Galt View Apartments, Inc. v. Fazio

490 So. 2d 1005, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 1387
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 18, 1986
Docket84-2095
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 490 So. 2d 1005 (Galt View Apartments, Inc. v. Fazio) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Galt View Apartments, Inc. v. Fazio, 490 So. 2d 1005, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 1387 (Fla. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

490 So.2d 1005 (1986)

GALT VIEW APARTMENTS, INC., a/K/a Coral Ridge Towers South Co-Op, Appellant,
v.
Frank FAZIO, Appellee.

No. 84-2095.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

June 18, 1986.

*1006 Paul R. Regensdorf of Fleming, O'Bryan & Fleming, Fort Lauderdale, for appellant.

Barry A. Mandelkorn and John H. Pelzer of Ruden, Barnett, McClosky, Schuster & Russell, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellee.

HERSEY, Chief Judge.

The subject of this appeal is a final judgment requiring appellant, Galt View, an association formed by and representing tenants in a cooperative apartment building, to specifically perform its contract to sell and convey to appellee, Frank Fazio, that portion of the property owned by Galt View which had been for the past several years leased to Fazio for the operation of a restaurant. The precise issue to be decided is whether there is substantial competent evidence to support the trial court's finding that Galt View failed to make a diligent, good faith effort to satisfy a condition precedent contained in the contract. A subsidiary issue is the appropriateness of the remedy prescribed by the final judgment.

Galt View holds title to the land upon which its cooperative apartment building is situated and an adjacent tract upon which Fazio has operated a restaurant since 1970. The land is encumbered by a mortgage held by Connecticut General Life Insurance Company which is, in turn, guaranteed against default by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), now known as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Galt View and Fazio entered into a Memorandum of Understanding in October 1982 which contemplated purchase by Fazio of the parcel leased to him for a total purchase price of $1,100,000. The memorandum provided, in pertinent part, that if Galt View was successful in obtaining Connecticut General's agreement to release this parcel from its mortgage, the parties would then enter into a purchase and sale agreement which would be subject to the approval of HUD and the members of the cooperative association. It was also provided, however, that if Connecticut General required Galt View to pay for the release then Galt View had the option to terminate the transaction.

Connecticut General agreed to release the parcel for a one-time payment of $100,000 to be credited against the principal sum due under the mortgage. Galt View, electing not to terminate, prepared a purchase and sale agreement which was executed by both parties and which was expressly made "subject to the approval of HUD and the members of" the cooperative association.

After being fully advised of the particulars of the transaction by the Board of Directors through distribution of handbills and two special meetings, the members of the association approved the agreement by the narrow margin of 149 favorable votes to 143 against.

Galt View then made application to HUD for approval and in June 1983 HUD rejected the proposal. Rejection was apparently based upon the fact that if the financial aspects of the transaction were restructured to comply with requirements HUD intended to impose, there would not only be a loss of the cash for investment which Galt View had anticipated would be generated by the sale, but also an out-of-pocket cash expense of $39,407 which Galt View would be required to pay. Galt View considered this rejection as a termination of its obligations under the contract by virtue of failure of the condition precedent requiring HUD approval. It took no further action. Appellee, Fazio, on the other hand, proceeded to negotiate with HUD and ultimately presented to Galt View several alternative methods of obtaining the requisite approval.

Upon Galt View's refusal to proceed in the transaction, the instant action for specific performance was commenced, culminating in a final judgment enforcing the *1007 purchase and sale agreement. The theory upon which the trial court proceeded was that Galt View failed to make a diligent, good faith effort to obtain performance of the condition precedent (providing for HUD approval), the consequences of which are that Galt View is held to have waived that condition and is required to perform despite HUD's rejection. There are obvious theoretical difficulties involved in this solution to the problem where HUD is not a party and cannot be compelled to give its approval under any circumstances; however, the practicalities of the situation are that alternatives apparently exist which are palatable to HUD, and we therefore leave the theoretical impossibility of performance to another day.

The initial inquiry is whether the letter application to HUD was sufficient in and of itself to satisfy the requirement of a diligent, good faith effort to satisfy the condition precedent. There is nothing on the face of the application to indicate to the contrary. Appellee relies on two circumstances to erode this appearance of good faith.

First, the requirements for obtaining a partial release of mortgaged property under HUD guarantee are contained in a handbook, a copy of which was in the possession of the Board of Directors of Galt View for a considerable period of time preceding preparation of the application. Testimony demonstrated that several members of the board were extremely sophisticated in the areas of finance and dealing with government agencies. Appellee maintains and appellant denies that given the specific requirements for release spelled out in the handbook, the application, which did not comply with those requirements, was an exercise in futility, doomed to failure, and thus not a good faith effort to obtain the release.

Secondly, the evidence discloses that prior to submission of the application and, to some extent, during its consideration by HUD, various members of the vocal minority, the 143 members voting against the sale to Fazio, mounted a letter-writing campaign, contacting not only HUD but also other governmental entities. Appellee asserts that this campaign undermined confidence in the fact that a majority of members had approved the transaction and also raised the question of whether the sale was in the best interests of anyone other than Fazio, yet the Board of Directors did nothing to counter the effect of this correspondence except to respond to direct inquiries from HUD concerning matters contained in two or three of these letters.

These two circumstances, according to appellee, combined to render unfavorable consideration by HUD a foregone conclusion; therefore, the fact of application itself is insufficient as a showing of a diligent, good faith effort on the part of Galt View to obtain the required partial release. The trial court apparently accepted this view and proceeded to consider whether subsequent events shed light on the issue of good faith. Given the factual nature of the inquiry to this point, we are unable to say that the trial court clearly erred in making this preliminary but necessary determination. We also agree with the conclusion inherent in the trial court's undertaking to review subsequent events that the facts surrounding the application are likewise insufficient, standing alone, to establish bad faith. We therefore turn to an examination of the alternatives that were available to Galt View after the initial rejection and which Galt View declined to consider or pursue. To the extent that the law imposes a duty on Galt View to do more than merely submit an application, which duty will be subsequently considered, the reasonableness of the alternatives, their burdens and benefits, and Galt View's unwillingness to consider them, are probative of the issue of good faith.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
490 So. 2d 1005, 11 Fla. L. Weekly 1387, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/galt-view-apartments-inc-v-fazio-fladistctapp-1986.