H. DAVID FRIEDBERG, APPELLANT,
v.
TOWN OF LONGBOAT KEY, APPELLEE
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This appeal addresses whether a municipality owes a private duty of care regarding the accuracy of information in public records, specifically certificate of occupancy information. The court affirmed dismissal of a negligent misrepresentation claim against the Town of Longboat Key, holding that municipalities owe no duty to individual citizens regarding the accuracy of building inspection records.
A municipality owes no duty to individual citizens for negligently maintaining or providing information from public records concerning certificates of occupancy. Even assuming the records were negligently maintained, no cause of action lies against the municipality, and any remedy should be sought against the seller or developer.
[1] A municipality generally owes no duty to individual citizens for the negligent maintenance and provision of information from public records, absent a legislative intent t…
[2] The protection of public records concerning building code compliance inspections is for the benefit of the public as a whole, not for individual citizens.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“No sufficient basis has been alleged in this case for a duty of the municipality to the third party plaintiff for the breach of which a private cause of action would lie.”
Establishes the core holding that municipalities have no duty to individuals regarding public records accuracy
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFriedberg filed a third amended third-party complaint against the Town of Longboat Key alleging negligent misrepresentation by the municipality's buil…
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LEHAN, Judge.
This is an appeal from the dismissal of one count of a third amended third party complaint filed against the Town of Longboat Key for negligent misrepresentation by the municipality’s building inspector that a certificate of occupancy had not been issued for a particular condominium unit. We affirm.
As the third party plaintiff argues, the matter of whether or not information from a municipality that a certificate of occupancy had not been issued is correct, which is the subject of the cause of action alleged in this case, is not entirely the same in nature as whether or not a municipality correctly determined that the construction requirements of a building code had been complied with, which was the subject of the alleged cause of action in Trianon Park Condominium Association, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 468 So. 2d 912 (Fla.1985). For example, a determination of the type in Trianon involves an element of governmental discretion not present here. But we conclude that an underlying concept of Trianon —that there was no duty under the circum stances of that case to citizens as individuals — similarly applies here. No sufficient basis has been alleged in this case for a duty of the municipality to the third party plaintiff for the breach of which a private cause of action would lie.
Just as building code compliance inspections are for the protection of the public as a whole and not individual citizens, see Trianon, 468 So. 2d at 922-23, so also, we conclude, was any responsibility of the municipality here to maintain and provide information from records as to the issuance of certificates of occupancy following inspections for building code compliance. And just as the Florida Supreme Court in Trianon found nothing in chapter 553 (“Building Construction Standards”) evincing an intent to give private citizens a right of recovery for negligent inspections, 468 So. 2d at 922, so also do we find nothing in chapter 119 (“Public Records”) evincing an intent to give private citizens a right of recovery for negligently maintaining and providing information from public records.
We agree with the argument of appellee that if there were such a duty by government to individual citizens under the facts of this case, the door would be opened to potentially multitudinous litigation with respect to the accuracy of information provided by governmental entities concerning a wide range of public records. The potential multiplicity of suits from the judicial establishment of a municipal duty to private citizens was a factor in Trianon weighing against the establishment of such a duty. 468 So. 2d at 922. If there is to be such a responsibility, we conclude that it is the province of the legislature, not the courts, to create it. See Trianon, 468 So. 2d at 922-23.
We are not saying the records in this case were negligently maintained. We are saying that even assuming arguendo they were, no cause of action was alleged. In Trianon the Florida Supreme Court pointed out that the remedy for faulty building construction lies in an action against the contractor, developer, or seller, rather than against the governmental entity which issued a certificate of occupancy. 468 So. 2d at 923. No reason appears why in this case the third party plaintiff, who alleges damages by reason of the loss of his deposit on a purchase contract for the unit when he failed to close the purchase due to the ostensible lack of the certificate of occupancy, could not have looked to the seller, who was .the condominium developer, for accurate certificate of occupancy information and proof thereof.
Affirmed.
CAMPBELL, A.C.J., and HALL, J., concur.
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Holodak v. Lockwood, 726 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)…ct to the alleged negligent acts. In support of its ruling, the court cited Trianon Park Condominium Ass’n. v. City of Hialeah, 468 So. 2d 912 (Fla.1985), Seguine v. City of Miami, 627 So. 2d 14 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993), Friedberg v. Town of Longboat Key, 504 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), and Layton v. Florida [*816] Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, 676 So. 2d 1038 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996). In Trianon, the Florida Supreme Court held that in order to hold a governmental entity liable for its negligence, a…
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Layton v. The Fla. Dep't of Hwy. Safety & Motor Vehicles, 676 So. 2d 1038 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996)…er to maintain accurate records. In fact, Florida courts have consistently declined to hold governmental entities liable for a failure to maintain and provide accurate information in public records. For example, in Friedberg v. Town of Longboat Key, 504 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), the Second District affirmed the dismissal of a claim against the municipality for the alleged negligent misrepresentation by the city’s building inspector regarding the issuance of a certificate of occupancy by concluding that “…
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Storm v. The Town OF Ponce Inlet, 866 So. 2d 713 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004)…243 Cal.Rptr. 463 (4th Dist.1988). . Fox v. Professional Wrecker Operators of Florida, Inc., 801 So. 2d 175 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001); Cintron v. Osmose Wood Preserving, Inc., 681 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). . See Friedberg v. Town of Longboat Key, 504 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). . See Hillsborough County v. Morris, 730 So. 2d 367 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999). . See City of Tarpon Springs v. Garrigan, 510 So. 2d 1198 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987). . Babcock v. Mason County Fire Dist. No. 6, 144 Wash.2d 774, 30 P. 3d 1261,…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Trianon Park Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. City OF Hialeah, 468 So. 2d 912 (Fla. 1985)