Aventura Mgmt., LLC v. Spiaggia Ocean Condo. Ass'n, Inc.

• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: ROTHENBERG, J.
• Citation: Aventura Mgmt., LLC v. Spiaggia Ocean Condo. Ass'n, Inc., 149 So.3d 690 (Fla. App. 2014)
• Decision Date: 05 March 2014
• Docket Number: No. 3D13–1437.,3D13–1437.
• Parties: AVENTURA MANAGEMENT, LLC, Appellant, v. SPIAGGIA OCEAN CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellee.

149 So.3d 690

AVENTURA MANAGEMENT, LLC, Appellant

v.SPIAGGIA OCEAN CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellee.

No. 3D13–1437.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

March 5, 2014.

Brett Feinstein, Miami Beach, for appellant.

Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A., and Scott A. Cole ; Association Law Group, and Ramon C. Palacio, Miami Beach, and Benjamin Solomon, North Bay Village; Seipp, Flick & Hosley, LLP, and Douglas H. Stein, Miami, for appellee.

Before ROTHENBERG, EMAS and FERNANDEZ, JJ.

Opinion

ROTHENBERG, J.

This case returns to us on precisely the same issue decided one year ago in Aventura Management, LLC v. Spiaggia Ocean Condominium Ass'n, 105 So.3d 637 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013) (hereinafter referred to as “Spiaggia I ”). Despite the excellent oral argument by Benjamin Solomon before this Court, the trial court misinterpreted the majority opinion in Spiaggia I, so we again reverse and instruct the trial court to enter judgment in favor of Aventura Management. We write specifically to provide clarity to our holding in Spiaggia I.

The facts of this case are becoming all too familiar, as the housing market's dip and subsequent rebound have spurred a bevy of factually similar litigation. Spiaggia Ocean Condominium Association, Inc. (“Spiaggia” or “the Association”) is the condominium association that manages the condominium unit (“the Unit”) that is the subject of this litigation. The Unit was purchased by an individual (“the original owner”) who obtained a loan from the Bank of New York (“the Bank”) with a promissory note secured by a mortgage on the Unit. Additionally, the original owner was responsible for all assessments charged by the Association for the upkeep and maintenance of the condominium.

Shortly after purchasing the Unit, the original owner became delinquent on both his condominium association assessments and mortgage payments. This delinquency gave both the Association and the Bank the right to foreclose on the property—with the Bank's superior rights stemming from the note and mortgage, and the Association's secondary rights statutorily provided in section 718.116, Florida Statutes (2009). Spiaggia initiated a foreclosure action against the original owner for unpaid assessments, received a default final judgment of foreclosure in July 2009, and scheduled a foreclosure sale for December 2009. In September 2009, prior to the scheduled foreclosure sale, the Bank initiated foreclosure proceedings against the original owner and named Spiaggia as a defendant.

Spiaggia placed the sole bid at its foreclosure sale and took title to the Unit subject to the first mortgage held by the Bank. Following the foreclosure sale, Spiaggia, as the Unit's new owner, rented the Unit to a third party and collected rent from that tenant for the full period in which it held title to the Unit. The proceeds from the rent payments were used to pay off the assessment fees as they became due. Subsequently, the Bank obtained a final judgment of foreclosure and held its own foreclosure sale of the Unit. Aventura Management, LLC (“Aventura Management” or “the Appellant”) purchased the Unit at the Bank's foreclosure sale in September 2010.

After Aventura Management acquired the Unit, Spiaggia attempted to recover from Aventura Management the past-due assessments, late fees, and interest that had accrued dating back to the original owner's default. Spiaggia argued that Aventura Management was liable under section 718.116(1)(a), which provides in pertinent part:

A unit owner, regardless of how his or her title has been acquired, including by purchase at a foreclosure sale or by deed in lieu of foreclosure, is liable for all assessments which come due while he or she is the unit owner. Additionally, a unit owner is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for all unpaid assessments that came due up to the time of transfer of title.

(emphasis added). The trial court interpreted section 718.116 as providing that Aventura Management, as the current owner, was jointly and severally liable with the original owner, but not with Spiaggia, for the past-due assessments and ordered Aventura Management to pay the full amount of the unpaid assessments.

On appeal, this Court reversed the trial court's order in a split decision that included a vigorous dissent from Judge Shepherd. The majority opinion found that Spiaggia's lien against the original owner survived its foreclosure action and that Spiaggia was not exempted from...