ROBERT D. FREITAG, APPELLANT,
v.
LAKES OF CARRIAGE HILLS, INC., AND ENGLISH, MCCAUGHAN & O'BRYAN, A PARTNERSHIP, APPELLEES
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A seller of a condominium unit obtained a judgment for $11,000 on a promissory note when the buyer failed to make required payments. The court reversed because the purchase agreement expressly limited the seller's liquidated damages to deposits actually received ($1,000), and the promissory note cannot be used to circumvent that contractual limitation.
The judgment is reversed. The seller cannot recover more than the liquidated damages expressly stipulated in the purchase agreement, which limits recovery to deposits actually received. The promissory note cannot be used to avoid or circumvent the contractual limitation on damages contained in the purchase agreement.
[1] A seller's recovery for a buyer's breach of a purchase agreement is limited to the amount of the deposit actually received, even if the agreement specifies liquidated dam…
[2] A promissory note given as part of the purchase price under a contract is incident to the contract's covenants, and an action on the note recognizes the contract as in fo…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the seller cannot recover a deposit not actually made”
Establishes the controlling principle that liquidated damages cannot exceed deposits the seller actually received from the buyer.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA buyer executed a purchase agreement and promissory note for a condominium unit dated June 13, 1983. The purchase agreement required total deposits o…
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GLICKSTEIN, Judge.
This is an appeal from a final judgment in the sum of $11,000 based upon a promissory note in that amount executed by a purchaser of a condominium unit at the same time he executed a purchase agreement for same. We reverse.
The case is somewhat unusual in that the lawyers for the parties met and verbally stipulated that there would be no witnesses at the non-jury trial. Accordingly, the trial court was left to base its decision on the written and verbal stipulations by counsel in the record, together with the exhibits.
The promissory note is not a true reflection of the transaction, in that the last paragraph of the note recites that it is secured by a first mortgage of even date. That is patently not the case. The purchase agreement, dated June 13, 1983, similarly contains an inaccuracy, in that the printed portion states the terms of the purchase to be “[t]en percent deposit by check this date,” whereas the following typed language appears opposite the printed portion: 6/13/83 $1,000.00
6/28/83 $5,000.00
Notwithstanding these inaccuracies, there is no doubt that:
(1) Total deposits under the purchase agreement were to be $12,000, an additional $6,000 being due on July 13, 1983, one month after execution.
(2) The promissory note provided for two payments, both consistent with the dates and amounts recited in the purchase agreement for the additional deposits.
(3) Appellant/buyer could have avoided all liability under the purchase agreement and note by delivery of the statutory written notice created by section 718.503, Florida Statutes (1983); and the seller would have been obligated to return the buyer’s $1,000 deposit and the executed promissory note.
The issue arose when the buyer failed to send the above statutory notice and failed to make either payment required by the note. The purchase agreement expressly establishes the seller’s liquidated damages as being “[ejqual to the amount of the total deposit made by purchaser.”
There is no question that the printed portion of the agreement, quoted above and throughout other clauses, contemplated a total 20% deposit when the form was printed. However, only $1,000 in deposits was actually received from this buyer; and under the authority of Makris v. Williams, 426 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Stewart v. Mehrlust, 409 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982); and Campbell v. Salman, 384 So. 2d 1331 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980), the seller cannot recover a deposit not actually made.
The buyer/maker of the note contends there was a “failure of consideration”,1 as opposed to a “want of consideration”,2 but we fail to follow his logic. The seller did not neglect, refuse or fail to do anything it was obliged to do under the parties’ contract.
However, the seller is confronted with a fundamental problem that arises out of the Makris decision when considered along with the early decision of Harper v. Bronson, 104 Fla. 75, 139 So. 203 (1932), which said:
The notes given by the defendant representing the unpaid purchase money under the contract, were incident to one of the covenants thereof, and the action on the note recognizes the contract as in force and effect, and is an action for part of the purchase price. (Citation omitted.)
Id. 139 So. at 207.
Here, while the contract may have been in force, it expressly limited seller’s recovery to the deposit received. If, then, in an action on the purchase price, the seller has stipulated to his liquidated damages, we fail to see how the notes can be used to avoid that stipulation.
In summary, we find no reason to ignore the stipulated language in light of both Makris and Harper. Reversed.
HERSEY and DELL, JJ., concur. . In Florida, failure of consideration is the neglect, refusal or failure of one of the parties to perform or furnish the agreed consideration. Holm v. Woodworth, 271 So. 2d 167 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972).
. Want of consideration is total lack of any consideration for a contract. Holm v. Wood-worth, supra. Here, the note was under seal, and in Florida a seal imports consideration. 11 Fla.Jur.2d Contracts § 55.
ON APPELLEE’S MOTION FOR REHEARING
GLICKSTEIN, Judge.
We adhere to our original opinion but add the following thought.
Notwithstanding reference in the note to a nonexistent mortgage, that reference did not affect the negotiability of the instrument. See section 673.112(b), Florida Statutes (1983). However, while a holder in due course is unaffected by the terms of a separate written agreement of which he lacks notice, as between the obligor and his immediate obligee or a transferee, the terms of another agreement executed as part of the same transaction may modify or affect the terms of the instrument. Section 673.119, Florida Statutes (1983). Thus, as is generally known, the rights of the payee are not necessarily the same as those of a holder in due course.
Motion for Rehearing is denied.
HERSEY and DELL, JJ., concur.
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Manfred Brecker and Ann Brecker v. Furman, 508 So. 2d 514 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987)…sum of $16,700.00, plus interest thereon. In entering Final Judgment in favor of the Sellers for damages in the principal amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) the trial court specifically relied upon Freitag v. Lakes of Carriage Hills, Inc., 467 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985); Brusko v. Circle of Seminole, Inc., 436 So. 2d 399 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Makris v. Williams, 426 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); and Stewart v. Mehrlust, 409 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982). Each of these four cases concerns a def…
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Pabc Fla. Assocs. v. Lexington Dev. Corp. OF Fla., Inc., 560 So. 2d 1377 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)…. Recovery of the additional $50,000 would be improper, Lexington contended, because this additional sum was not a deposit “actually made.” The trial court agreed and entered partial summary judgment, citing Freitag v. Lakes of Carriage Hills, Inc., 467 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985); Makris v. Williams, 426 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Stewart v. Mehrlust, 409 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982); Campbell v. Salman, 384 So. 2d 1331 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); and Brown v. Fine, 102 So. 2d 830 (Fla. 3d DCA 1958). Thes…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Campbell v. Salman, 384 So. 2d 1331 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)
- Harper v. Bronson, 104 Fla. 75 (Fla. 1932)
- Holm v. Woodworth, 271 So. 2d 167 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972)
- Stewart v. Mehrlust, 409 So. 2d 1085 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982)
- Stang v. State, 426 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983)
- Makris v. John G.E. Williams, 426 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983)