Court Dismisses Owner’s Lawsuit to Compel Association to Provide Records for Owner’s Failure to Request Pre-Suit Mediation

This case involved a dispute between a homeowner (“Owner”) and his homeowners association (“Association”) over Owner’s right to inspect various association records. After the Association failed to make the requested records available, Owner filed an action against the Association seeking damages and declaratory relief related to the Association’s failure to make the records available.

The trial court dismissed Owner’s action after finding that: (i) Owner lacked standing to bring the action in his individual capacity because the claim was derivative in nature and Owner had not complied with the requirements for bringing a derivative action; and (ii) Owner failed to make a pre-suit demand on the Association for mediation in accordance with Florida Statutes section 720.311. The trial court also imposed sanctions in the form of attorney fees against Owner based on Florida Statutes section 57.105(1), finding Owner’s claims were devoid of merit as to the facts and law. Owner appealed the trial court’s judgment.

On appeal, the appellate court declined to decide whether the claim was derivative but affirmed the dismissal based on the failure to mediate. However, it reversed the award of sanctions, finding the legal issues raised by Owner, especially the derivative nature of a records request claim, were: