Henry Tien v. Excalibur Towing Service Corp.

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: March 19, 2025
• Docket: 3D2024-0702
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed March 19, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

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No. 3D24-0702 Lower Tribunal No. 21-22013-CC-25 ________________

Henry Tien, Appellant,

vs.

Excalibur Towing Service Corp., Appellee.

An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Gloria Gonzalez-Meyer, Judge.

Henry Tien, in proper person.

Herrera Law Firm, P.A. and Jose-Trelles Herrera, for appellee.

Before FERNANDEZ, MILLER, and GOODEN, JJ.

PER CURIAM. Appellant, Henry Tien, appeals from an order dismissing the

declaratory relief and negligence lawsuit he filed against appellee, Excalibur

Towing Service Corp. In his operative complaint, he sought damages he

claimed his vehicle sustained during a purportedly illegal towing and a

declaration that a towing lien perfected by Excalibur was void and

unenforceable.1 Excalibur moved to dismiss, contending that documents

attached to its motion established the tow was performed at the direction of

law enforcement and complied with the mandates of section 713.78, Florida

Statutes (2021). Reiterating that “[i]n considering [a] motion to dismiss, the

trial court is limited to the four corners of the complaint, must accept all

allegations within the complaint as true, and must draw all inferences in favor

of the non-moving party[,]” Del Pino-Allen v. Santelises, 240 So. 3d 89, 91

(Fla. 3d DCA 2018), we conclude that the grounds asserted in furtherance

of dismissal hinged on factual findings that could not be properly resolved at

this stage of the proceedings. Accordingly, we are constrained to reverse.

Reversed and remanded.

1 Both parties addressed the sufficiency of the third amended complaint, even though the motion for leave to amend does not appear to have ever been expressly adjudicated.