WOODHAVEN OPINION
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.
Woodhaven Condominium Association challenges a quasi-judicial order finding it committed an unlawful housing practice and awarding damages, penalties, injunctive relief, and attorney's fees. The appellate court quashes the attorney's fee award for lack of required factual findings regarding the Rowe factors but otherwise affirms the Board's decision.
The portion of the Amended Final Order awarding attorney's fees of $33,600 is quashed because the Board failed to set forth the factual findings required when computing attorney fee awards, specifically the Rowe factors. The court found this constitutes a violation of clearly established principle of law resulting in a miscarriage of justice warranting certiorari relief.
[1] A petition for writ of certiorari may be granted in part and denied in part.
[2] Certiorari is appropriate only when there has been a violation of a clearly established principle of law resulting in a miscarriage of justice.
Previewing 2 of 5 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 law is well established that the trial court must set forth specific findings concerning the hourly rate, the number of hours reasonably expended and the appropriateness of reduction or enhancement factors”
Establishes the mandatory requirements for attorney fee awards that the Board failed to meet
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWoodhaven Condominium Association was found to have committed an unlawful housing practice under County Code Section 15-58(8) against William and Doro…
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 Prevailing Party Attorney'S Fees cases and more on FLexlaw
2255 Glades Road, suite 200-E Boca Raton, FL 33431 [email protected], [email protected]
PER CURIAM.
Petitioner, Woodhaven Condominium Association, Inc., seeks review of a quasi-judicial Amended Final Order entered by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners (the “Board”) Office of Equal Opportunity rendered in favor of the Respondents, William Odierno and Dorothy Odierno. The Amended Final Order found that Petitioner had committed an unlawful housing practice in violation of Section 15-58(8) of the County Code, awarded nominal damages in the amount of $500.00, assessed a $5,000.00 civil penalty (payable to the Board of County Commissioners’ general fund), and awarded injunctive relief requiring the Petitioner’s board to complete fair housing training and eliminating a $1,000,000.00 insurance requirement contained in a chair lift agreement entered between Petitioner and Respondents. The Amended Final Order also declared Respondents’ the prevailing party and awarded attorney fees in the amount of $33,600.00, and costs totaling $4,559.94. The Court is unable to determine many of the issues brought forth by the parties briefing due to the lack of an adequate record. See Applegate v. Barnett Bank of Tallahassee, 377 So. 2d 1150 (Fla. 1979).
However, the Court has been provided the entirety of the transcript and record related to the attorney’s fee hearing. In contravention to the applicable law, the Amended Final Order fails to set forth factual findings as required when computing an attorney fee award. See Powell v. Powell, 55 So. 3d 708, 709 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) ( “The law is well established that the trial court must set forth specific findings concerning the hourly rate, the number of hours reasonably expended and the appropriateness of reduction or enhancement factors”).
Certiorari is appropriate “only when there has been a violation of a clearly established principle of law resulting in a miscarriage of justice.” Allstate Ins. Co. v. Kaklamanos, 843 So. 2d 885, 889 (Fla. 2003) (citing Ivey v. Allstate Ins. Co., 774 So. 2d 679, 682 (Fla. 2000)).
The Court finds that the Amended Final Order lacks any indication that the Board considered the Rowe factors, which is a violation of a clearly established principle of law. As such, the portion of the Amended Final Order awarding attorney’s fees in the amount of $33,600.00 shall be quashed. 1
Accordingly, Petitioner, Woodhaven Condominium Association, Inc.’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari is GRANTED in part, DENIED in part, and the Amended Final Order entered by the Board is QUASHED in part.
1 See Ludwigsen v. Ludwigsen, 313 So. 3d 709, 714 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020) (allowing a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to be granted in part and denied in part). (ROWE, SURBER, MULLINAX JJ. concur.)
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Allstate Ins. Co. v. Keely Kaklamanos, 843 So. 2d 885 (Fla. 2003)
- Farren Ivey v. Allstate Ins. Co., 774 So. 2d 679 (Fla. 2000)
- State v. In the Interest of M.J., 627 So. 2d 492 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)
- Powell v. Selene Powell, 55 So. 3d 708 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)
- Ruiz v. Richard-Alexander D'Arbelles (Fla. 3d DCA 2026)