Page 18 - Boca ViewPointe - September '21

Page 18, Viewpointe September 2021
New Change In Florida Condominium Act

That Should Impact Attorney’s Fee Awards In Litigation

Florida Statute 718.303, which governs condominium courts will need to grapple with is whether the amendment prospective application only.
associations, is titled “Obligations of owners and will apply retroactively to declaratory actions pending
occupants; remedies.” Section 718.303(1) grants on July 1, 2021 or whether the amendment will have Sachs Sax Caplan, P.L., Peter S. Sachs 
condominium associations and unit owners the power to
file certain actions against: (1) an association; (2) a unit
owner; (3) directors; and/or (4) tenants or other invitees
occupying a unit. Until June 30, 2021, Section 718.303(1)
applied to “[a]ctions for damages or for injunctive relief,
or both, for failure to comply” with Chapter 718, Florida
Statutes, and/or a condominium’s governing documents.
However, effective July 1, 2021, the Florida Legislature NoN-Toxic cancer immunotherapy
amended Section 718.303(1), by replacing “[a]ctions
for damages or for injunctive relief” with the broader
language of actions “at law or in equity.”
Under Florida law, each party is responsible for their own Available NoW
attorneys’ fees absent a contract or statute stating otherwise.
Importantly, Section 718.303(1) provides that the prevailing Safe and Effective!
party in such actions is entitled to recover attorney’s fees
from the non-prevailing party. Thus, prior to the amendment
of Section 718.303(1), a prevailing party in an action for This is the Original Immunotherapy that
damages or for injunctive relief under that statute was entitled
to attorney’s fees. But now prevailing parties are entitled to balances and optimizes your immune system to
an award of attorney’s fees in actions at law or in equity, or fight almost any type of cancer.
both relating to the failure to comply with Chapter 718 or
the governing documents.
Declaratory judgment actions are common causes of Hundreds of successes over the years.
action raised in Chapter 718 proceedings. For this action, a
plaintiff usually maintains that declaratory relief is needed Continuously available since 1977
on an issue where there is uncertainty as it relates to the
parties’ rights, duties, and status. Declaratory relief is neither in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island
damages nor injunctive relief. Thus, a prevailing party under
the prior version of Section 718.303(1) would not have been
entitled to recover attorney’s fees from the non-prevailing See our website for more info:
party. For example, in Angelo’s Aggregate Materials, Ltd.
v. Pasco Cty., 118 So. 3d 971, 975 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013), the www.Quantumimmunotherapy.net
appellate court construed “damages or injunctive relief”
expressed in a county ordinance “to apply only to damages or call for more information: Toll-free number (561) 766-0878
and injunctions and not to declaratory actions.”
But now Section 718.303(1) specifies actions “at law Email: Quantimmuno@gmail.com
or in equity,” and courts should interpret the statute by
concluding that attorney’s fees are available in declaratory
judgment actions. Florida Statute 720.305(1), which Serving over 108,000 satisfied customers since 1976
governs litigation in the homeowners’ associations context,
refers to “[a]ctions at law or in equity” and has done so
for some time. In Holiday Isle Improvement Ass’n, Inc. v. South Florida’s
Destin Parcel 160, LLC, 257 So. 3d 582, 583 (Fla. 1st DCA
2018), the appellate court concluded that a developer who Largest Plumbing
prevailed in a declaratory judgment action was entitled to Service Company!
attorney’s fees under Section 720.305(1).
In conclusion, the Legislature’s recent amendment to
Section 718.303(1) provides for an award of prevailing-
party attorney’s fees in particular actions “at law or in - Leak Detection
equity,” which should include declaratory judgment
actions—consistent with the HOA Act. The question that Residential & Commercial in walls or under slab
(up to 12 feet underground)

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