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Insurance -- Automobile -- Rescission of policy -- Material misrepresentations on application -- Evidence -- Examination under oath transcript cannot be used by insurer in support of material misrepresentation defense at summary judgment or trial -- Transcript which was created in claims process is inherently untrustworthy, is double hearsay and not subject to any exception to hearsay rule, is not a deposition or affidavit, was not given during judicial proceeding, and was not taken while there was opportunity for cross-examination or objection -- Further, transcript was not provided to declarant at time of EUO as required by section 92.33, which prohibits use of EUO transcript for any purpose in any civil action when copy was not provided to declarant
Insurance -- Automobile -- Windshield repair -- Appraisal -- Motion to compel appraisal is denied where windshield repair shop has properly pled declaratory counts that challenge appraisal provision -- Motion must also be denied because appraisal process that requires parties to petition court to select third appraiser in event that their selected appraisers cannot agree on third appraiser is legally deficient since no Florida court has jurisdiction over petition to select appraiser and policy cannot confer that jurisdiction -- Further, appraisal process is complete where shop participated in appraisal process by sending email naming its chosen appraiser, giving that appraiser's opinion of prevailing competitive price, and naming third appraiser, but insurer chose to completely ignore appraisal process
Insurance -- Personal injury protection -- Coverage -- Medical expenses -- Reimbursement -- Declaratory action -- Complaint seeking declaration that application of Budget Neutrality Adjustment is incompatible with No-Fault Law states valid cause of action
Insurance -- Personal injury protection -- Coverage -- Evidence -- Hearsay -- Business records exception -- Affidavit of insurer's corporate representative satisfies requirements for admission of attached documents under business records exception to hearsay rule -- Although representative did not actually prepare documents, representative had knowledge of how records were made
Traffic infractions -- Citations -- Failure to include defendant's signature -- Dismissal
Traffic infractions -- Citations -- Failure to include applicable civil penalty -- Dismissal
Attorney's fees -- Discovery -- Fee discovery filed in violation of order staying post-judgment discovery is stricken
Arbitration -- Arbitrator -- Where parties failed to select arbitrator by court-ordered deadline, they must use court-appointed arbitrator
Consumer law -- Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act -- Discovery -- Objections to request to produce defendant's policies, procedures, and training materials and to interrogatories regarding those items are overruled -- Information sought is relevant and reasonably calculated to lead to discovery of documents or information that may be admissible at trial, and defendant placed materials at issue by raising bona fide error defense
Consumer law -- Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act -- Discovery -- Admissions -- Motion to overrule denial of request for admission that mortgage debt was consumer debt as defined in FCCPA is granted
Judges -- Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee -- Practice of law -- Matters prior to becoming judge -- A general magistrate may collect attorney's fees owed for work done before taking bench so long as such collections comply with Canon 5(D)(1)(a) and (b)
Municipal corporations -- Zoning -- Code enforcement -- Conducting social events on agricultural property -- Due process -- Notice -- Property owner's procedural due process rights were violated where investigating officer found no violation of town ordinance on the single date specified in the notice of violation, but special magistrate allowed town to present evidence of five additional dates of alleged violations of which property owner received no notice and imposed fines for those violations
Municipal corporations -- Confession of error -- Placement of lien on appellants' real and personal property pursuant to final orders of special magistrate -- In accordance with partial confession of error, lien imposed and recorded pursuant to final orders is void ab initio
Mortgages -- Foreclosure -- Conditions precedent -- Pre-foreclosure interview -- Where lender did not send borrower letter soliciting pre-foreclosure interview or send anyone to mortgaged property to attempt to arrange interview until six months after first missed payment on FHA-insured mortgage, lender did not substantially comply with interview requirement of HUD regulations -- Court cannot disregard failure to comply with requirement to offer interview within three months of first missed payment because borrower has not shown prejudice -- To extent prejudice is required, borrower was prejudiced by fact that she was in deeper financial hole when interview was offered six months after initial default than if it had been offered within three months -- Foreclosure action is dismissed
Taxation -- Ad valorem -- Yearly increase -- 10% assessment limitation -- Transfer of 50% non-controlling interest in property to limited liability company does not result in reset of 10% assessment limitation cap under section 193.1555(5)(b)
Criminal law -- Sentencing -- Resentencing -- Presentence investigation -- Defendant who has been sentenced to probation as habitual felony offender following consideration or waiver of PSI is not entitled to reconsideration of PSI when, as result of probation violation, he is resentenced to habitual offender sentence following probation revocation -- Even if there were merit to defendant's argument that PSI is required before resentencing, defendant waived PSI at both original sentencing and resentencing
Civil procedure -- Summary judgment -- Affidavit in support of motion -- Corrected supporting affidavit filed 21 days before hearing on motion for summary judgment was untimely and could not be considered by court -- Further, motion for summary judgment was filed after expiration deadline for filing dispositive motions -- Defendant's motion for summary judgment denied -- Sanctions awarded to plaintiff for having to respond to motion for summary judgment filed after deadline set by court
Torts -- Negligence -- Premises liability -- Restaurants -- Slip and fall -- Transitory foreign substance in business establishment -- Defendant entitled to summary judgment where there is no evidence that restaurant had actual knowledge of dangerous condition; there was insufficient evidence that transitory substance was actually on floor or was on floor for sufficient period of time that restaurant, in exercise of ordinary care, should have known that it was there; and there was no evidence that transitory substance occurred with such regularity that it was foreseeable
Civil rights -- Prisoners -- Torts -- Complaint brought by prisoner against correctional institution and warden -- Dismissal without prejudice -- Failure to state claims with particularity and specificity required by rule 1.110(b)
Contracts -- Construction -- Deceptive and unfair trade practices -- Contractor's action against homeowners for unpaid amounts related to home renovation and homeowners' counterclaim for construction defects and deficiencies -- Homeowners did not breach contract where parties had enforceable unambiguous contract that provided for set allowances and an agreed payment schedule and required written change orders and advance payment for any additional work; contractor exceeded allowances and failed to comply with payment schedule without taking any action to modify contract or execute change orders; and homeowners paid contractor in excess of allowances and contractor fee specified in contract -- Homeowners' pretrial stipulation that contract was on cost plus 25% basis will not be interpreted as abandonment of their position that contract provisions prevail and they did not agree to pay for costs that were not subject to written change order and advance payment -- Further, contract is unenforceable against co-homeowner who did not sign contract or act as if contract were ratified -- Unjust enrichment -- Claim for unjust enrichment fails where homeowners paid almost double the amount agreed to in contract, and contractor has no reliable evidence of “benefit conferred” -- Contractor is not entitled to recover based on equitable principles where it breached contract by failing to comply with allowances or obtain change orders and failing to comply with payment schedule, and contractor presented no evidence from which any equitable damages could be determined -- There is no evidence to support existence of oral contract for additional contractor fees -- Contractor negligently performed renovations -- Consumer law -- Contractor's failure to adhere to payment schedule, failure to provide accurate accounting for expenditures, and treatment of work in excess of allowances as expansions to scope of project without providing change orders constituted deceptive and unfair trade practices -- Damages are awarded to homeowners for defective construction and breach of contract
Torts -- Negligence -- Summary judgment is entered in favor of ride-share service
Mortgages -- Foreclosure -- Enforcement of loan modification -- Statute of frauds -- Where trial loan modification correspondence as clarified by recorded phone call constituted offer from lender with method of acceptance to be performance by making three trial payments, and borrowers accepted offer by making three payments, performance by borrowers is sufficient to take oral contract outside of statute of frauds -- Moreover, written terms of FAQ section of trial modification offer, correspondence between parties, and proposed permanent loan modification agreement, when aggregated, satisfy statute of frauds or banking statute of frauds -- Court uses equitable powers to reform proposed permanent loan modification agreement to reflect parties' agreement to fixed interest rate loan, rather than variable interest rate loan set forth in proposed agreement
Mortgages -- Enforcement of loan modification -- Attorney's fees -- Mutuality or reciprocity of obligation -- Where mortgage provides that lender is entitled to attorney's fees when it takes action to enforce any covenant or agreement, borrowers are likewise entitled to fees for taking action to enforce loan modification
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