SARA GOMEZ-ORTEGA AND ANTONIO GOMEZ-ORTEGA, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF ALL ACQUIRERS OF TITLE TO CONDOMINIUM UNITS AT MAISON GRANDE, A CONDOMINIUM FROM A GRANTOR OTHER THAN THE DEVELOPER, APPELLANTS,
v.
DORTEN, INC. AND ROBERT L. SIEGEL, APPELLEES
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Secondary purchasers of condominium units challenged a lease agreement with an escalation clause, claiming they were not bound by it since they were not original parties. The court affirmed summary judgment for the defendants, holding that res judicata barred the claim because the issue had been previously litigated and determined in cases involving the condominium association.
The court held that res judicata bars the secondary purchasers' claim because: (1) the secondary purchasers are in privity with the condominium association for res judicata purposes; (2) the question of enforceability against secondary purchasers could have been litigated in the prior suits since secondary purchasers already existed; and (3) res judicata applies to all matters actually determined as well as those that could have been raised in prior litigation.
[1] Res judicata bars subsequent claims that were or could have been litigated in a prior action between the same parties or those in privity with them.
[2] For purposes of res judicata, parties are considered the same when subsequent plaintiffs are in privity with the original parties to the prior litigation.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The general principle behind the doctrine of res judicata is that a final judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction is absolute and puts to rest every justiciable, as well as actually litigated, issue.”
Establishes the foundational principle of res judicata that the court applies to bar the plaintiffs' claim.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSara and Antonio Gomez-Ortega, as secondary purchasers of condominium units at Maison Grande, brought a class action challenging a lease agreement wit…
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PER CURIAM.
The plaintiffs, Sara and Antonio Gomez-Ortega, appeal from an adverse final summary judgment and from the denial of their motion for rehearing. We affirm.
In the underlying suit, the plaintiffs brought a class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and the other secondary purchasers of certain condominium units alleging that a lease agreement containing an escalation clause that was entered into by the original owners of the condominium units was not enforceable against them because they were not parties to it. The issue of whether this lease agreement is constitutional and enforceable has been previously litigated several times by the condominium association. This court and the Florida Supreme Court have held that the lease agreement is constitutional and enforceable, Maison Grande Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Dorten, Inc., 600 So. 2d 463 (Fla.1992) affirming in part 580 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991),1 and subsequent claims challenging the lease agreement have been barred by res judicata. Maison Grande Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Dorten, Inc., 621 So. 2d 762 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993), review denied, 634 So. 2d 625 (Fla.1994).
The general principle behind the doctrine of res judicata is that a final judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction is absolute and puts to rest every justiciable, as well as actually litigated, issue. However, this principle only applies when the elements of res judicata are present and the doctrine is properly applied. When the second suit is upon the same cause of action and between the same parties as the first, res judicata applies. The first judgment is conclusive as to all matters which were or could have been determined. It has been well settled by this Court that several conditions must occur simultaneously if a matter is to be made res judicata: identity of the thing sued for; identity of the cause of action; identity of parties; identity of the quality in the person for or against whom the claim is made.
Albrecht v. State, 444 So. 2d 8, 11-12 (Fla.1984) (citations omitted).
The plaintiffs contend that their suit challenging the lease agreement is not barred by the doctrine of res judicata because there is no identity of the parties since the secondary purchasers, rather than the condominium association, brought this suit. We disagree.
In the instant case, although the secondary purchasers, rather than the condominium association, brought this suit, for purposes of res judicata, these parties are the same. First, the secondary purchasers were in priv ity with the condominium association when the prior cases were litigated. Progressive Am. Ins. Co. v. McKinnie, 513 So. 2d 748, 749 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987) (“[A] careful statement of the identity of the parties element in ... res judicata analysis includes, alternatively, ones in privity with actual parties, participants in the action having an interest but not technically parties, and persons virtually, though not actually, represented by the parties of record.”) Further, the question of the enforceability of the lease agreement against the secondary purchasers could have been litigated in the preceding suits because there were already secondary purchasers existing at the time that those suits were brought. ICC Chemical Corp. v. Freeman, 640 So. 2d 92, 93 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) (“Res judicata applies to all matters actually raised and determined as well as all other matters which could properly have been raised and determined in the prior action, whether they were or not.”) Therefore, res judicata applies here despite the fact that the secondary purchasers, rather than the association, brought this suit. As such, the trial court properly granted summary judgment.
This issue is dispositive of the remaining issues raised on appeal.
Accordingly, the decision of the trial court is affirmed.
. The Florida Supreme Cotut affirmed the constitutionality and the enforceability of the escalation clause in the lease agreement that was entered into before 1975, but reversed the District Court's award of attorney’s fees and costs. Maison Grande, 600 So. 2d at 464.
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Shahir Selim v. PAN Am. Airways Corp., 889 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)…identity of persons and parties of the action; and 4) identity of the quality in the person for or against whom the claim is made.” Signo v. Fla. Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co., 454 So. 2d 3, 4 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); see also Gomez-Ortega v. Dorten, Inc., 670 So. 2d 1107, 1108 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)(citing Albrecht v. State, 444 So. 2d 8, 11-12 (Fla.1984)). One aspect of res judicata is collateral estoppel. State v. Freund, 626 So. 2d 1043, 1045 n. 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993). “Collateral estoppel may be employed where two c…
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Barrero v. Ocean Bank, 729 So. 2d 412 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999)…so correctly points out that the doctrine of res judicata would similarly foreclose the relitigation of the issue of appellate attorney’s [*415] fees and costs. See Thomas v. Perkins, 723 So. 2d 293, (Fla. 3d DCA 1998); Gomez-Ortega v. Dorten, Inc., 670 So. 2d 1107, 1108 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996); Utterback v. Starkey, 669 So. 2d 304, 305 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). . This rule provides: (b) Enlargement. When an act is required or allowed to be done at or within a specified time by order of the court, by these rules, or by…
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Johnson v. Candance L. Young, 964 So. 2d 719 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007)…ts under the doctrine are: (1) identity of the things sued for; (2) identity of the cause of action; (3) identity of the parties and (4) identity of the quality in the person for or against whom the claims are made. See Gomez-Ortega v. Dorten, Inc., 670 So. 2d 1107 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996). Young alleges that Hampton and Johnson are in privity with each other and that the identities of the parties and causes of action are the same both in the county court action and in the circuit court action. From the record, it…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Prudential Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Lark Lynette Lambert, 444 So. 2d 8 (Fla. 1983)
- ICC Chem. Corp. v. Freeman, 640 So. 2d 92 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- Progressive Am. Ins. Co. v. McKINNIE, 513 So. 2d 748 (Fla. 4th DCA 1987)
- Garcia v. Redland Constr. Co. & the City of W. Miami, 621 So. 2d 762 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)
- Maison Grande Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Dorten, Inc., 600 So. 2d 463 (Fla. 1992)
- Maison Grande Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Dorten, Inc., 580 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)