LEO JOHN GUERIN, JR.
v.
COUNTRYSIDE NORTH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, INC.
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Leo John Guerin, Jr. appealed a foreclosure judgment entered against him by the Countryside North Community Association. The court affirmed the foreclosure but reversed the attorney's fees award due to the trial court's failure to make specific written findings regarding the reasonableness of the hourly rate and hours expended, as required by Florida law.
The trial court's award of attorney's fees was facially erroneous because it lacked the specific written findings required by Rowe regarding the hourly rate and hours expended. The judgment must be reversed in this limited respect and remanded for the trial court to make the required findings.
[1] A final judgment awarding attorney's fees must include specific findings on the reasonable hourly rate and the number of hours reasonably expended by counsel.
[2] The absence of specific written findings regarding the reasonableness of attorney's fees renders a judgment facially erroneous.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the absence of the required [Rowe] findings in the written order renders the order fundamentally erroneous on its face”
Establishes that without specific Rowe findings, the attorney's fees award is facially defective
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe Countryside North Community Association obtained a final judgment of foreclosure against Leo John Guerin, Jr. The judgment included an award of $2…
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LABRIT, Judge. Leo John Guerin, Jr., appeals a final judgment of foreclosure rendered in favor of the Countryside North Community Association, Inc. (Association). We affirm the final judgment in all respects but one. The final judgment awards $265.02 in attorneys' fees to the Association for work of the Association's prior counsel, but the judgment lacks specific findings on prior counsel's reasonable hourly rate and the number of hours prior counsel reasonably expended. These findings are required by Florida Patient's Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1985), and the final judgment is facially erroneous without them. See
Harris v. McKinney, 20 So. 3d 400, 403 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) ("[T]he absence of the required [Rowe] findings in the written order renders the order fundamentally erroneous on its face . . . ."); see also R.M.A. v. J.A.S., 269 So. 3d 649, 652 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019) ("Reversal is required unless the trial court makes specific written findings as to [the] Rowe factors."). We therefore reverse the final judgment in this limited respect and remand with instructions that the trial court make specific findings on prior counsel's fees as Rowe requires.
We affirm the remainder of the final judgment without comment.1 NORTHCUTT and CASANUEVA, JJ., Concur. Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.1 We note, however, that there appears to be a calculation error in the total attorneys' fees awarded in the final judgment, which the trial court should address on remand. The total award stated in paragraph1 of the judgment ($2,790.02) differs from the total of the components listed in paragraph 9 of the judgment ($2,734.82).
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Citator
Authorities Cited
- Fla. Patient's Comp. Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1985)
- Shep Harris, Jr. v. Zenoria T. McKINNEY, 20 So. 3d 400 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)
- R.M.A. v. J.A.S., 269 So. 3d 649 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019)