HALSEY MINOR AND SAVE HIALEAH RACING, INC., APPELLANTS,
v.
JOHN J. BRUNETTI, HIALEAH, INC., BAL BAY REALTY, LTD., AND THE CITY OF HIALEAH, FLORIDA, APPELLEES
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Minor and Save Hialeah Racing challenged the dismissal of their declaratory judgment action regarding ownership of Hialeah Park Racetrack, alleging the City of Hialeah improperly conveyed the property to Hialeah, Inc. without a voter referendum. The appellate court reversed the dismissal, holding that the trial court improperly considered facts outside the complaint when ruling on the motion to dismiss.
The court reversed the dismissal because the trial court violated the standard for reviewing motions to dismiss by considering facts outside the complaint. When ruling on a motion to dismiss, courts must confine their analysis to the allegations within the four corners of the complaint and take all such allegations as true, construing reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party.
[1] A motion to dismiss tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint and requires the court to confine its review to the four corners of the complaint.
[2] When ruling on a motion to dismiss, a trial court may not consider facts presented in depositions, affidavits, or other external proofs.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A motion to dismiss is designed to test the legal sufficiency of the complaint, not to determine factual issues.”
Establishes the proper standard for evaluating motions to dismiss
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMinor and Save Hialeah Racing filed a declaratory judgment action challenging the City of Hialeah's 2004 conveyance of Hialeah Park Racetrack property…
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Halsey Minor and Save Hialeah Racing, Inc. appeal the trial court’s order in which the court dismissed the cause with prejudice and entered a final judgment of dismissal. We reverse because the trial court failed to confine itself to the four corners of the complaint when it dismissed the cause, as the court is required to do on the review of a motion to dismiss.
*179Minor and Save Hialeah Racing commenced the underlying declaratory judgment action seeking clarification of Hialeah Park Racetrack’s ownership. They alleged, among other things, that appellee City of Hialeah failed to hold a voter referendum prior to deeding the Racetrack property to appellee Hialeah, Inc. in 2004. Accordingly, Minor and Save Hialeah Racing allege that the conveyance is void. In response, the appellees filed a motion to dismiss, a verified motion to strike as a sham pleading, and a motion for summary judgment. Following a hearing on July 21, 2009, the trial court entered an order granting appellees’ motion to dismiss with prejudice and held that appellees’ remaining two motions were moot.
In support of its order granting the motion to dismiss, the trial court found that Hialeah, Inc. v. Dade County, 490 So.2d 998 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986), was controlling precedent. Minor and Save Hialeah Racing contend that this argument required the trial court to look beyond the four corners of the complaint. We agree.
“A motion to dismiss is designed to test the legal sufficiency of the complaint, not to determine factual issues.” See The Fla. Bar v. Greene, 926 So.2d 1195, 1199 (Fla.2006). See also Chodorow v. Porto Vita, Ltd., 954 So.2d 1240, 1242 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007). The trial court may not rely on facts offered in depositions, affidavits, or other proofs. See Jordan v. Griley, 667 So.2d 493 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996); Lewis v. Barnett Bank of S. Fla. N.A., 604 So.2d 937 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992). Rather, the trial court is confined to the facts alleged within the four corners of the complaint. See Chodorow, 954 So.2d at 1242. All such allegations must be taken as true and any reasonable inferences drawn from the complaint must be construed in favor of the non-moving party. Id.
Here, the trial court considered factual material beyond the facts alleged within the four corners of the complaint. The complaint does not set forth allegations regarding whether appellee City of Hialeah is the equitable or legal title holder of the Racetrack, as the holding in Hialeah, Inc. may or may not have decided. See generally Hialeah, Inc., 490 So.2d at 998. Rather, the complaint contains an allegation that the 2004 transaction occurred in the absence of a voter referendum and is therefore void. Additionally, this issue would be better addressed on a summary judgment motion or at trial, not on a motion to dismiss. We therefore reverse the order granting the motion to dismiss with prejudice, and remand this cause to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Reversed and remanded.
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Jackson v. The Shakespeare Found., Inc., 108 So. 3d 587 (Fla. 2013)…New Oji Paper Co. Ltd., 752 So. 2d 582, 584 (Fla.2000). This Court’s review of an order dismissing an action and compelling arbi [*593] tration is limited to the four corners of the complaint and its incorporated attachments. See Minor v. Brunetti, 43 So. 3d 178, 179 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010). The purpose of the review is to test the legal sufficiency of the complaint; not to determine factual issues. See id. All well pled allegations in the complaint are taken as true, with all reasonable inferences to be constru…
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Grove Isle Ass'n, Inc. v. Grove Isle Assocs., LLLP, 137 So. 3d 1081 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014)…the complaint, including any attached or incorporated exhibits, assuming the allegations in the complaint to be true and construing all reasonable inferences therefrom in favor of the non-moving party. Greene, 926 So. 2d at 1199; Minor v. Brunetti, 43 So. 3d 178, 179 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010) (reversing dismissal with prejudice where trial court considered facts other than those alleged in the complaint). Affirmative defenses, such as statute of limitations and laches, are generally matters raised in an answer an…1 / 2
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Nationstar Mortg., LLC v. Sunderman, 201 So. 3d 139 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015)…dismiss tests the legal sufficiency of complaint. Grove Isle Ass’n, Inc., 137 So. 3d at 1089. In determining the merits of a motion to dismiss, the trial court must limit itself to the four corners of the complaint. Id.; see also Minor v. Brunetti, 43 So. 3d 178, 179 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010); Pacific Ins. Co. v. Botelho, 891 So. 2d 587, 590 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004). Nationstar argues that the trial court erred in granting Sunderman’s motion to dismiss because: (1) it was improper for Sunderman to raise a statute of li…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- THE Florida BAR v. Greene, 926 So. 2d 1195 (Fla. 2006)
- Lewis v. Barnett Bank OF S. Fla., N.A., 604 So. 2d 937 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)
- Hialeah, Inc. v. Dade Cnty., 490 So. 2d 998 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)
- Carlton J. Clark v. State, 954 So. 2d 1240 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)
- Jordan v. Griley, 667 So. 2d 493 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)