P.S. FARRINGTON, DR. ROBERT EID, JOHN FREIDLANDER, EARL SCHNELL, RICHARD LEVY AND MILDRED LEVY, JOSEPH H. MCNAMARA, ANNA BARBARO, DOROTHY EVANS, 1800 ATLANTIC DEVELOPERS, AND WILLIAM MULVANEY, APPELLANTS,
v.
CASA SOLANA CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC., APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Condominium unit owners appealed a trial court judgment upholding the Casa Solana Condominium Association's authority to levy a special assessment for building repairs without a unit owner vote. The court affirmed, holding that the Association's Board properly exercised its business judgment under the condominium declarations, bylaws, and Florida Statutes in determining an emergency assessment was necessary.
The Board properly exercised its business judgment in determining a special assessment was immediately necessary for emergency building repairs. The declarations and bylaws authorized special assessments for immediate or emergency needs, and the Board followed all required statutory procedures under Chapter 718, Florida Statutes, including proper notice. No unit owner vote was required because the repairs were not a material or substantial alteration to common elements.
[1] A condominium association's board of directors may levy a special assessment for immediate or emergency building repairs when it acts within its business judgment and fol…
[2] A condominium association's board of directors is protected by the business judgment rule when it acts in a reasonable manner in passing a special assessment.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the declarations and by-laws of the Association allowed a special assessment to be made in the event of an immediate or emergency need and that, after hearing the opinions of engineers, architects and legal counsel, the Board used its "business judgment" in determining a special assessment was needed immediately for building repairs and sealing”
Establishes the legal basis for the Board's authority to impose the special assessment without a unit owner vote
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCasa Solana, a 111-unit condominium incorporated in 1979, engaged management services through a firm in which unit owner Richard Levy was a partner. I…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Special Assessments cases and more on FLexlaw
HENDRY, Judge.
Farrington and other Casa Solana condominium unit owners appeal from a final judgment of the Circuit Court of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, Monroe County, entered in favor of the Casa Solana Condominium Association (Association). Appellants seek to estop a special assessment for building repairs and a payment of legal fees from association funds as determined by the Association’s Board of Directors (Board). We affirm the trial court’s decision.
Casa Solana received its charter for incorporation in 1979, at which time the Association executed a contract with Realty and Management Associates (Management) for maintaining the one hundred and eleven unit condominium. Richard Levy, a unit owner, was a partner in the management firm.
In 1982, at Levy’s direction, Management received a written report from an engineering company regarding needed building repairs and waterproofing work. The report revealed that major cracks permeated the building’s stucco exterior. After notification of the defects, the developer made some repairs but the building’s condition remained generally unchanged and several interior units were water damaged. The Association initiated a suit against the developer for damages.
Repair bids solicited by the Association were approved by the Board at its August meeting. Unit owners were given notice of a special assessment for external building repairs, replacement of windows and interi-or unit repairs.
Farrington and other unit owners filed suit against the Association seeking an injunction and a declaratory judgment, alleging the Association should be estopped from contracting for the repair work because the assessment for repairs was improper. They claimed the Association’s annual budget, submitted by the Board and adopted at the annual meeting, intentionally failed to mention the costs of either the building repairs or the lawsuit. Their requests were denied.
At the non-jury trial, testimony of the Association president was heard as was the expert opinion of an engineer. The court concluded that the declarations and bylaws of the Association allowed a special assessment to be made in the event of an immediate or emergency need and that, after hearing the opinions of engineers, architects and legal counsel, the Board used its “business judgment” in determining a special assessment was needed immediately for building repairs and sealing. The court also found that the Board had followed the procedures of the Condominium Act, Chapter 718, Florida Statutes (1985), which required notice of the meeting at which they discussed and passed the special assessment as well as the requirement that notice be sent or delivered to each unit owner indicating the specific purpose or purposes of the special assessment that was approved.
In making the determination that the Casa Solana Condominium Association was the prevailing party in this action, the court relied upon Cottrell v. Thornton, 449 So. 2d 1291 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), for the proposition that no vote of unit owners is required when the work done is not a material or substantial alteration or addition to the common elements. Lake Region Packing Ass’n, Inc. v. Furze, 327 So. 2d 212 (Fla.1976), and Papalexiou v. Tower West Condominium, 167 NJ.Super. 516, 401 A. 2d 280 (Sup.Ct.N.J.1979), which cite Hidden Harbour Estates, Inc. v. Norman, 309 So. 2d 180 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975), support the court’s finding that it will not supplement its judgment for that of the Board. The “business judgment rule” will protect a corporation’s board of directors’ business judgment as long as the board acted in a “reasonable” manner in passing the special assessment.
Accordingly, we find appellants’ claim of error relative to the trial court’s denial of their requests to be without merit.
Affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Hollywood Towers Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Hampton, 40 So. 3d 784 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)…, e.g., Garcia v. Crescent Plaza Condo. Ass’n, 813 So. 2d 975 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) (applying the business judgment rule to the association’s decision to lease a portion of the common element parking spots); P.S. Farrington v. Casa Solana Condo. Ass’n, 517 So. 2d 70, 72 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (applying the business judgment rule to the condominium association board’s decision to approve a special assessment); see Tiffany Plaza Condo. Ass’n v. Spencer, 416 So. 2d 823, 826 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982) (stating that courts will…
-
Cedar Cove Efficiency Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Cedar Cove Props. Inc., 558 So. 2d 475 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…cs, including the building exteriors, so long as it exercises good business judgment. The “business judgment rule” will protect a board of directors as long as the board has acted in a reasonable manner. Farrington v. Casa Solana Condo. Ass’n. Inc., 517 So. 2d 70 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). “If, in the good business judgment of the association, such alteration or improvement is necessary or beneficial in the maintenance, repair, or replacement of the common elements, all unit owners should equally bear the cost as p…
-
George v. Beach Club Villas Condo. Assoc., 833 So. 2d 816 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002)…because necessary work for maintenance may also constitute alterations or improvements does not nullify a condominium Board’s authority and duty to maintain the condominium common elements.”). See also Farrington v. Casa Solana Condo. Assoc., Inc., 517 So. 2d 70, 72 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (“The ‘business judgment rule’ will protect a corporation’s Board of directors’ business judgment as long as the Board acted in a ‘reasonable’ manner in passing the special assessment.”). Here, Beach Club Villas was faced with…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Hidden Harbour Ests., Inc. v. Bradford E. Norman and Evelyn E. Norman, 309 So. 2d 180 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975)
- Lake Region Packing Ass'n, Inc. v. Furze, 327 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 1976)
- Cottrell v. Thornton, 449 So. 2d 1291 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)