Benedetto v. EXP Realty, LLC
After a residential purchase contract fell apart, the buyer recorded a "Memorandum of Contract" that clouded the sellers' title and blocked a resale for two years; a jury awarded the sellers roughly $362,000. On cross-appeal, the Fourth District applied the Florida Supreme Court's Perlmutter test and held the sellers' proffer was sufficient to plead punitive damages against the wife who prepared, recorded, and transmitted the memorandum, but insufficient as to the husband, for whom no comparable evidence of knowledge or participation was proffered.
Key facts
- Buyers and sellers disputed a residential purchase contract; after the contract fell apart, the wife prepared and recorded a 'Memorandum of Contract' that omitted the original contract's no-recording provision and closing date, added restrictive language, and sent it to the closing agent, clouding the sellers' title and blocking their resale for two years.
- A jury awarded the sellers approximately $362,000 in damages; the sellers sought to amend their complaint to add punitive damages claims against both the wife and her husband.
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Why it matters
One of the first Fourth District applications of the supreme court's Perlmutter standard for section 768.72 punitive-damages proffers, confirming the trial court may not weigh counter-evidence and must view the proffer… — full analysis with a trial
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