ROBERT F. RAFF & BERNICE R. RAFF
v.
CITIMORTGAGE, INC.
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Robert and Bernice Raff appealed a foreclosure judgment entered against them by Citimortgage, Inc. The appellate court affirmed the foreclosure but reversed the award of attorney's fees for lack of sufficient evidence, reducing the final judgment by $3,717.50.
The court reversed the award of attorney's fees, holding that expert testimony from attorneys not involved in the case is required to support an award of attorney's fees. The court remanded with instructions to reduce the final judgment by the $3,717.50 in erroneously awarded attorney's fees.
[1] In a foreclosure action, an award of attorney's fees must be supported by expert testimony from attorneys who are not involved in the case regarding the reasonableness of…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“an award of attorney's fees must be supported by expert testimony from attorneys who are not involved in the case”
Court citing Sourcetrack, LLC v. Ariba, Inc., 34 So. 3d 766, 768 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)
Citimortgage sought foreclosure against the Raffs and requested attorney's fees of $3,717.50. At trial, the only testimony supporting the fee award ca…
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CASANUEVA, Judge.
Robert F. Raff and Bernice R. Raff appeal a final judgment of foreclosure entered in favor of Citimortgage, Inc. We find merit only in their argument that the trial court improperly awarded attorney's fees to Citimortgage, and we reverse that portion of the final judgment.
The Raffs argue, and Citimortgage concedes, that there was insufficient evidence to support the award of attorney's fees. In Sourcetrack, LLC v. Ariba, Inc., 34 So. 3d 766, 768 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010), this court noted that an award of attorney's fees must be supported by expert testimony from attorneys who are not involved in the case.
In the present case, the only testimony offered at trial to support an award of attorney's fees came from an employee of Citimortgage. She testified that Phelan Hallinan represents Citimortgage in this action and that Citimortgage is required to pay Phelan Hallinan a reasonable fee for its services. She was asked, "Can you tell me how much you are asking for?" The witness responded, "$3,717.50." As Citimortgage now concedes, this testimony was insufficient to support the award of fees. See Sciandra v. PennyMac Corp., 227 So. 3d 164, 164 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) ("[T]he trial court improperly awarded attorney's fees of $11,309 to PennyMac because PennyMac failed to present expert testimony as to the reasonableness of their attorney's hourly rate and hours expended.").
Therefore, we reverse the award of attorney's fees and remand with instructions to reduce the amount of the final judgment by $3,717.50. We affirm the final judgment of foreclosure in all other respects.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part; remanded with instructions.
BLACK and LUCAS, JJ., Concur.
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Citator
Authorities Cited
- Sourcetrack, LLC v. Ariba, Inc., 34 So. 3d 766 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)
- Sciandra v. Pennymac Corp., 227 So. 3d 164 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)