Florida Real Property and Business Law Update
Real Property and Business Litigation Report – Vol. IX, Issue 12
Cases of interest this week include:
Companion Property & Casualty Insurance Co. v. Category 5 Management Group, LLC, — So. 3d —-, 2016 WL 1051790 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016).
A stranger to a contract that is not an intended third-party beneficiary has no standing to advance arguments regarding interpretation of the contract.
Bugware, Inc. v. Williams, — So. 3d —-, 2016 WL 1051827 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016).
Even if the signature on a contract is preceded by the word “by” and accompanied by language identifying the signer as a corporate officer, the contract must be read as a whole as other parts of the contract may indicate agreement to bind both the person individually and the entity.
Blinn v. Florida Power and Light Co., Case No. 2D14-1636 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016).
A perpetual easement may not be eliminated by amending restrictive covenants to not include the easement; the easement holder must consent to its easement being eliminated.
Geweye v. Ventures Trust 2013-I-H-R, — So. 3d —-, 2016 WL 1038616 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016).
The promissory note, not just the mortgage, must be assigned, transferred or negotiated to a substituted plaintiff to confer the original plaintiff’s standing on the substituted plaintiff.
Santiago v. Mauna Loa, — So. 3d —-, 2016 WL 1065620 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016).
A court is limited to the four corners of the complaint when deciding a motion to dismiss, and may not consider related matters even if a related case had been consolidated with the reviewed case at one time.
Reyes v. Claria Life & Health Insurance Co., — So. 3d —-, 2016 WL 1039131 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016).
A Florida court, upon determining that a forum selection clause in a contract is controlling, must dismiss the action for refiling in the selected forum and must not take further action (such as determining arbitrability of the case).
Marathon Sunsets, Inc. v. Coldiron, — So. 3d —-, 2016 WL 1047778 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016).
The Doctrine of Impossibility of Performance applies to deed restrictions, including restrictions requiring affirmative action such a rebuilding a torn-down fence.
Mirzataheri v. FM East Developers, LLC, — So. 3d —-, 2016 WL 1039124 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016).
So long as all owners of the property join in the sales contract, the sale of homestead property can be enforced through specific performance.
Cornerstone Investment Funding, LLC v. Painted Post Group, Inc., — So. 3d —-, 2016 WL 1065973 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016).
The obligation to make payments on a debt in the State of Florida is, without more, insufficient to confer long-arm jurisdiction under Florida Statute 48.193.
Shaffer v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., — So. 3d —-, 2016 WL 1062807 (Fla. 5th DCA 2016).
Florida Statute section 702.06 permits a trial court, in the foreclosure action itself, to limit a plaintiff’s right to a deficiency judgment, but the legal or equitable reasons for doing so must be set forth in the order or judgment limiting deficiency.