Deltona House Rentals, Inc. v. Cloer, 98-775

• Decision Date: 18 June 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-775,98-775
• Citation: 734 So.2d 586
• Parties: 24 Fla. L. Weekly D1420 DELTONA HOUSE RENTALS, INC., Appellant, v. Maureen CLOER, as parent, etc., Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 586

734 So.2d 586

24 Fla. L. Weekly D1420

DELTONA HOUSE RENTALS, INC., Appellant, v. Maureen CLOER, as parent, etc., Appellee.

No. 98-775.

District Court of Appeal of Florida,

Fifth District.

June 18, 1999.

Wallace W. Tudhope, of Jack, Wyatt, Tolbert & Thompson, P.A., Maitland, for Appellant.

Michael C. Huddleston, of James, Zimmerman, Paul & Huddleston, LLP., DeLand, and Darren J. Elkind, of James, Zimmerman, Paul & Huddleston, LLP., Deltona, for Appellee.

GRIFFIN, C.J.

Deltona House Rentals, Inc. ["Deltona"] appeals the order denying Deltona's motion for attorney's fees under the offer of judgment statute. ¹ We reverse.

On January 13, 1993, Charles Cloer, III ["Charles"], age eleven, rode his younger sister's bicycle to visit his thirteen-year-old friend, Tiffany, on the front porch of the duplex her family rented from Deltona. He rode his bike to the front door where Tiffany approached him and stood with both hands on the handlebars. As they talked, Charles sat on the bike holding a drink in one hand, with one foot on the ground, and the other on a pedal, when he lost his balance and fell. Located on the porch as an ornament was an eagle made of cement which stood approximately 24" in height. When Charles fell, apparently either he or the bike struck the eagle, knocking it over. It tumbled onto his middle left finger, causing injury. Charles underwent surgery in 1994 to repair the damage to his finger.

Maureen Cloer, as Charles' parent and next friend, filed a complaint for negligence against Deltona, alleging that the eagle statue was a dangerous condition on their rental premises. Four months later, Deltona served an offer of judgment on Cloer in the amount of $101.00 pursuant to the offer of judgment statute, section 768.79, Florida Statutes. The offer was rejected by the plaintiff.

After some discovery, Deltona filed a motion for summary judgment. The court granted Deltona's motion finding no genuine issue of material fact that the eagle statue constituted a dangerous condition. According to the court, the "eagle statue posed no danger to anyone upon a reasonable inspection."

Cloer argued that the offer of judgment was not made in good faith in light of the child's medical bills in the amount of $7,000. Cloer argued that it would be unreasonable to believe that she would have accepted Deltona's offer:

They [Deltona] knew that she wouldn't accept $101. She wouldn't accept one dollar. That is the purpose of this statute, not to give them attorney's fees at the end if they're ultimately successful.

Deltona, however, argued that the standard to be applied was whether they had a reasonable basis to support the amount of their offer. They argued that their assessment from the commencement of the suit was that they had no liability based upon the facts of the case, a view later confirmed by the court's entry of summary judgment in their favor.

The...