FOUNTAINVIEW ASSOCIATION, INC., #4, A FLORIDA CORPORATION NOT FOR PROFIT, AND FOUNTAINVIEW ASSOCIATION, INC., #5, A FLORIDA CORPORATION NOT FOR PROFIT, APPELLANTS,
v.
PAUL BELL, NORMAN FEINBERG, BELLE BELL AND SARALYNE FEINBERG, 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.
The court reviewed final decrees dismissing amended complaints filed by condominium associations against their organizers, which alleged unconscionable profits from land sales and excessive management fees.
The court was required to take as true all facts pleaded in the complaints, which alleged unconscionable profits and excessive fees, and was reviewing the dismissal of these complaints for failure to state a cause of action.
Organizers of condominium projects formed non-profit associations, conveyed land to them at allegedly inflated prices, and entered into management con…
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 Promoter Liability cases and more on FLexlaw
These consolidated appeals bring on for review the correctness of final decrees dismissing the appellants’ amended complaints in separate actions, for failure to state a cause of action. The plaintiffs declined to amend further and elected to stand on their amended pleadings.
In reviewing the chancellor’s actions, we are required to take as true all facts pleaded in the complaints. See: Bailey v. Folks, Fla.App.1966, 182 So.2d 477; Russell v. Community Blood Bank, Inc., Fla.App.1966, 185 So.2d 749; Sardell v. Malanio, Fla.App.1966, 189 So.2d 393; C. D. Utility Corp. v. Maxwell, Fla.App.1966, 189 So.2d 643. Examining the limited record in light of these principles, the following appears: Some time prior to 1964, the individual defendants had title, to certain undeveloped land in Dade County, Florida, upon which they determined to erect multi-unit apartment buildings and to sell the individual living units therein to prospective purchasers in fee simple, pursuant to Ch. 711, Fla.Stat., F.S.A., known as the Florida Condominium Act. Pursuant to this plan, the individual defendants caused the corporate appellants to be duly organized as corporations not for profit under Ch. 617, Fla.Stat., F.S.A. As the organizers of the plaintiffs, the individual defendants were the officers and directors. Subsequent to the incorporations, the defendants caused certain of the aforede-scribed land to be conveyed or leased to the plaintiff associations at what is alleged to have been an inflated price or upon inflated terms. Thereafter, pursuant to § 711.12(2), Fla.Stat., F.S.A., the defendants caused the plaintiff associations to enter into management contracts with a third party for a period of years at alleged exorbitant fees. The associations contracted and sold the individual condominium units, and the purchasers thereof received a fee simple title to their individual units and became members of the plaintiff associations. Upon completion of the project, the individual defendants terminated their official positions with the plaintiffs.
The plaintiff associations contend that: they have a right to recover of and from the individual defendants any unconscionable profit which they may have made on the sale of the land and construction of the improvements thereon, or lease of the land to the associations; and relief from any excessive fees that they may be obligated to pay on the management contracts. They contend that at the time the defendants negotiated said transactions they were officers of the associations and fiduciaries for all prospective members, citing Old Dominion Copper Mining and Smelting Co. v. Bigelow, 203 Mass. 159, 89 N.E. 193; Northridge Cooperative Section One v. Thirty-Second Avenue Construction Corp., 2 N.Y.2d 514, 161 N.Y.S.2d 404, 141 N.E.2d 802; Mitchell Gardens No. Three Cooperative Corp. v. Third B. N. Associates, Inc., 5 Misc.2d 454, 162 N.Y.S.2d 152; Shore Terrace Cooperative, Inc. v. Roche, 25 A.D.2d 666, 268 N.Y.S.2d 278.1
The defendants contend that because they were the sole officers and directors of the associations at the time the transactions took place, they were not liable to the associations because there were no other members actually belonging to the associations at that time. See: Lake Mabel Development Corporation v. Bird, 99 Fla. 253, 126 *659So. 356; Old Dominion Copper Mining and Smelting Co. v. Lewisohn, 210 U.S. 206, 28 S.Ct. 634, 52 L.Ed. 1025.
We affirm. This is not a case of first impression in Florida. If it were, we might be inclined to the view espoused by the appellants. However, it appears that the Florida Supreme Court opinion cited by the appellee, Lake Mabel Development Corporation v. Bud, supra, disposes of the question.
In the enactment of the Florida Condominium Act, the Legislature chose to permit an association that operates such a project to function as, but not limited to, a corporation for profit and as a corporation not for profit. See: § 711.12(1), Fla. Stat., F.S.A. Therefore, in construing the statute, it is apparent that the Legislature considered that each of the same class should be treated equally. See: Davis v. Florida Power Co., 64 Fla. 246, 60 So. 759; Di Lustro v. Penton, 106 Fla. 198, 142 So. 898; Tittsworth v. Akin, 118 Fla. 454, 159 So. 779; 6 Fla.Jur., Constitutional Law, § 300; 16 Am.Jur.2d, Constitutional Law, § 502; 50 Am.Jur., Statutes, § 372. Therefore, although the promoters caused corporations not for profit to be organized; they could have organized corporations for profit and we hold that their conduct is governed by the rules applicable to private corporations for profit, and are thus entitled to have the principles of law enunciated in the case of Lake Mabel Development Corporation v. Bird, supra, applied to their activities, which activities have been found by the supreme court to be not objectionable in this State.
The other error urged by the appellants has been examined and found to be without merit, as there were no allegations in the amended complaints that the books and records were in the possession of the individual defendants. See: South Florida Telegraph Company v. Maloney, 34 Fla. 338, 16 So. 280; 25 Fla.Jur., Pleadings, § 47; 41 Am.Jur., Pleadings, § 78;' 71 C.J.S. Pleadings § 73.
Therefore, for the reasons above stated, the final order here under review is hereby affirmed.
Affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (11 total)
-
Burleigh House Condo., Inc. v. Buchwald, 368 So. 2d 1316 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979)….” Thus, by Avila there was recognized and held to exist a cause of action which did not exist before that decision.1 Ten years prior thereto it had been held that suet a cause of action did not exist, in Fountainview Association, Inc. # 4 v. Bell, 203 So. 2d 657 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967). In that case this court affirmed an order by which a complaint of a condominium association seeking relief similar to that sought in the present case had been dismissed on the ground that it did not state a cause of action. On co…1 / 2
-
Point E. ONE Condo. Corp., Inc. v. Point E. Developers, Inc., 348 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)…minium recreational leases and management contracts comparable to the lease in this case have been upheld in the Florida courts. Point East Management Corp. v. Point East One Condominium Corp., 282 So. 2d 628 (Fla. 1973); Fountainview Ass’n v. Bell, 203 So. 2d 657 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967), aff’d, 214 So. 2d 609 (Fla.1968), although recently they have come under stricter judicial scrutiny. Avila South Condominium Ass’n v. Kappa Corp., 347 So. 2d 599 (Fla.) (Case No. 48,753, opinion filed March 31, 1977). None of the…
-
Fountainview Ass'n, Inc. v. Bell, 214 So. 2d 609 (Fla. 1968)…ERVIN, Justice (dissenting). This is a certiorari review of the decision of the District Court of Appeal, Third District, in Fountainview Association, Inc., v. Bell, 203 So. 2d 657, which decision has been certified to us by that court as one passing upon a question of great public interest. The Petitioners Fountainview Association, Inc., #4 and Fountainview Association, Inc., #5, both Florida corporations not for profit, as…1 / 2
Previewing 3 of 11 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited (11 total)
- Davis v. Fla. Power Co., 64 Fla. 246 (Fla. 1912)
- Old Dominion Copper Mining & Smelting Co. v. Lewisohn, 210 U.S. 206 (U.S. 1908)
- Lake Mabel Dev. Corp. v. Bird, 99 Fla. 253 (Fla. 1930)
- Russell v. Cmty. Blood Bank, Inc., 185 So. 2d 749 (Fla. 2d DCA 1966)
- Di Lustro v. Penton, 106 Fla. 198 (Fla. 1932)
- S. Fla. Tel. Co. v. Maloney, 34 Fla. 338 (Fla. 1894)
- C. D. Util. Corp. v. Maxwell, 189 So. 2d 643 (Fla. 4th DCA 1966)
- Spofford v. City Nat'l Bldg., Inc., 106 Fla. 160 (Fla. 1932)
- Tittsworth v. Akin, 118 Fla. 454 (Fla. 1935)
- Elmore S. Bailey v. Folks, 182 So. 2d 477 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966)