LOUIS CARAMBOT, ET AL.,
v.
LIZET MONCION, ET AL.,
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
In a landlord-tenant dispute, the appellate court reversed the trial court's denial of costs to the prevailing party, holding that while attorney's fees may be discretionary, costs are mandatory for any party recovering judgment under Florida Statute § 57.041.
Attorney's fees may be denied at the trial court's discretion based on whether the party prevailed on significant issues, but costs are mandatory for any party that recovers a judgment under Florida Statute § 57.041, regardless of the amount recovered.
[1] A trial court has broad discretion in determining which party prevailed on the significant issues for the purpose of awarding attorney's fees.
[2] A party recovering judgment is entitled as a matter of right to recover legal costs and charges.
Previewing 2 of 3 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 party recovering judgment shall recover all his or her legal costs and charges which shall be included in the judgment”
Establishes the mandatory nature of costs recovery under Florida Statute § 57.041
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellants Louis Carambot and others engaged in a landlord-tenant dispute with Lizet Moncion and others. Following a nonjury trial, the trial court re…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Prevailing Party Attorney'S Fees cases and more on FLexlaw
MILLER, J.
In this landlord-tenant dispute, appellants challenge an amended final judgment rendered following a nonjury trial. In the judgment, the trial court denied their motion for attorney’s fees and costs, ostensibly on the basis they were not prevailing parties because their recovery was limited to the negligible amount of claimed damages conceded by appellees at the trial. Given the broad discretion afforded to the trial court in determining which party prevailed on the significant issues in the litigation, we decline to disturb the denial of fees. See Skylink Jets, Inc. v. Klukan, 308 So. 3d 1048, 1051 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020); Sidlow v. Bowles Custom Pool & Spas, Inc., 32 So. 3d 722, 722 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010); Prosperi v. Code, Inc., 626 So. 2d 1360, 1363 (Fla. 1993).
An award of costs, however, was required because appellants recovered judgment. See § 57.041(1), Fla. Stat. (2021) (“The party recovering judgment shall recover all his or her legal costs and charges which shall be included in the judgment . . . .”); Arellano v. Bisson, 761 So. 2d 365, 366 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000) (noting that, under section 57.041, Florida Statutes, entitlement to costs “is conditioned solely on recovering a judgment”); Governing Bd. of St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Lake Pickett Ltd., 543 So. 2d 883, 884 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989) (“[S]ection 57.041 mandates that every party who recovers a judgment in a legal proceeding is entitled as a matter of right to recover lawful court costs and that a trial judge has no discretion under that statute to deny court costs to the party recovering judgment.”); First Protective Ins. Co. v. Featherston, 978 So. 2d 881, 883 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) (same).
Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Prosperi v. Code, Inc., 626 So. 2d 1360 (Fla. 1993)
- Governing Bd. of the ST. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Lake Pickett Ltd., 543 So. 2d 883 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989)
- Skylink Jets, Inc. v. Klukan, 308 So. 3d 1048 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020)