Archive:June 5, 2008

Baker County Med. Svcs., Inc. v. Summit Smith, 2008 WL 2245587, Case 3:05-cv-541-J-33HTS (M.D. Fla. May 29, 2008)

In this case, an owner sued a contractor under a design-build contract, alleging that the contractor breached the contract by failing to fulfill its implied duty to perform according to established industry and professional standards.  While Florida law permits such “professional negligence” actions to be pled as a breach of contract or a tort, such an action must be brought under the more specific two year professional malpractice statute of limitation, not the general four year limitation for actions based on “design, planning, or construction of an improvement to real property.”

Niehaus v. Big Ben’s Tree Svc., Inc., 982 So. 2d 1253 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2008)

In this case, the court held that a contractor’s lien under Section 713.05 never attached because the parties never had a meeting of the minds as to a material term of their contract.  The owner had contacted a contractor to cut down and “remove” a tree.  The owner believed that “remove” meant that the tree would be taken from her property, but the contractor intended for remove to have its technical meaning in the tree industry, which is to simply move the tree.  The owner refused to pay the contractor when he would not take the tree from her property, resulting in the contractor recording a mechanic’s lien under Section 713.05.

A mechanic’s lien can only attach when a valid contract exists, and parties’ must agree as to material terms for there to be a valid contract.  The court found that “removal” was a material term of the parties’ contract in this case, and that they had different understandings as to the term’s meaning.  Therefore, the contractor’s lien never attached, and the owner was entitled to attorney’s fees under Section 713.29 for her successful defense against the lien.