ALFREDO SALINAS
v.
U. S. BANK TRUST, N. A.

Fla. 2d DCA | 2019-11-01
No. 17-4902
Teodosio
Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (2019)

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Holding

An award of attorney's fees in a foreclosure judgment must be supported by expert testimony from an attorney not involved in the underlying case.


Headnotes

[1] Attorney's fee awards in foreclosure actions must be supported by expert testimony from an attorney not involved in the underlying case, not by an affidavit from the cred…

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Key Quotes

“An attorney's fee award must be supported by expert testimony from an attorney who is not involved in the underlying case.”

Court's statement of applicable law regarding proper evidentiary support for attorney's fee awards.

Facts & Procedural History

Alfredo and Guadaloupe Salinas appealed a final judgment of foreclosure entered by the trial court in favor of U.S. Bank Trust, N.A., which included a…

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Opinion of the Court

NORTHCUTT, Judge.

Alfredo and Guadaloupe Salinas appeal the final judgment of foreclosure entered in favor of U.S. Bank Trust, N.A. We affirm without comment on all issues other than the attorney's fee award, which we reverse. The foreclosure judgment, entered after a nonjury trial, included an award of attorney's fees based solely on an objected-to affidavit by the attorney for U.S. Bank Trust. No other evidence was submitted in support of the claim for fees. An attorney's fee award must be supported by expert testimony from an attorney who is not involved in the underlying case. Raff v. Citimortgage, Inc., 272 So. 3d 859, 859 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019) (citing Sourcetrack LLC v. Ariba, Inc., 34 So. 3d 766, 768 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010)). Accordingly, we reverse the attorney's fee award and remand with instructions to reduce the amount of the final judgment by $14,341.60.

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

SILBERMAN and ATKINSON, JJ., Concur.


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