BRAEMER ISLE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
BOCA HI, INC., THE GEORGE HYMAN CONSTRUCTION CO., SCHWAB & TWITTY ARCHITECTS, INC., POMA ALUMINUM & STEEL FABRICATORS, INC. AND FRANK POMA, AN INDIVIDUAL, AND POMA CORPORATION, APPELLEES
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A release that clearly reflects the intent to release a party from all liabilities in connection with a construction project should be honored, and summary judgment based on such a release will be affirmed.
[1] A release that clearly reflects the intent to release a party from any and all liabilities in connection with a construction project should be honored.
[2] Parties in positions of equal bargaining power should be held to the agreement reached as a result of their negotiations, absent fraud, undue influence, or coercion.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA condominium association settled prior litigation over construction defects and executed releases to the appellees. The association later sued again,…
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PER CURIAM.
In settlement of prior litigation over construction defects, the condominium association released all of the appellees for all claims (both known and unknown, as to one, and all future claims as to the others), which arose out of the construction of the condominium.1 Later the condominium filed suit again claiming that the defects it now alleged were not discoverable at the time it settled its prior lawsuit and executed releases to these defendants.2 We affirm the trial court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of appellees based on De Witt v. Miami Transit Co., 95 So. 2d 898 (Fla.1957) and Hardage Enterprises, Inc. v. Fidesys Corp., N.V., 570 So. 2d 436 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990).
A release that clearly reflects the intent to release a party from any and all liabilities in connection with a construction project should be honored. As the Fifth District stated, “This was not a situation where public policy mandates the protection of consumers who are offered a contract in a ‘take it or leave it’ form. Fidesys and Hard-age were in positions of equal bargaining power and should be held to the agreement that was reached as a result of their negotiations.” 570 So. 2d at 439. In the instant case the first suit commenced in 1982 and proceeded through two years of voluminous discovery to a jury trial. The same areas of the condominium which are claimed to be defective in the second suit were also at issue in the first suit. As a result, the parties settled all issues between them, with both defendants paying out monies in settlement. There is no allegation that any fraud, undue influence, or coercion occurred in settling the first case. Under the facts of this case, the release and settlement must be enforced. The summary judgments are affirmed.
WARNER, KLEIN and PARIENTE, JJ., concur. . We consolidate appeal numbers 93-0876 and 93-2075 for the purposes of this opinion.
. These were not standard RAMCO releases but releases the language of which was negotiated between the parties.
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Mazzoni Farms, Inc. v. E.I. DuPONT DE Nemours & Co., 761 So. 2d 306 (Fla. 2000)…d. See Hardage Enters., Inc. v. Fidesys Corp., N.V., 570 So. 2d 436 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990) (enforcing a general release even though the party discovered the negligence after executing the release); Braemer Isle Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Boca Hi, Inc., 632 So. 2d 707 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994) (enforcing general release although party did not discover alleged defects until after executing the release). More importantly, other courts have recognized this principle even in the face of a fraudulent inducement claim. For e…
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Phillip and Delores Floyd v. Homes Beautiful Constr. Co., 710 So. 2d 177 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998)…e of material fact as to when the plaintiff’s cause of action accrued). Finally, we note that the release does not specifically mention “future” claims, which distinguishes the instant case from Braemer Isle Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Boca Hi, Inc., 632 So. 2d 707 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), the principal case on which Homes Beautiful relies. Because the existence of disputed issues of fact relating to the intent and scope of the release, we REVERSE and REMAND for further proceedings. JOANOS, WOLF and VAN NORTWICK…
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Pub. Serv. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Terranova Condo. Ass'ns, 706 So. 2d 916 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998)…PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Braemer Isle Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Boca Hi, Inc., 632 So. 2d 707 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); Crago v. Citibank, Fed. Sav. Bank, 610 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992).…
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- DE Witt v. Miami Transit Co., 95 So. 2d 898 (Fla. 1957)
- Hardage Enters., Inc. v. Fidesys Corp., N.V., 570 So. 2d 436 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990)