Ala v. Chesser

• Decision Date: 17 February 2009
• Docket Number: No. 1D08-2195.,1D08-2195.
• Citation: 5 So.3d 715
• Parties: Larry ALA, Appellant, v. Royce CHESSER, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

5 So.3d 715

Larry ALA, Appellant, v. Royce CHESSER, Appellee.

No. 1D08-2195.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

February 17, 2009.

Mark J. Feather of Mark J. Feather, P.A., Trenton, for Appellant.

Gregory V. Beauchamp, Chiefland and Jeffrey R. Dollinger of Scruggs & Carmichael, P.A., Gainesville, for Appellee.

BENTON, J.

Larry Ala appeals an order dismissing with prejudice, as barred by the statute of frauds, a two-count complaint he filed against Royce Chesser. We cannot agree that the statute of frauds precludes his claim seeking relief for unjust enrichment, and reverse the trial court's dismissal of count one for that reason. We affirm the dismissal of count two seeking rescission and cancellation, however, because we conclude such relief is unavailable here.

I.

Mr. Ala's second amended complaint¹ alleges that, in separate proceedings initiated by Mr. Chesser before Mr. Ala agreed to convey land to him, Mr. Chesser obtained a summary final judgment in foreclosure² ordering the sale of the property and application of the sale proceeds against the $88,001.53 debt Mr. Ala conceded he then owed Mr. Chesser. Before the foreclosure sale (scheduled to take place on June 19, 2006), according to the complaint, the parties agreed that Mr. Chesser would cancel the foreclosure sale in exchange for a quitclaim deed to the property and pay Mr. Ala $61,998.47 ($150,000 less the amount due under the summary final judgment of foreclosure).

Pursuant to the parties' oral agreement, the complaint alleged, Mr. Ala executed and delivered to Mr. Chesser a quitclaim deed, after which Mr. Chesser "told third parties who were interested in purchasing the property at the foreclos[ur]e sale not to participate at the sale because he already had a deed from [Mr. Ala]." The complaint alleged that, although Mr. Chesser accepted the quitclaim deed, he paid Mr. Ala nothing for the property and did not cancel the foreclosure sale. As a result, the complaint alleged, Mr. Chesser was the sole bidder at the foreclosure sale and obtained the property with a bid of $100.³

II.

"For purposes of ruling on the motion to dismiss, the trial court was obliged to treat as true all of the amended complaint's well-pleaded allegations, including those that incorporate attachments, and to look no further than the amended complaint and its attachments." Shands Teaching Hosp. and Clinics, Inc. v. Beech St. Corp., 899 So.2d 1222, 1224 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005) (quoting City of Gainesville v. State, Dep't of Transp., 778 So.2d 519, 522 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)). We are under the same obligation.⁴ Whether the complaint states a viable cause of action is a question of law, a question we consider de novo on review. See Andrew v. Shands at Lake Shore, Inc., 970 So.2d 887, 889 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007).

In count one, appellant claimed Mr. Chesser had been unjustly enriched by "receiv[ing] the Deed prior to the foreclosure sale without paying the value thereof" to appellant and sought damages, interest, costs and reasonable attorney's fees. In count two, appellant sought rescission and cancellation of the certificate of title issued following the foreclosure sale, restoration of title in himself, and cancellation and rescission of the quitclaim deed. The trial court dismissed both counts with prejudice, ruling any action barred by the statute of frauds because appellant's claims were "founded on allegations of an oral agreement to transfer an interest in real property."

A.

In count one, Mr. Ala sought to recover based upon Mr. Chesser's unjust enrichment when he accepted the quitclaim deed he allegedly induced Mr. Ala to give him, without giving anything in exchange. See Williams v. Grogan, 100 So.2d 407, 410 (Fla.1958) ("The rule is well established in Florida and elsewhere to the effect that when a person acquires title to property through the influence of a confidential relationship or otherwise obtains an advantage which he should not in good conscience be permitted to retain, a court of equity will prevent the abuse of the confidence and grant relief on the broad principle that one should not be permitted to be unjustly enriched under such circumstances at the expense of another.").

A claim for unjust enrichment seeks restitution from a party allegedly unjustly enriched. See Restatement of Restitution § 1, at 12 (1937) ("A person who has been unjustly enriched at the expense of another is required to make restitution to the other."). "[A]n action for restitution ... is not regarded as an action `upon' the contract within the meaning or purpose of the Statute of Frauds, and the remedy is not in general affected by the Statute." Harrison v. Pritchett, 682 So.2d 650, 652 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (quoting Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 141, cmt. a (1981)).

The statute of frauds "grew out of a purpose to intercept the frequency and success of actions based on nothing more than loose verbal statements or mere innuendos" and "should be strictly construed to prevent the fraud it was designed to correct." Yates v. Ball, 132 Fla. 132, 138, 181 So. 341, 344 (Fla.1937) (stating "so long as [the statute] can be made to effectuate this purpose, courts should be reluctant to take cases from its protection"). In relevant part, the statute of frauds provides:

No action shall be brought ... upon any contract for the sale of lands ... unless the agreement or promise upon which such action shall be brought, or some note or memorandum thereof shall be in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith or by some other person by her or him thereunto lawfully authorized.

§ 725.01, Fla. Stat. (2007). But Mr. Ala relies here on cases holding that the statute of frauds does not defeat recovery where the party seeking redress proves full performance on his part of an oral agreement for the conveyance of land. See Burke v. Napieracz, 674 So.2d 756, 758 (Fla. 1st DCA 1996) (recognizing the "longstanding exception to the statute of frauds ... [that] when a party to an oral contract has fully performed his or her obligations under the contract, the statute of frauds may not be employed as a defense" (citing Yates v. Ball, 132 Fla. 132, 181 So. 341 (1937))).

The statute of frauds is no bar to count one of appellant's second amended complaint because it alleged that Mr. Ala fully performed. See Brodie v. All Corp. of USA, 876 So.2d 577, 579 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) ("Full performance of an agreement takes the agreement outside the Statute of Frauds."); W.B.D., Inc. v. Howard Johnson Co., 382 So.2d 1323, 1327 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980) ("When an oral contract has been fully performed by one party, the statute of frauds may not be employed as a defense, even though the subject matter of the contract is the conveyance of an interest in land."); see also McGee v. Emmer Dev. Corp., 541 So.2d 1292, 1294 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989) ("Partial or complete performance removes an agreement from the statute of frauds irrespective of whether such an agreement contains as the subject the conveyance of land." (quoting Futch v. Head, 511 So.2d 314, 319 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987))); Elliott v. Timmons, 519 So.2d 671, 672 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988) ("It is well-established that partial or complete performance removes an oral contract from the statute of frauds." (citing Futch, 511 So.2d at 319)).

The doctrines of part and full performance apply where a party to an oral agreement for the conveyance of land seeks relief in equity, even where an action for damages at law arising out of the same agreement would be barred by the statute of frauds.⁵ Remedying unjust enrichment is affording equitable relief. See Kolski ex rel. Kolski v. Kolski, 731 So.2d 169, 172 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999) (holding statute of frauds "simply inapplicable" to claims for "unjust enrichment/restitution and the imposition of a constructive trust"). See also Harrison, 682 So.2d at 652 (holding statute of frauds could not bar a claim for quantum meruit relief, "a ... variety of restitution" (quoting B & F of Clearwater, Inc. v. Wesley Constr. Co., 237 So.2d 790, 792 (Fla.2d DCA 1970))).

B.

Appellant also sought equitable relief in count two, in the form of rescission and cancellation both of the quitclaim deed and of the certificate of title issued to Mr. Chesser in the separate foreclosure proceeding. The statute of frauds does not bar this count, either. But other circumstances — apparent from the face of the second amended complaint and its attachments — support dismissal of this count. See D.R. Horton, Inc. — Jacksonville v. Peyton, 959 So.2d 390, 397-98 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007) (noting that under the "tipsy coachman" rule, "[w]hen the trial court reaches the right result, but for the wrong reasons, that decision will be upheld on appeal if there is any basis which would support the judgment in the record" (citing Dade County Sch. Bd. v. Radio Station WQBA, 731 So.2d 638, 644-45 (Fla. 1999))).

According to the allegations, Mr. Ala knew Mr. Chesser had breached their oral agreement by the time of the foreclosure sale. Mr. Ala could, therefore, have raised objections to the foreclosure sale before the clerk issued a certificate of title. See Opportunity Funding I, LLC v. Otetchestvennyi, 909 So.2d 361, 362 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005) (holding that the clerk "lacks authority to issue a certificate of title ... when an objection to a foreclosure sale is timely filed"); Nelson v. Santora, 570 So.2d 1374, 1376 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) (observing that statute directs clerk of court to issue certificate of title following foreclosure sale within ten days only if no objections have been filed within that time and holding that "obviously," where "the trial court has received objections to the sale[,] ... those must be resolved before title can issue"); O'Neal v. McElhiney, 172 So.2d 492, 494 (Fla. 1st DCA 1965) (recognizing power of chancellor in foreclosure proceedings "to confirm or set aside a foreclosure sale").

By the time the original complaint was filed in the...