Ashley N. Landrum (N. Palm Beach, FL) (D&O) obtained Final Summary Judgment in favor of her client and against Plaintiff who sued its former homeowner’s association seeking to recover $27,000 that was purportedly paid to the Association to satisfy a final judgment against it. The Plaintiff claimed that it paid $27,000 to the Association to satisfy the final judgment, and the Association violated Florida law when it improperly applied the monies to a sub-association’s debt. The Association moved for Final Summary Judgment based on Plaintiff’s lack of standing to bring the claims, claims being barred by res judicata and collateral estoppel, and the fact that the Plaintiff did not have a right of redemption to the property at the time it purportedly made payment. The Plaintiff filed an Affidavit in an attempt to defeat the Motion asserting a new fact pattern that it deposited the $27,000 as part of a settlement.
In granting the Association’s Motion, the Court found that the Affidavit itself is not appropriate Summary Judgment evidence to oppose the Motion at issue; it contains hearsay, does not demonstrate how the affiant is competent to testify about statements she was not a party to, and is self-serving in that it attempts to commit a fraud upon the Court in direct contravention to its position in Motion previously submitted to the Court and argued at a hearing. Furthermore, the Affidavit does not address any of the legal arguments brought up in the Motion itself. The Affidavit did not preclude Final Summary Judgment in favor of the Defendant, and the Court entered Final Summary Judgment in favor of the Association reserving jurisdiction to determine entitlement to and award of attorneys’ fees and costs based on an expired Proposal for Settlement. The post judgment relief is currently pending.