Greenwich Ass'n v. Greenwich Apartments

• Decision Date: 09 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 3D07-1771.,3D07-1771.
• Citation: 979 So.2d 1116
• Parties: GREENWICH ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellant, v. GREENWICH APARTMENTS, INC. and Alliance TD Limited Partnership, Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

979 So.2d 1116

GREENWICH ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellant, v. GREENWICH APARTMENTS, INC. and Alliance TD Limited Partnership, Appellees.

No. 3D07-1771.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

April 9, 2008.

Rehearing Denied May 15, 2008.

Hyman Spector & Mars and Michael L. Hyman and Marc A. Smiley, Miami, for appellant.

Brinkley, Morgan, Solomon, Tatum, Stanley, Lunny & Crosby and Thomas R. Tatum and Stacy M. Schwartz, Fort Lauderdale, for appellees.

Before COPE, WELLS, and ROTHENBERG, JJ.

ROTHENBERG, Judge.

The plaintiff, Greenwich Association, Inc. ("plaintiff"), appeals a final order dismissing its claims against the defendants, Greenwich Apartments, Inc. and its successor in title, Alliance TD Limited Partnership (collectively, "the Alliance defendants"). We affirm.

In 1999, the plaintiff, a not-for-profit Florida corporation, sued Greenwich Apartments, Inc., a neighboring residential complex, over the disputed use of a two-story parking structure owned by the plaintiff. In April 2001, the parties entered into a settlement agreement that, in part, granted Greenwich Apartments, Inc. the exclusive right to use one story of the parking structure. The plaintiff's president signed the settlement agreement on behalf of the unit owners. However, this action was not submitted to the unit owners for a vote. In May 2001, the settlement agreement was incorporated "as if set forth at length" into a final order of the circuit court dismissing the case. No appeal was filed.

In April 2005, the plaintiff filed the instant lawsuit seeking reformation or cancellation of the settlement agreement ("Count I"). The complaint included a second count seeking injunctive relief for failure to maintain the premises ("Count II"). The Alliance defendants moved for partial summary judgment on Count I. The trial court granted the motion, finding that the settlement agreement was subsumed into a court order, and therefore, the plaintiff was limited to an appeal from that judgment or to the rights provided by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b), which on the present facts, required the plaintiff to seek relief before the original trial court within one year of the judgment. Thereafter, the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed Count II. The trial court issued its final judgment of dismissal, and this appeal followed.

Our review of the trial court's final summary judgment is de novo. Volusia County v. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, L.P., 760 So.2d 126, 130 (Fla.2000); Sheikh v. Coregis Ins. Co., 943 So.2d 242, 243 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006).

After the time for appeal has passed, challenges to a final judgment, decree, order, or proceeding are generally brought in accordance with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540, which provides in relevant part:

(b) Mistakes; Inadvertence; Excusable Neglect; Newly Discovered Evidence; Fraud; etc. On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or a party's legal representative from a final judgment, decree, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time to move for a new trial or rehearing; (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party; (4) that the judgment or decree is void; or (5) that the judgment or decree has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment or decree upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment or decree should have prospective application. The motion shall be filed within a reasonable time, and for reasons (1), (2), and (3) not more than 1 year after the judgment, decree, order, or proceeding was entered or taken. A motion under this subdivision does not affect the finality of a judgment or decree or suspend its operation. This rule does not limit the power of a court to entertain an independent action to relieve a party from a judgment, decree, order, or proceeding or to set aside a judgment or decree for fraud upon the court.

Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.540(b).

The plaintiff first argues that the 2001 judgment must be stricken as void because the settlement agreement that it incorporated was the result of a void, ultra vires act of the plaintiff's president. We disagree, and hold that the 2001 judgment was voidable, not void. See Sterling Factors Corp. v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 968 So.2d 658, 666 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007) (concluding that where a court has subject matter and personal jurisdiction, an error in that court's judgment renders it reversible or...