395 So.3d 574

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
HOTEL LA PETITE MUSE, LLC ,
Appellant, v. VERZURA CONSTRUCTION, INC.,

Appellee. No. 3D23-318

Opinion Filed June 5, 2024
Rehearing Denied July 9, 2024

Synopsis

A contractor brought an action against a project owner to foreclose on a construction lien. The trial court entered a lien foreclosure judgment in favour of the contractor. The project owner appealed.

The appellate court held that there was competent, substantial evidence supporting the trial court’s findings, including that the project owner had waived its defence that the contractor failed to provide a valid and enforceable final construction affidavit.

Outcome: Affirmed.

Procedural Posture

Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County
Lower Tribunal No. 17-14452
Judge: Carlos Lopez

Parties and Representation

Appellant:
Represented by ALGO Law Firm, LLP and Harvey J. Sepler

Appellee:
Represented by Crabtree & Auslander, including John G. Crabtree, Charles M. Auslander, and Brian C. Tackenberg

Court and Judges

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District
Before Logue, C.J., and Lindsey and Gordo, JJ.
Opinion by Gordo, J.

Opinion

Hotel La Petite Muse, LLC (“HLP”) appealed an amended final judgment entered in favour of Verzura Construction, Inc. (“Verzura”). The court exercised jurisdiction under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030(b)(1)(A).

The appellate court reaffirmed the standard of review for bench trials, noting that findings of fact must be upheld where supported by competent, substantial evidence and are presumed correct unless clearly erroneous.

On appeal, HLP argued that the trial court erred in entering judgment because the construction lien did not meet statutory requirements, specifically alleging that Verzura failed to provide a valid final construction affidavit.

Following a four-day bench trial, the trial court found that Verzura satisfied all prerequisites for filing the lien and presented uncontroverted expert testimony confirming both the validity of the lien and the accuracy of the claimed amounts.

Although HLP challenged the sufficiency of the affidavit, the appellate court found sufficient evidence supporting the trial court’s conclusions, including that HLP had waived this defence by failing to plead it with the required specificity.

Key Legal Principle

A contractor’s affidavit is a condition precedent to a lien foreclosure action. However, failure by the property owner to specifically and with particularity plead non-performance of that condition constitutes a waiver of the defence.

Disposition

Affirmed.

Citation

Hotel La Petite Muse, LLC v. Verzura Construction, Inc., 395 So. 3d 574 (Fla. 3d DCA 2024)
49 Fla. L. Weekly D1181