TRAVEL COUNTRY RV CENTER, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
LESTER BAXTER, LORETTA BAXTER, DAMON CORPORATION, AND CITIZENS AUTOMOBILE FINANCE, INC., APPELLEES; AND DAMON CORPORATION, APPELLANT, V. LESTER BAXTER, LORETTA BAXTER, TRAVEL COUNTRY RV CENTER, INC., AND CITIZENS AUTOMOBILE FINANCE, INC., APPELLEES
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Travel Country RV Center and Damon Corporation appeal a trial court's denial of their motions to transfer venue from Suwannee County to Columbia County. The court holds that a mandatory venue selection clause in Travel Country's purchase agreement with the buyers must be honored, and reverses the trial court's order denying the transfer.
A trial court must honor a mandatory venue selection clause absent a showing that the clause is unjust or unreasonable. The clause binds the parties as to all co-defendants and cannot be circumvented by suing multiple defendants in a forum where venue is proper only as to one defendant.
[1] A mandatory venue selection clause in a contract must be honored unless it is shown to be unjust or unreasonable.
[2] A venue selection clause in a contract is binding on parties to the contract, even when other defendants are involved in the lawsuit.
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“A trial court must honor a mandatory venue selection clause in the absence of a showing that the clause is unjust or unreasonable.”
Establishes the governing legal standard for venue selection clauses in Florida.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLester and Loretta Baxter purchased an allegedly defective motor home manufactured by Damon Corporation and sold by Travel Country. The purchase agree…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Venue Selection Clause cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
In case number 1D05-5846, appellant, Travel Country RV Center, Inc. (“Travel Country”), appeals the trial court’s denial of its motion to transfer venue of the case against it, Damon Corporation, and Citizens Automobile Finance, Inc. In case number 1D05-5460, appellant, Damon Corporation, appeals the trial court’s denial of its motion to transfer venue of the same case. The appeals are consolidated for purposes of this opinion. Because we agree with Travel Country that the trial court erred in not honoring the venue selection clause contained in Travel Country’s purchase agreement with appellees, Lester and Loretta Baxter, we reverse the trial court’s order denying its motion and remand for further proceedings. This disposition renders Damon Corporation’s appeal moot.
Appellees filed suit in Suwannee County against appellants and Citizens Automobile Finance, Inc. after purchasing an allegedly defective motor home manufactured by Damon Corporation and sold by Travel Country. Damon Corporation moved to transfer venue to Columbia County.
The trial court denied the motion, finding that one count of appellees’ eleven-count complaint, a breach of contract action against Damon Corporation, accrued in Suwannee County. Travel Country also filed a motion to transfer venue to Columbia County, relying on its purchase agreement with appellees in which the parties agreed that “[a]ny action arising under this agreement or between the parties hereto is agreed to be brought in the court of appropriate jurisdiction in Columbia County, Florida.” The trial court denied Travel Country’s motion, reasoning that “[bjecause venue is proper in Suwannee County, Florida as to Damon Corp., the forum selection clause contained in the Purchase Agreement entered between Travel Country and Plaintiffs does not override or preclude Plaintiffs’ right and privilege to select Suwannee County, Florida as the venue for this action.” These appeals followed.
A trial court must honor a mandatory venue selection clause in the absence of a showing that the clause is unjust or unreasonable. Manrique v. Fabbri, 493 So. 2d 437, 440 (Fla.1986); Mgmt. Computer Controls, Inc. v. Charles Perry Constr., Inc., 743 So. 2d 627, 631 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999). Appellees acknowledged below that the venue selection clause at issue is mandatory with respect to their claims against Travel Country and made no argument that the clause is unjust or unreasonable. Appellees instead argue that their choice of venue as to Damon Corporation should release them from their contractual obligation to bring suit against Travel Country in Columbia County.
However, it makes no difference that venue as against Damon Corporation may be proper in Suwannee County. By bringing suit against Travel Country and Damon Corporation as co-defendants and by failing to establish that the venue selection clause is unjust or unreasonable, appellees are bound by the venue selection clause as to both appellants and must bring the case in Columbia County.
The trial court erred in not honoring the clause and in denying Travel Country’s motion.
Accordingly, we REVERSE the trial court’s order denying Travel Country’s motion to transfer venue to Columbia County and REMAND for further proceedings. Given our disposition in Travel Country’s appeal, we DISMISS Damon Corporation’s appeal as moot.
ALLEN, LEWIS, and HAWKES, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Monarch Claims Consultants, Inc. v. Cliff Fleming and Jane K. Fleming (Fla. 1st DCA 2023)…forum are generally considered to be mandatory.”). When a contract includes a mandatory venue clause, a trial court is bound to honor it unless there is “a showing that the clause is unjust or unreasonable.” Travel Country RV Ctr., Inc. v. Baxter, 932 So. 2d 547, 548 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006). And in determining whether a forum selection clause is unjust or unreasonable, the Court applies a three-part test requiring that: (1) the chosen forum not stem from unequal bargaining power by one of the parties; (2) enfor…
Authorities Cited
- Manrique v. Giorgio Fabbri, 493 So. 2d 437 (Fla. 1986)
- Mgmt. Computer Controls, Inc. v. Charles Perry Constr., Inc., 743 So. 2d 627 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999)