SOUTHPOINTE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., A FLORIDA NOT-FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
STEPHANIE SEGARRA, APPELLEE
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A homeowners association appealed a trial court's reduction of attorney's fees and costs in a dispute over $294 in unpaid dues. The Florida appellate court affirmed the trial court's award of $785 in attorney's fees and $133.50 in costs, finding the association's requested $4,645.50 in fees was unreasonable given the small amount in dispute and the homeowner's good-faith efforts to pay.
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in substantially reducing the requested attorney's fees and costs. The court properly found that the association was too quick to file suit, that the fees sought were unreasonable given the small amount in dispute, and that the homeowner was sincere in her efforts to settle.
[1] A trial court has discretion to determine the reasonableness of attorney's fees and costs awarded in a case.
[2] A trial court may reduce attorney's fees when it finds that a party was too quick to file suit, especially in cases involving small arrearages.
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 award of more than $60,000 in attorney's fees to foreclose a $100 lien is simply against the 'manifest justice of the cause.'”
Establishes the principle that fee awards grossly disproportionate to the underlying dispute amount are unreasonable
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA homeowners association sued a homeowner over a $294 arrearage in maintenance and dues. The parties ultimately settled, with the dispute remaining on…
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KLEIN, J.
This dispute between a homeowners’ association and a homeowner, which arose over a $294 arrearage for maintenance and dues, was ultimately settled, with the agreement that the court would determine attorney’s fees and costs. Counsel for the association sought $4,645.50 in attorney’s fees and $689.39 in costs. The court awarded only $785 for attorney’s fees and $133.50 for costs, which the association appeals. We affirm.
At the hearing on attorney’s fees and costs, the homeowner testified about her efforts to ascertain the exact amount she owed so she could pay it, and the difficulties she encountered with the association’s law firm in obtaining that information. The trial court observed that the association had been “a little quick” to file suit, and that it thought the amount of fees claimed over a $294 disagreement was outrageous. The law firm had sought 29.4 hours, some of which were for paralegal time, but most of which were for lawyer’s time. The court awarded three hours for lawyer time and two hours for paralegal time. The court also disallowed the costs for a title search, as well as for filing the complaint, service of process and mediation.
In Ziontz v. Ocean Trail Unit Owners Ass’n, Inc., 663 So. 2d 1334 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), the trial court had awarded $60,000 attorney’s fees to foreclose a $100 assessment by a condo association against an owner. In that case, the owner had never attempted to 'pay, but was rather litigating the validity of the assessment as a matter of principle. We reversed the award, concluding that the amount was unreasonable, finding that “the award of more than $60,000 in attorney’s fees to foreclose a $100 lien is simply against the ‘manifest justice of the cause.’ Miller v. First American Bank & Trust, 607 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992).” Id. at 1337.
The association in the present case has a substantially weaker argument than the association did in Ziontz, because in the present case the owner was attempting to pay, not litigate, and the trial court found in this case, unlike the trial court in Ziontz, that the fees sought were unreasonable. We find no abuse of discretion in the court’s finding that the owner was sincere in her efforts to settle, and that the association was too quick to file suit. This would justify the trial court’s refusal to award more attorney’s fees or the costs necessitated by the filing of the law suit.
We have not overlooked the association’s argument that the homeowner did not have an expert testify as to what a reasonable attorney’s fee would have been. Trial judges, however, are not bound by unrebutted expert testimony. Wiederhold v. Wiederhold, 696 So. 2d 923 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). They can, based on their own familiarity with the type of litigation involved, determine that some of the work was unnecessary. Id. at 925. We therefore affirm.
FARMER and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
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Dep't OF Agric. & Consumer Servs. v. Bogorff, 35 So. 3d 84 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)…rpretations jury is free to make such interpretations); Rosenbloom v. Rosenbloom, 892 So. 2d 531, 535 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005) (trier of fact not bound by testimony of expert witnesses even where unrebutted); Southpointe Homeowners Ass’n Inc. v. Segarra, 763 So. 2d 1186, 1187 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) (trial judges are not bound by unrebutted expert testimony); Baldwin Piano & Organ Co. v. Dote, 740 So. 2d 1230 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999); County of Sarasota v. Burdette, 479 So. 2d 763, 764 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985) (jury could return…
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Rosenbloom v. Rosenbloom, 892 So. 2d 531 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)…So. 2d 463 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981), the court, as the trier of fact, is not bound by the testimony of expert witnesses, even where unrebutted. Behm v. Div. of Admin., State of Florida, 336 So. 2d 579 (Fla.1976); Southpointe Homeowners Ass’n v. Segarra, 763 So. 2d 1186, 1187 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000); Baldwin Piano and Organ Co. v. Dote, 740 So. 2d 1230 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999); County of Sarasota v. Burdette, 479 So. 2d 763 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); E.D. Rivers v. Phillips, 367 So. 2d 251 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979). This court has state…
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Puleo v. Morris, 98 So. 3d 248 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012)…ward” but may not drastically reduce the number of hours agreed-upon by the expert witnesses without making specific findings. D’Alusio v. Gould & Lamb, LLC, 36 So. 3d 842, 846-47 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010); see also Southpointe Homeowners Ass’n v. Segarra, 763 So. 2d 1186, 1187 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) (noting that trial judges are not bound by unrebutted expert testimony and can determine that some of the work performed was unnecessary). Here, the circuit judge’s comments suggest that he found some of the time expended b…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Miller v. First Am. Bank & Tr., 607 So. 2d 483 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
- Murray Ziontz and Suzanne Ziontz v. Ocean Trail Unit Owners Ass'n, Inc., 663 So. 2d 1334 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)
- Joal Wiederhold v. Wiederhold, 696 So. 2d 923 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)