Page v. Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas
Resolving a certified conflict, the Florida Supreme Court held that a borrower who prevails in a foreclosure action because the bank failed to prove standing at the time suit was filed may still recover reciprocal attorney's fees under section 57.105(7), so long as the record establishes the parties were not strangers to the contract containing the fee provision. The Court quashed the Fourth District's en banc 'NO STANDING = NO ATTORNEY'S FEES' rule in Page (and its underlying reasoning in Glass) and approved Madl and Harris.
Key facts
- Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas sued Page to foreclose a mortgage, but the trial court dismissed the action because the bank failed to prove it had standing at the time the suit was filed.
- Page sought reciprocal attorney's fees under section 57.105(7) based on the fee provision in the mortgage contract, and the Fourth District Court of Appeal initially rejected the fee claim based on a rule that lack of standing precluded any fee recovery.
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Why it matters
This decision definitively resolves a long-running district split over whether prevailing foreclosure defendants can recover reciprocal fees under section 57.105(7) after defeating the lender on standing, rejecting the… — full analysis with a trial
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