Rubin v. Sailfish Point Property Owners and Country Club Association, Inc.
After an HOA refused to approve a buyer's membership, the buyer assigned his residential purchase agreement to approved residents, then sued to rescind the assignment; the trial court upheld the assignment and awarded the assignees roughly $269,000 in fees, costs, and interest under the purchase agreement's prevailing-party fee clause. The Fourth DCA affirmed the merits rulings and the denial of costs against the backup buyer, but reversed the fee award, holding that an assignee steps into the assignor-buyer's shoes only as against the seller and cannot invoke the buyer-seller fee clause against the assignor.
Key facts
- After an HOA refused to approve a buyer's membership in a Florida residential community, the buyer assigned his purchase agreement to approved residents who were already party to the transaction.
- The assignor-buyer sued to rescind the assignment, but the trial court upheld the assignment and awarded the assignees approximately $269,000 in attorney's fees, costs, and interest under the purchase agreement's prevailing-party fee clause.
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Why it matters
The fee holding is a useful, transferable limitation on prevailing-party clauses: parties occupying the same side of a contract (assignor and assignee) cannot use a buyer-seller fee provision against each other… — full analysis with a trial
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