HORIZON MEDICAL GROUP, P.A., APPELLANT,
v.
CITY CENTER OF CHARLOTTE COUNTY, LTD., A FLORIDA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, APPELLEE
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Horizon Medical Group appeals a summary judgment for breach of a commercial lease, arguing City Center should not recover both accelerated rent and proceeds from reletting the premises. The appellate court affirms the judgment but remands to preserve the trial court's jurisdiction to order an accounting of rental proceeds from any reletting, as Florida law prohibits double recovery.
A landlord may not collect accelerated rent and simultaneously retain rental proceeds from reletting during the remainder of the lease term. Any proceeds from reletting must be applied against the accelerated rent owed by the tenant to prevent double recovery.
[1] An unsworn motion for relief from judgment, unsupported by evidence at a hearing, is insufficient to vacate a final judgment that appears valid on its face.
[2] An attorney's unsworn statements, absent a stipulation, cannot serve as the factual basis for a trial court's determination on a motion to vacate a judgment.
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“While City Center validly exercised its option to seek accelerated rent from Horizon, it cannot collect accelerated rent from Horizon, relet the premises to a third party during the remainder of the lease term, and retain those rental proceeds as well.”
Establishes the core holding that a landlord cannot recover both accelerated rent and reletting proceeds
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceHorizon signed a five-year lease with City Center in March 1999. In November 1999, City Center filed suit alleging Horizon breached the lease by faili…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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PARKER, Acting Chief Judge.
Horizon Medical Group, P.A. (Horizon) appeals the final summary judgment entered against it and in favor of City Center of Charlotte County (City Center) in this landlord/tenant breach of contract case. Horizon raises three points, only one of which has merit. We therefore affirm the entry of the final judgment but remand the case with directions to amend the final judgment to reflect that the trial court retains jurisdiction to entertain motions for an accounting during the remainder of the lease term. .
Horizon signed a five-year lease agreement for office space with City Center in March 1999.
In November 1999 City Center filed a complaint alleging that Horizon had breached the lease agreement by failing to pay rent and abandoning the premises. The complaint sought an award of damages for, among other things, the balance of the rent due over the remainder of the lease term pursuant to the acceleration clause in the lease. Horizon filed its answer admitting the material allegations of the complaint. City Center thereafter filed a motion for final summary judgment.
The trial court granted final summary judgment in favor of City Center and awarded City Center damages composed of unpaid back rent, interest on the back rent, accelerated rent for the remainder of the lease term, interest on the accelerated rent, costs for reletting and refurbishing the premises, and attorneys’ fees and costs. Horizon timely appealed the final judgment.
We affirm the final judgment in all respects except one. While City Center validly exercised its option to seek accelerated rent from Horizon, it cannot collect accelerated rent from Horizon, relet the premises to a third party during the remainder of the lease term, and retain those rental proceeds as well. See Blimpie Capital Venture, Inc. v. Palms Plaza Partners, Ltd., 636 So. 2d 838, 84-41 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994); Jimmy Hall’s Morning-side, Inc.„v. Blackburn & Peck Enters.,
Inc., 235 So. 2d 344, 346 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970); Quintero-Chadid Corp. v. Gersten, 582 So. 2d 685, 688-89 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991). Any rental proceeds received by City Center from reletting the premises during the remainder of the lease term must be applied against the accelerated rent due from Horizon. See Jimmy Hall’s, 235 So. 2d at 346.
Therefore, it was error for the trial court to enter a final judgment for the entire amount of the accelerated rent without any reservation of jurisdiction to consider a motion for an accounting should City Center relet the premises during the remainder of the lease term. See Quinte-ro-Chadid Corp., 582 So. 2d at 689.
Accordingly, we remand this case to the trial court with directions to amend the final judgment to reflect a retention of jurisdiction to consider any motions for an accounting that may become necessary during the remainder of the lease term.1
Affirmed, but remanded for entry of an amended final summary judgment.
GREEN and STRINGER, JJ„ concur. . We note that there is nothing in our record to indicate whether City Center has actually relet the premises at issue as of this time. However, the lease term is less than half over, and it is possible that the current rental situation may change between now and the end of the lease term in March 2004.
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Bucky's Barbeque OF Fort Lauderdale, LLC v. Millennium Plaza Acquisition, LLC, 67 So. 3d 1207 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)…lennium from re-letting the premises during the remainder of the lease must be applied against the accelerated rent due from Bucky’s. See Colonial Promenade, 541 So. 2d at 1315; see also Horizon Med. Grp., P.A. v. City Ctr. of Charlotte Cnty., Ltd., 779 So. 2d 545, 546 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (noting that landlord “cannot collect accelerated rent from [tenant], relet the premises to a third party during the remainder of the lease term, and retain those rental proceeds as well”). Finally, since the amount of damage…
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Siboni, Hamer & Buchanan, P.A. v. N.W. Third St. P'ship, Inc., 84 So. 3d 477 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012)…ber 2010. We further instruct the trial court to reserve jurisdiction to address any post-judgment accounting if Ap-pellee is able to relet the premises within the term of the lease. See Horizon Med. Grp., P.A. v. City Ctr. of Charlotte Cnty., Ltd., 779 So. 2d 545 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed. AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART AND REMANDED. GRIFFIN, PALMER and TORPY, JJ„ concur.…
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Utah Power Sys., LLC v. Lang (M.D. Fla. 2022)…by City Center from reletting the premises during the remainder of the lease term must be applied against the accelerated rent due from Horizon. See Jimmy Hall's, 235 So. 2d at 346. Horizon Med. Group, P.A. v. City Ctr. of Charlotte Cnty., Ltd., 779 So. 2d 545, 546 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001). “[W]hile the appellee was entitled to accelerate the rent payments, i[t] cannot collect the full amount due and then relet the premises to a third party and retain those proceeds also. The latter proceeds must be applied ag…
Authorities Cited
- Blimpie Cap. Venture, Inc. v. Palms Plaza P'rs, Ltd., 636 So. 2d 838 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994)
- Jimmy Hall's Morningside, Inc. v. Blackburn & Peck Enters., Inc., 235 So. 2d 344 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970)
- Quintero-Chadid Corp. v. Gersten, 582 So. 2d 685 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)