final order, and an appellate court lacks jurisdiction to review it when the notice of appeal is not filed within thirty days of rendition as required by Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130( b).
Kesler v. Progressive Select Insurance Co., Case No. 2D2025-1038( Fla. 2d DCA 2026). An insured’ s prosecution of a first-party bad faith action against her UM carrier does not, by itself, impliedly waive attorney – client or work-product privileges so as to compel discovery of trial counsel’ s testimony about settlement discussions or claim evaluations.
De Cardenas v. White Pine Insurance Co., Case No. 3D23-0195( Fla. 3d DCA 2026). A non-engineer roofing expert with decades of relevant experience and a described, fact-based methodology may satisfy Florida Statute section 90.702’ s Daubert reliability requirements, and a trial court errs in striking such an affidavit and entering summary judgment without a proper evidentiary reliability determination where the testimony creates a genuine dispute over causation of hurricane-related damage.
U. S. Bank Trust National Ass’ n v. Carey, Case No. 3D24-2232( Fla. 3d DCA 2026). A trial court violates a foreclosing plaintiff’ s due process rights by sua sponte vacating a final foreclosure judgment and dismissing the action with prejudice at a hearing noticed only to address confirmation or vacatur of the foreclosure sale where neither the pleadings nor the noticed motions placed the underlying judgment’ s validity at issue.
Sandalwood 7160 LLC v. Estevez, Case No. 3D24-0148( Fla. 3d DCA 2026). Specific performance and breach of contract relief for the sale of multiple parcels of real property are unavailable where the alleged purchase agreement lacks signatures from all record owners and there is no definite, mutually assentedto writing which establishes essential terms and satisfies the statute of frauds.
K & M Electric Supply, Inc. v. Brown Electrical Solutions, LLC, Case No. 4D2025- 1740( Fla. 4th DCA 2026). A material supplier forfeits its right to recover under a public construction bond by serving a fraudulent notice of nonpayment under Florida Statute section 255.05( 2)( a) 2 when, without any meaningful prefiling inquiry, it willfully and grossly exaggerates the amount claimed by including nonrecoverable charges and materials not actually incorporated into the public project.
Hypoluxo Mariner’ s Cay Condominium Ass’ n, Inc. v. Underwriters at Lloyd’ s London, Case No. 4D2024-2250( Fla. 4th DCA 2026). A complaint alleging that a property insurer’ s untimely coverage determination and delay tactics prevented timely suit states a potential equitable avoidance of Florida Statute section 95.11( 2)( e)’ s fiveyear statute of limitations and may not be dismissed on limitations grounds at the pleading stage where those allegations appear on the face of the complaint.
Ella III, LLC v. Madden, Case No. 5D2024- 1198( Fla. 5th DCA 2026). The four-year limitations period in Florida Statute section 95.191 bars a tax-deed holder’ s quiet title and ejectment action only when the property is adversely possessed at the time the tax deed is issued, and summary judgment is improper where material facts about the onset of adverse possession remain in dispute.
H & S Investment Group of Central Florida, LLC v. Spiker, Case No. 6D2023-3865( Fla. 6th DCA 2026). A party that recovers a judgment is entitled to taxable costs under section 57.041, Florida Statutes, even if neither side qualifies as a prevailing party for purposes of contractual attorney’ s fees.
City of Gainesville v. Parkwood Alachua Land Investments, Inc., Case No. 1D2022- 3266( Fla. 1st DCA 2026). Prefatory paragraphs in a contract— even those lacking " whereas " language— are not operative provisions and may not be used to create an ambiguity in, or to restrict the plain meaning of, the numbered operative clauses that follow.
First United Methodist Church of Hobe Sound, Florida, Inc. v. Board of Trustees of the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, Inc., Case No. 1D2023-1048( Fla. 1st DCA 2026). Under Florida ' s hierarchical deference doctrine, a state court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate intra-church property disputes that have been resolved by the highest judicial body of a hierarchical religious denomination, even when a party frames its claims as challenges under neutral principles of state property or trust law.
Schindler v. Schiavo, Case No. 2D2025-0671( Fla. 2d DCA 2026). Post-judgment intervention is extraordinary and disfavored, and a third party seeking to intervene in a closed guardianship proceeding to unseal confidential records under must demonstrate a clear and adverse impact on a readily discernible proprietary or legal interest; generalized public advocacy purposes do not satisfy that standard.
Lam v. Modern Tampa Bay Homes, Inc., Case No. 2D2025-1204( Fla. 2d DCA 2026). A party that prevails on the significant issue of liability in a breach of contract action is the prevailing party for purposes of attorney ' s fees and costs, even if it recovers only a portion of the damages sought if the shortfall results from a contractual limitation on recoverable damages rather than a failure to prevail on a contested damages issue.
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PBCBA BAR BULLETIN 20