CHARLES M. WALDEN, APPELLANT,
v.
CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, USA, N.A., APPELLEE
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Charles Walden appealed a summary judgment in favor of Chase Manhattan Bank on a credit card debt claim. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that Walden's wife's affidavit, even with initial attachment defects, created a genuine issue of material fact regarding Chase's alleged failure to conduct a required audit, precluding summary judgment.
The court reversed the summary judgment, holding that Walden's wife's affidavit created a genuine issue of material fact even with its initial defects, and that the trial court erred in refusing to consider the corrected affidavit and supplemental materials filed with the motion for rehearing.
[1] A trial court abuses its discretion by refusing to consider affidavits submitted with a motion for rehearing that correct a clerical error and present supplemental eviden…
[2] A general attestation in an affidavit that letters were sent disputing charges, even without the letters attached, can create a genuine issue of material fact sufficient…
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“Regardless of whether the actual letters were attached to the wife's affidavit or whether the attestations contained within the affidavit regarding the contents of her letters could be considered, the general attestation by itself created a genuine issue of material fact preventing the entry of summary judgment.”
Establishes that even with evidentiary defects, the wife's general attestation was sufficient to defeat summary judgment by creating a factual dispute.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceChase sued Walden for monies owed on credit card accounts. Walden raised an affirmative defense that Chase failed to properly audit his accounts after…
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MAY, J.
Charles Walden appeals a summary judgment against him and in favor of Chase Manhattan Bank. Among other issues, he argues that the trial court erred in not considering the affidavits submitted with the motion for rehearing. We agree and reverse.
Chase sued Walden for monies owed on credit card accounts. Walden filed an answer and affirmative defenses, one of which raised Chase’s alleged failure to properly perform an audit of Walden’s accounts once notified of discrepancies.
Chase moved for summary judgment. Walden filed his wife’s affidavit, attesting to her familiarity with the specific credit card accounts and that she sent several letters to Chase disputing the charges. She also attested to the specific contents of some of her letters to Chase. The letters, which should have been attached to the affidavit, were mistakenly attached to Walden’s response to the motion for summary judgment. At the hearing on the motion, the court refused to consider the wife’s affidavit as a whole because the letters were not attached to the affidavit. The court entered summary judgment for Chase.
Walden moved for rehearing and corrected the clerical error, this time attaching the letters to the affidavit. In addition, he submitted three supplemental affidavits addressing the audit defense. The trial court denied the motion for rehearing.
An order granting summary judgment is subject to de novo review. Volusia County v. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, L.P., 760 So. 2d 126 (Fla.2000). Summary judgment should only be granted when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. • Id.
In this case, Walden raised an affirmative defense that Chase failed to perform an audit, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1666(a)(3)(B)(ii). Chase filed an affidavit attesting that Walden never objected to the billing statements, and therefore never triggered the statutory audit. Walden countered with his wife’s general attestation that she wrote several letters to Chase, objecting to certain billings on . the statements. Regardless of whether the actual letters were attached to the wife’s affidavit or whether the attestations contained within the affidavit regarding the contents of her letters could be considered, the general attestation by itself created a genuine issue of material fact preventing the entry of summary judgment. See Humphrys v. Jarrell, 104 So. 2d 404, 409 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958) (where an affidavit contains inadmissible matter, the court should not disregard the whole affidavit, only the portion containing inadmissible evidence).
A summary judgment is not final until a motion for rehearing is considered. Elser v. Law Offices of James M. Russ, P.A., 679 So. 2d 309 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996). Not only did the wife’s affidavit raise a genuine issue, the subsequent correction of the clerical error and the supplemental affidavits filed with the motion for rehearing further supported the existence of a genuine issue of material fact regarding the audit defense. As such, the trial court erred in granting the motion for summary judgment and denying Walden’s motion for rehearing.
We find no merit in the other issues raised. The summary judgment is reversed and the case remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
POLEN, J. and DAMOORGIAN, DORIAN, Associate Judge, concur.
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Verdino v. Charcoal PIT, Inc., 898 So. 2d 246 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005)…al treatment of the petitioner’s motion should have led to an order giving [*248] them the opportunity to supply the deficiencies. Id. at 47; see also Stephens v. Dichtenmueller, 216 So. 2d 448 (Fla.1968); Walden v. Chase Manhattan Bank, USA, N.A., 872 So. 2d 432, 433 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); Bridgeport Inc. v. Rinker Materials Corp., 849 So. 2d 1193 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003); Sapphire Condo. Ass’n v. Amerivend Corp., 691 So. 2d 600 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). In this case, the trial court was not presented with a new affid…
Authorities Cited
- Volusia Cnty. v. Aberdeen AT Ormond Beach, L.P., 760 So. 2d 126 (Fla. 2000)
- Humphrys v. Jarrell, 104 So. 2d 404 (Fla. 2d DCA 1958)
- Elser v. LAW Offs. OF James M. Russ, P.A., 679 So. 2d 309 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)