Earlier this year, a district court for the Middle District of Florida upheld a jury award of $225,000 in punitive damages in a debt collection case finding the defendant’s conduct “reprehensible” based on the physical harm...more
Ohio- Implied Warranty Banks v. Shark Auto Sales LLC, 11th Dist. Trumbull, No. 2022-Ohio-3489- In this appeal, the Eleventh Appellate District reversed the trial court’s judgment in favor of the plaintiff on her vehicle...more
A recent decision issued by Chief Judge Timothy J. Corrigan of the Middle District of Florida highlights a straightforward yet consequential class action principle: a plaintiff cannot serve as a class representative for a...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Service of Process: Trial court properly denied the estate’s motion to quash service in a foreclosure lawsuit filed by the bank for the court’s failure to conduct an evidentiary hearing...more
Real Property Update - Landlord-Tenant / Section 83.49: Landlord must strictly comply with notice requirements of section 83.49 before it may retain any portion of tenant’s security deposit – Wootton v. Iron Acquisitions,...more
Fraudulent Transfer Act Allan v. Allan, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga Nos. 110177, 110179, 2022-Ohio-1488- In this appeal, the Eighth Appellate District reversed the trial court’s decision under the Fraudulent Transfer Act case to...more
With its recent decision in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection & Management Services Inc., which concluded that a debt collector’s mundane transmittal of consumer information to its dunning vendor ran afoul of the Fair Debt...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Dismissal: Trial court erred in relying on judicially noticed records from a prior foreclosure action in dismissing foreclosure complaint – Bayview Loan Servicing, LLC v. Brown, No....more
Real Property Update - Condo / Attorneys’ Fees: Condominium association that lost on counterclaim against developer was prevailing party on significant issues in litigation by prevailing on developer’s claims and was...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure: Trial court cannot arbitrarily reject evidence or testimony in a mortgage foreclosure proceeding, and lender that proved elements was entitled to foreclosure judgment – U.S. Bank, N.A....more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Conditions Precedent: Lender failed to provide sufficient evidence showing default letter and notice of acceleration were mailed to borrower when it only attached copy of default letter...more
Real Property Update - HELOC / Authentication: A home equity line of credit is not a negotiable instrument, is not self-authenticating, and must be proven in support of summary judgment – Demakis v. Suntrust Bank, No....more
Financial Services Update - Breach of Contract & Pre-Suit Notice: Consumer's failure to abide by a mortgage's notice and cure provision barred his breach of contract claim - Cooper v. PennyMac Loan Servs., LLC, No....more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Verification: Rule 1.115(e) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure cannot constrain or prohibit a plaintiff from delegating to its servicer-agent the authority to verify its...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Subrogation: Trial court erred in entering final judgment of foreclosure in favor of subsequent mortgagee where subsequent mortgagee attempted to preserve and assign an otherwise...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure Sale / Challenge: borrower failed to meet his burden of establishing that gross inadequacy of foreclosure bid price resulted from "mistake, fraud or other irregularity" in the sale -...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Jurisdiction: section 720.04's exception to the local action rule is applicable where the cross-collateralized mortgages are construed as one instrument and the court has subject...more
Real Property Update - Affirmative Defense / Waiver: Homeowner unable to raise statute of limitations affirmative defense for the first time in motion for summary judgment – Deer Brooke S. Homeowners Ass’n of Polk Cty.,...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Condition Precedent: Borrower who raises an affirmative defense, such as failure of conditions precedent, bears the burden of proving that affirmative defense even if lender's complaint...more
Assessments owed to condominium and homeowners associations (Associations) now may be consumer debts as defined by the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA)....more
Real Property Update - Re-Foreclosure / Redemption: Trial court properly entered final judgment allowing re-foreclosure and allowing inferior lien holder right of redemption where inferior lien holder not named as party...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Standing: Holder failed to prove standing to enforce note either at inception or at time of judgment because it failed to prove it had possession of original note and accompanying...more
Real Property Update - Fraudulent Transfer: Real property that was worth less than mortgage encumbering it was not an asset per the plain language of section 726.102(2) and, therefore, could not support fraudulent transfer...more
Real Property Update - HOA / Contracts: Trial court erred by entering a post-judgment enforcement order requiring the association to assign its riparian rights to plaintiff pursuant to an enforceable settlement agreement,...more
Real Property Update- Contracts: Escrow agent was bound only by the terms of an escrow agreement to which it was a party and not a purchase agreement to which it was not a party – Carter Dev. of Mass., LLC v. Howard, No....more