A-1 CRANE SERVICE, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, ELLA M. BEYEL AND DANIEL BEYEL, APPELLANTS,
v.
RCA STEEL & CONSTRUCTION, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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The court held that the trial court erred in striking the defendant's affirmative defense and granting summary judgment because the defense was legally sufficient and the plaintiff failed to disprove it.
RCA sued A-l Crane for specific performance of a crane purchase after paying the full price but not receiving title. A-l Crane raised an affirmative d…
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SCHEB, Judge.
A-l Crane challenges the trial court’s entry of a nonfinal order determining the issue of liability by granting RCA’s motion for specific performance. We have jurisdiction under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130(a)(3)(C)(iv).
In Count III of a three count complaint, RCA alleged that notwithstanding its payment to A-l of the complete purchase price for a hydraulic crane, that A-l failed to deliver the title to RCA. RCA sought specific performance. A-l Crane answered, incorporating an affirmative defense of impossibility of performance. Specifically, A-l alleged that' title to the crane was being wrongfully withheld by its creditor, Credit Alliance, due to its alleged defaults on unrelated matters.
On motion of RCA, the court struck Al’s affirmative defense and granted summary judgment on Count III ordering A-l to transfer title to RCA within 20 days.
A-l’s affirmative defense appears legally sufficient on its face. In fact, it was supported by A-l’s answers to interrogatories. Thus, the court erred in striking it. Hulley v. Cape Kennedy Leasing Corp., 376 So. 2d 884 (Fla. 5th DCA 1979). Moreover, given A-l’s affirmative defense, it was incumbent on RCA as movant for summary judgment to establish the nonexistence of any genuine issue of material fact by either disproving or establishing the legal insufficiency of A-l’s defense. Stewart v. Gore, 314 So. 2d 10 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975). Only the parties’ pleadings and Al’s answers to interrogatories were before the court when the trial judge entered the order under review. Thus, the record fails to disclose that RCA met its burden. Consequently, it was error for the court to grant the relief sought by RCA. We vacate the order striking A-l’s affirmative defense • and granting summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.
GRIMES, A.C.J., and LEHAN, J., concur.
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Citator
Authorities Cited
- Whitehall Realty, Inc. v. City OF Boca Raton, 314 So. 2d 10 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)
- Hulley v. Cape Kennedy Leasing Corp., 376 So. 2d 884 (Fla. 5th DCA 1979)