FREDERICK M. ROBERTS, ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
CFW CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, INC., APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1991-10-03
No. 91-125
GRIFFIN, J., and UNGARO, U., Associate Judge, concur.
586 So. 2d 1309 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1991) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

This case concerns whether a construction company was entitled to deferred payments and prejudgment interest despite latent defects discovered after project completion. The appellate court affirmed prejudgment interest on some fees but reversed on others, remanding for further determination of substantial compliance.


Holding

The court held that prejudgment interest was appropriate for financing and consultant fees because their payment conditions were met. However, the builder's fee was subject to the condition of substantial compliance, which was not definitively established by HUD endorsement, thus precluding summary judgment on that portion.


Headnotes

[1] A deferred payment obligation evidenced by a note becomes a debt subject to statutory interest once its due date arrives, even if the note itself is non-interest bearing…

[2] Final HUD endorsement of a construction project does not conclusively establish substantial compliance with contract drawings and specifications when latent defects are l…

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Key Quotes

“We do not accept the “evidence” of final HUD endorsement as a conclusive determination that, in fact, no latent defects existed when everyone now admits there were such defects.”

Establishes that HUD endorsement is not conclusive proof of substantial compliance when defects are later admitted.

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Facts & Procedural History

CFW Construction Company (CFW) entered into an agreement to develop an apartment complex. Deferred payments were due to CFW, conditioned on financing …

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Opinion of the Court
HARRIS, Judge.

HARRIS, Judge.

On or about December 31, 1981 West Kennedy Apartments, Ltd. (W.K.A.) a Flor ida limited partnership, was formed to purchase, develop, construct and operate a HUD insured apartment complex. On May 28, 1982 W.K.A. entered into a Purchase and Development Agreement with CFW Construction Company, Inc. (CFW) as general partner and R, J & S Associates (R, J & S) as special limited partner. The contract provided that CFW would receive the following fees:

Financing Fee — $83,877 cash at closing 50,000 on 9/15/84 33,877 on 9/15/85

These payments were conditioned only on CFW procurring acceptable financing. This was done.

Consultant fee — $33,000 upon final HUD endorsement 50,000 on 9/15/84 16,123 on 9/15/85

These payments were conditioned only on CFW making certain recommendations, evaluations and consultations on financial and administrative matters. These services were fully rendered.

Builders fee— $43,000 upon final HUD endorsement 43,000 on 9/15/84 93,750 on 9/15/85

These payments were subject to CFW delivering the project on a “turnkey basis ... constructed substantially in accordance with the contract drawings and specifications ... evidenced by the consummation of the HUD final endorsement.”

CFW obtained the HUD final endorsement on September 15, 1983, and W.K.A. took possession and started operation of the project. Shortly before the due dates of the deferred payments set out above, latent defects were discovered in some of the subfloors of the apartments. It is alleged that it was necessary to pull up carpets to repair the flooring caused by an improper cement mix which did not comply with HUD requirements in approximately 40 of the 90 apartment units. It is further alleged that it took over three years to remedy this problem.

Although all repairs were made at no cost to W.K.A., the deferred payments were withheld as follows:

PRINCIPAL AMOUNT DUE DATE DATE PAID

$43,750 9/15/84 2/28/86

50,000 9/15/84 3/11/85

50,000 9/15/84 3/11/85

93,750 9/15/85 1/15/88

33,877 9/15/85 1/15/88

16,123 9/15/85 1/15/88

W.K.A. contends that payment of these obligations was not required until all repairs were made since it was CFW’s obligation to deliver the project in substantial compliance with the drawings and specifications. CFW contends it met all of its obligations under the contract when it obtained HUD’s final endorsement.

CFW sued W.K.A., R, J & S and the various individual partners on the contract and on certain notes guaranteeing payment of the deferred fees. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of CFW in the amount of $53,697.50 as prejudgment interest because of the late payments. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

First W.K.A. (and the other appellants) urge that interest was inappropriate because the notes guaranteeing payment were non-interest bearing. We find however, unlike Giglio v. Weaner, 503 So. 2d 1380 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), rev. denied, 513 So. 2d 1061 (Fla.1987), the notes were non-interest bearing only through the due date. Once the due date arrived, the deferred obligation evidenced by the note became a debt which was subject to section 687.01, Florida Statutes (1989). We therefore affirm the summary judgment as it relates to the deferred financing fee and consultant’s fee since there were no unmet conditions in the payment of these fees. We find some merit, however, in W.K.A.’s contention that the builder’s fee was not yet due because of CFW’s obligation to deliver the project in substantial compliance with the drawings and specifications. We do not accept the “evidence” of final HUD endorsement as a conclusive determination that, in fact, no latent defects existed when everyone now admits there were such defects. The record before the court is insufficient to determine if such defects prevent a finding of substantial compliance,1 but sufficient questions remain to prevent summary judgment on this issue.

We reject appellants’ position that Florida law does not apply.

AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED for further action consistent herewith.

GRIFFIN, J., and UNGARO, U., Associate Judge, concur. . It may be, for example, that all that was required to comply with the specification was the removal of the carpet, sanding of the concrete floors and replacement of the carpet. The long period of delay could have been caused by the owner scheduling the work to accommodate tenants or to await vacancies. The extent of the work and reason for the considerable delay is not a matter of record. It will be up to the trial judge to determine whether the contract performance as of September 15, 1983 was, while not full performance, so nearly "equivalent to what was bargained for that it would be unreasonable to deny the contractor the full contract price subject to the owner's right to recover damages occasioned by the contractor’s failure to render full performance.” Oven Development Corp. v. Molisky, 278 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 1st DCA 1973).


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Citator

Cited By

  • Nielsen-Miller Constr. Co. v. Pantlin/Prescott, Inc., 602 So. 2d 1366 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
    …that kind of agreement to mean that the parties also agreed to forego interest even after the maker has dishonored the note. Such a construction results in a conclusion without a premise. As the court did in Roberts v. CFW Construction Company Inc., 586 So. 2d 1309 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991), we interpret the promissory note here to be non-interest bearing only through the due date. Because the parties manifested no intent to waive post-default interest, the trial court’s denial of prejudgment interest must be revers…
  • Bilic v. NEW Fairway Invs. OF Fla., Inc., 593 So. 2d 530 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)
    …f those loan proceeds for repayment of the Bilic advance. Accordingly, Bilic is entitled to statutory interest from December 14, 1981, the date he should have been repaid, to the date in 1989 when he was repaid. See Roberts v. CFW Constr. Co., Inc., 586 So. 2d 1309 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991). Having read the record and considered the applicable law, we reject the argument that the purported modification of this contract had any effect on Bilic’s rights. The final judgment is therefore reversed to the extent it denie…

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