Citizens Property Insurance Corporation v. Quality Mold Finders Corp., etc.
The Third District reversed a $12,025 attorney's fee award entered under section 57.105(1), Florida Statutes, because the trial court failed to make the specific statutory findings that Citizens' affirmative defense was unsupported by material facts or then-existing law when initially presented. The decision reaffirms the well-settled procedural requirement that a § 57.105 fee award must be accompanied by explicit bad-faith findings and a factual recitation in the order itself. Civil practitioners defending or pursuing fee motions under § 57.105 must ensure the trial court's order articulates the requisite findings or risk reversal on that basis alone.
Key facts
- Citizens Property Insurance Corporation was a party to a suit in Miami-Dade County Court (Lower Tribunal No. 22-33195-SP-26) and asserted an affirmative defense that Quality Mold Finders Corp. contended was frivolous.
- The county court entered a final judgment awarding Quality Mold Finders Corp. attorney's fees and costs under § 57.105(1), Florida Statutes, in the stipulated amount of $12,025.00.
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Holdings
- Section 57.105(1), Fla. Stat. (2025), requires a court awarding fees to find that the challenged claim or defense, when initially presented, (a) was not supported by the material facts…
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