Toscano Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Dda Eng'rs, P.A., 3D18-1762

• Decision Date: 29 May 2019
• Docket Number: No. 3D18-1762,3D18-1762
• Citation: 274 So.3d 487
• Parties: TOSCANO CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellant, v. DDA ENGINEERS, P.A., f/k/a Donnell, Duquesne, & Albaisa, P.A., Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

274 So.3d 487

TOSCANO CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellant,
v.
DDA ENGINEERS, P.A., f/k/a Donnell, Duquesne, & Albaisa, P.A., Appellee.

No. 3D18-1762

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

Opinion filed May 29, 2019

Siegfried, Rivera, Hyman, Lerner, De La Torre, Mars & Sobel, P.A., and Jason B. Trauth, Miami, and James S. Czodli, for appellant.

Oramas & Associates, P.A., and John E. Oramas, Coral Gables, and Miles A. Archabal, for appellee.

Before EMAS, C.J., and SCALES, and LINDSEY, JJ.

LINDSEY, J.

Toscano Condominium Association, Inc. (the "Association") appeals the denial of its motion to file a fourth amended complaint to include Appellee DDA Engineers as a direct defendant in a multi-defendant action for construction and design defects in a condominium building. Because the Association

274 So.3d 489

was, at a minimum, on notice of the potential claims against DDA Engineers yet waited until after it had already been granted leave to amend on three prior occasions, and because the Association did not seek to assert those claims until more than two years after the filing of the complaint and more than six months after the trial court conducted its case management conference, we affirm, finding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the Association's motion for leave to amend.

I. BACKGROUND

The Association assumed control of the condominium at issue in June 2012. In September 2015, the Association filed this action against various defendants for damages allegedly arising from construction and design defects in the condominium. In May 2016, the Association amended its complaint to add more defendants. The Association further amended its complaint to add additional defendants in January and June of 2017. Thereafter, in June 2017, the trial court entered its Case Management Order setting various deadlines for pretrial events and scheduling the case for trial beginning July 16, 2018.¹ The order imposed an August 1, 2017 deadline for adding parties. Despite this deadline, the Association moved for leave to file a fourth amended complaint to add claims against DDA Engineers on November 30, 2017. The trial court denied the Association's motion to amend on January 22, 2018.² The Association now seeks review of the denial of its motion to file the fourth amended complaint.³

II. JURISDICTION

As an initial matter, DDA Engineers contends that this appeal is untimely because the Association relied on the trial court's dismissal order as a final judgment, which was entered about six months after the order denying leave to amend. According to DDA Engineers, the order denying the motion for leave to amend was a final and appealable order; therefore, the Association's appeal is untimely.

We disagree. "[A]n order denying leave to amend is a non-final and non-appealable order." Traveler v. Steiner Transocean Ltd., 895 So.2d 1191, 1192 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005) (citing Palomares v. Ocean Bank of Miami, 574 So.2d 1159, 1161 (Fla. 3d DCA), review denied, 587 So.2d 1328 (Fla. 1991) ). DDA Engineers mistakenly relies on Valcarcel v. Chase Bank USA NA, 54 So.3d 989, 990 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010), which held that "[a]n order dismissing an action without prejudice and without granting leave to amend is a final appealable order." But here, unlike in Valcarcel, the order denying the Association's motion for leave to amend did not dismiss the action. "For an order to be final, it must constitute an entry of a dismissal of the case. It is the dismissal of the case that is final and appealable ...." GMI, LLC v. Asociacion del Futbol Argentino, 174 So.3d 500, 501 (Fla....