REAL PROPERTY UPDATE

• State-Created Entity/First-Party Bad Faith: immunity of Citizens, as provided in Section 627.351(6)(s), Florida Statutes, shields it from statutory first-party bad faith claims under Section 624.155(1)(b) – Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v. Perdido Sun Condo. Ass’n, Inc., Case No. SC14-185 (Fla. May 14, 2015) (quashing decision below and remanding).
• Foreclosure/Standing: evidence was insufficient to establish that original plaintiff had standing to enforce note on date complaint was filed – Ham v. Nationstar Mortg., LLC, Case No. 1D14-4024 (Fla. 1st DCA May 12, 2015) (reversing final judgment of foreclosure).
• Forum Selection Clause/Permissive: trial court erred in dismissing complaint for improper venue because forum selection clause was permissive; it lacked mandatory language or words of exclusivity to establish that jurisdiction was proper only in separate venue – Michaluk, etc. v. Credorax (USA), Inc., etc.. Case No. 3D140985 (Fla. 3d DCA May 13, 2015) (reversed and remanded).
• Protective Covenant/Interpretation: affirming trial court’s conclusion that operation covenant was a restrictive covenant on use of property, rather than affirmative covenant requiring that it be operated as golf course business – Vista Golf, LLC v. Vista Royale Prop. Owners Ass’n, Inc., Case No. 4D13-3232 (Fla. 4th DCA May 13, 2015) (affirming final judgment).
• Easement/Coterminous: easement permitting rights for ingress and egress over, upon, and across described area was coterminous with area set aside for easement – Condron v. Arey, Case No. 5D13-3593 (Fla. 5th DCA May 15, 2015) (affirming relief granted in final judgment, except for portion precluding transportation of horses across easement area).