Real Estate Litigation

Florida Third District Court of Appeal affirming the trial court’s order vacating a default judgment in foreclosure action, finding excusable neglect properly established where the default resulted from attorney abandonment rather than client conduct. Foreclosure defense / appellate litigation.

Final judgment of partition in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County, resolving a decades-long dispute over jointly owned residential property. After the marriage was dissolved, the defendant allegedly retained possession without accounting to the co-owner for over thirty years. Following the defendant’s default, a non-jury hearing on damages produced a final judgment of $393,400.85, including prejudgment interest under Fla. Stat. § 55.03 and attorneys’ fees under Fla. Stat. § 64.081. The matter ultimately settled post-judgment and the property sold.

Partial summary judgment in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County, for a condominium employee who alleged he developed lung cancer from years of exposure to sulfur emissions from Chinese Drywall installed at the building. The court denied the association’s two motions for summary judgment — rejecting both a federal MDL bar defense and a statute of limitations argument — and granted plaintiffs’ cross-motion. On the limitations issue, the court applied the discovery rule for creeping diseases under Fla. Stat. § 95.031(2)(a), holding that a cancer diagnosis alone does not start the four-year clock absent evidence the plaintiff knew the disease was caused by Chinese Drywall.

Obtained disbursement of surplus foreclosure proceeds for a homeowner who retained The Burton Firm after the foreclosure sale had already occurred. Applying Garcia v. Stewart, 906 So. 2d 1117 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005), the court ordered the full surplus remitted to the former owner over a competing creditor.

Wrongful death and personal injury claim alleging that Chinese Drywall in a rental unit at an Aventura high-rise caused a tenant’s fatal lung cancer. Plaintiff Adriana Grillet alleged her husband Juan Merino was assured before signing his lease that no Chinese Drywall was present. Defendants denied causation. Covered by NBC Miami.