POOLS BY TROPICANA, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
ETTA J. SWAN, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1964-10-07
No. 5343
" WHITE, Acting C. J., and ANDREWS, J., concur.
167 So. 2d 775 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1964) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

Pools by Tropicana appeals the dismissal of its equity action seeking foreclosure of a mechanic's lien for unpaid construction of a swimming pool on defendant's property. The court reverses, finding the complaint states a valid claim where the defendant clearly received the benefit of the completed pool and the contractual relationship with the builder is adequately pleaded.


Holding

The court held that the motion to dismiss was error and the action should not have been transferred to the law side. The complaint states a valid equitable claim for mechanic's lien foreclosure where the defendant clearly obtained the pool, it was built with her knowledge, and she has failed to fully pay for completed work that appears to have been satisfactorily performed.


Key Quotes

“When the contract is made directly with the owner or through his agent, neither the cautionary notice nor the recorded lien notice is necessary as a prerequisite to enforce the lien”

Establishes that notice requirements are not prerequisites when the contract is directly with the owner or owner's agent, supporting plaintiff's right to enforce the lien

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Facts & Procedural History

Pools by Tropicana contracted to construct a swimming pool on Etta J. Swan's property, allegedly completing the work on August 12, 1963. The balance d…

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Opinion of the Court
BARNS, PAUL D., Associate Judge.

BARNS, PAUL D., Associate Judge.

The lower court sustained the appellee-defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint in equity seeking foreclosure of a mechanic’s lien against land of the defendant-appellee; upon sustaining the motion to dismiss the lower court transferred the action to the law side of the court; thereupon plaintiff entered this interlocutory appeal. We find error and reverse.

The complaint seeks foreclosure of a lien for the balance due for the services rendered and material furnished in the construction of a swimming pool on defendant’s property which is alleged to have been satisfactorily completed. The notice of lien attached to the complaint states the completion date to have been August 12, 1963. It is further alleged that the balance due on the contract is $2,465.00 which the defendant has failed and refused to pay after repeated demands; and that twelve months have not elapsed since the furnishing of the last material and labor.

Chapter 63-135 Acts of Florida of 1963, now F.S. Chapter 84, F.S.A. (1963) was made effective on October 1, 1963 but plaintiff’s rights are governed by F.S. Chapter 84, F.S.A. (1961), the applicable law before the 1963 enactment.

Any question as to the sufficiency of the notice of claim of lien filed of rec*776ord and served on the defendant, at this time, appears to be moot by reason of the allegations of the complaint as above stated and hereinafter recited and the judicial interpretations of F.S. Chapter 84, F.S.A. (1961). In Buckingham Properties, Inc. v. E. R. Anderson & Co., Fla.App.1961, 125 So.2d 756, per Judge Kanner, it is stated that in suit seeking to enforce a mechanic’s lien “[w]hen the contract is made directly with the owner or through his agent, neither the cautionary notice nor the recorded lien notice is necessary as a prerequisite to enforce the lien” [with citations]; see also Maule Industries, Inc. v. Trugman, Fla.1961, 59 So.2d 27. Remedial statutes should be liberally construed so as to advance the remedy.

The contract for the construction of the pool was (or seems to have been) executed not by the defendant Swan, but by the appellant-builder and one “Ed Reining for Mr. Swan — owner.” The complaint alleges that “Defendant, Etta J. Swan, and her husband, James W. Swan, as her agent authorized Reining Construction Company to obtain a sub-contractor on her behalf to build and install a swimming pool on the aforesaid real propertyand that she discussed and agreed upon the plans and price: that “Etta J. Swan and her husband, James W. Swan, as her agent being desirous of improving said parcel of land by and through their authorized agent, Edward Reining d/b/a Reining Construction Company, Inc. did enter into a contract on or about the 21st day of May,. 1963 * * with POOLS BY TROPICANA, INC.” for the construction of the pool in question.

It clearly appears that the complaint alleges that Reining was the agent of the defendant and not the contracting party; or that if Reining was the contracting party she was a disclosed or an undisclosed principal. In either event the plaintiff would be the primary contractor and not a subcontractor. At least it appears that she knowingly got the pool and that it was built by the plaintiff with the knowledge of the defendant and that she has not fully paid for it.

The complaint is not without equity and it was error to sustain the motion to dismiss and transfer the suit to the law side of the court; wherefore the order appealed from is reversed.

Reversed.

" WHITE, Acting C. J., and ANDREWS, J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Canada DRY Bottling Co. OF Fla., Inc. v. Meekins, Inc., 219 So. 2d 439 (Fla. 3d DCA 1969)
    …dial statutes should be interpreted liberally in order to effect the purpose of their enactment. Howard v. American Service Mutual Insurance Co., Fla.App.1963, 151 So. 2d 682, 8 A.L.R.3d 382; Pools By Tropicana, Inc. [*441] v. Swan, Fla.App.1964, 167 So. 2d 775; Grammer v. Roman, Fla.App.1965, 174 So. 2d 443. We therefore cannot interpret § 85.266 in the manner the appellants would have us do for that would defeat the purpose of § 85.03.7 We conclude that no error has been demonstrated under the appellan…
  • Logan Constr. Co. v. Warren Bros. Constr. Co., 257 So. 2d 52 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972)
    …matter of law in entering a money judgment against the appellant general contractor. Statutes of a remedial nature, such as the Mechanic’s Lien Statute, should be liberally construed to advance the remedy intended. Pools by Tropicana, Inc. v. Swan, 167 So. 2d 775 (Fla.App.2nd, 1964). Also see Canada Dry Bottling Company v. Meekins, Inc. of Dade County, 219 So. 2d 439 (Fla.App.3rd, 1969). Accordingly, the judgment appealed herein is affirmed. SPECTOR, C. J., concurs. RAWLS, J., dissents.…

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