JOSEPH BRODESSER, GULF AIR BOATS, INC., AND STEVE GORDON, APPELLANTS,
v.
SEVEN JOY INVESTMENTS, LTD., APPELLEE
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Appellants Brodesser, Gulf Air Boats, Inc., and Gordon appealed a trial court's denial of their motion to dismiss for improper venue in a breach of contract and fraud action. The court held that venue was improper in Dade County because the cause of action accrued in Palm Beach County where the yacht was negotiated, sold, and delivered.
Venue does not lie in Dade County because the cause of action accrued in Palm Beach County where the contract was negotiated and performed. Under Florida Statutes Section 47.011, an action against a Florida resident must be brought in the county where the defendant resides, where the cause of action accrued, or where the property is located—none of which was Dade County.
[1] Venue is improper in a county where the cause of action did not accrue, the defendant does not reside, and the property in litigation is not located.
[2] A cause of action accrues in the county where the contract was negotiated, entered into, and performed, including the delivery of goods.
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 defendant Joseph Brodesser averred in a sworn affidavit that he, as the president of the defendant Gulf Air Boats, Inc., negotiated and entered into a contract in Palm Beach County to sell the subject yacht to the plaintiff, that said yacht was delivered to the plaintiff in Palm Beach County, and that no conversations concerning this transaction took place in Dade County, Florida.”
Establishes the factual basis for determining that the cause of action accrued in Palm Beach County, not Dade County
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJoseph Brodesser, as president of Gulf Air Boats, Inc., negotiated and entered into a contract to sell an ocean yacht to Seven Joy Investments, Ltd. i…
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PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal by the defendants Joseph Brodesser, Gulf Air Boats, Inc., and Steve Gordon from a non-final order denying their motion to dismiss for improper venue. The plaintiff Seven Joy Investments, Ltd. brought the underlying action below for breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, and breach of a fiduciary duty arising from the sale of an ocean yacht involving the defendants, as sellers, and the plaintiff, as buyer.
We conclude that the venue of this action does not lie in Dade County and, accordingly, reverse. Based on the only sworn proof adduced below, the defendant Joseph Brodesser averred in a sworn affidavit that he, as the president of the defendant Gulf Air Boats, Inc., negotiated and entered into a contract in Palm Beach County to sell the subject yacht to the plaintiff, that said yacht was delivered to the plaintiff in Palm Beach County, and that no conversations concerning this transaction took place in Dade County, Florida. The contract attached to the complaint confirms the fact that the yacht in question was to be delivered in Palm Beach County; the plaintiff offered no contrary proofs and relies solely on the unsworn allegations of its amended complaint. This being so, it is clear that the action sued upon accrued in Palm Beach, not Dade, County, Florida. See B.C. Cook & Sons Enters. v. R. & W. Fruit Co., 512 So. 2d 980 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Soowal v. Marden, 452 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); Stanfield v. Destefano, 300 So. 2d 712 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974).
Moreover, it is undisputed that none of the defendants reside in Dade County and that the yacht sued upon is located in Palm Beach County. It therefore follows that the venue of this cause does not lie in Dade County, Florida, under Section 47.011, Florida Statutes (1991), which requires that an action against a Florida resident, as here, “shall be brought only in the county where the defendant resides, where the cause of action accrued, or where the property in litigation is located.”
The non-fmal order under review is reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court with directions to transfer the cause to Palm Beach County, Florida, or some other appropriate county, at the plaintiff’s option, where the instant action may be maintained under Section 47.011, Florida Statutes (1991).
Reversed and remanded.
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Sunshine Yacht Sales, Inc. v. BOB Anslow Yacht Sales, Inc., 669 So. 2d 342 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)…n the locale where both the injury and the last act necessary to make the appellees liable for the tort took place. Williams v. Goldsmith, 619 So. 2d 380, 332 (Fla. 3d DCA), rev. denied, 629 So. 2d 133 (Fla.1993); Brodesser v. Seven Joy Invs., Ltd., 606 So. 2d 1274 (Fla.3d DCA 1992); Tucker, 484 So. 2d at 1371. Herein, all of the events, including the payment of the full commission by Ms. Det-zer, took place in a county other than Dade. In my view, therefore, the trial court correctly granted the motions to t…1 / 2
Authorities Cited
- Soowal v. Marden, 452 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984)
- Dep't OF Natural Res. v. Burton Holmes, 300 So. 2d 712 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)
- B.C. Cook & Sons Enters., Inc. v. R. & W. Fruit Co., 512 So. 2d 980 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987)