Jarrouj v. LJS Realty, Inc.

31 Fla. Supp. 2d 10
CourtCircuit Court for the Judicial Circuits of Florida
DecidedJuly 7, 1988
DocketCase No. 86-18852 (04)
StatusPublished

This text of 31 Fla. Supp. 2d 10 (Jarrouj v. LJS Realty, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Circuit Court for the Judicial Circuits of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jarrouj v. LJS Realty, Inc., 31 Fla. Supp. 2d 10 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

JAMES C. HENDERSON, Circuit Judge

PARTIAL FINAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AS TO PLAINTIFF’S COMPLAINT AND DEFENDANT’S COUNTERCLAIM

THIS CAUSE came on to be heard before me on June 25, 1987, [11]*11upon the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendant/Counter-plaintiff, LJS REALTY, INC., a Florida corporation d/b/a ONE STOP DISCOUNT, and upon the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Plaintiff/Counter-defendant, MARWAN JARROUJ, and the Court having reviewed the pleadings and depositions in the Court file, and having heard argument of counsel, and it appearing that the uncontroverted facts relating to the Plaintiffs Complaint and the Defendant’s Counterclaim are as follows:

UNCONTROVERTED FACTS

1. The premises constituting the locale where the parties’ dispute arose consisted of a “flea market” containing approximately one hundred fifty (150) “booths” or “stalls” occupied by individual merchants who sold second-hand and new merchandise to members of the public.

2. The said “booths” or “stalls,” in turn, consisted of temporary structures of metal bars which could be covered with canvass or plastic sheets. None of the “booths” or “stalls” within the “flea market” had plumbing or individual telephones.

3. The Plaintiff, as Tenant, had rented one or two “booths” or “stalls” from the Defendant, as Landlord, pursuant to a written Lease Agreement, dated June 14, 1985; the Lease was signed by both parties.

4. The said Lease Agreement specifically provided in Paragraph Ten as follows:

The prompt payment of each installment for said leased space upon the dates named, and the faithful observance of the rules and regulations printed upon this Lease Agreement, or which are hereby made part of this covenant, and of such other and further rules or regulations as may be hereafter made by the Landlord, are the conditions upon which this Lease Agreement is made and accepted and any failure on the part of the Tenant to comply with the terms of said Lease Agreement, or any of said rules and regulations now in existence, or which may be hereafter prescribed by the Landlord shall at the option of the Landlord, work a forfeiture of this Lease Agreement, and all of the rights of the Tenant hereunder, and thereupon the Landlord, his agents or attorneys, shall have the right to enter said premises, and remove all persons therefrom forcibly or otherwise, and the Tenant thereby expressly waives any and all notice required by law to terminate this Lease Agreement and specifically any demand notice as to unpaid rents provided for by Florida Statutes and also waives any and all legal proceedings to [12]*12recover possession of said premises, and expressly agrees that in the event of a violation of any of the terms of this Lease Agreement, or of said rules and regulations, now in existence, or which may hereafter be made, said Landlord, his agent or attorney, may immediately re-enter said premises and disposes Tenant without legal notice or the institution of any legal proceedings whatsoever.

5. The Plaintiff seeks recovery from Defendant due to the Defendant’s alleged exercise of the “self-help” remedies reserved by Defendant in the said Lease; the Plaintiff alleges specifically that on January 5, 1986, Defendant dispossessed the Plaintiff from Plaintiffs “stall” or “booth” without legal process and that Defendant placed Plaintiffs merchandise in storage. Plaintiff admits that the merchandise was collected by him on March 13, 1986, but claims that $2,290.50 of his merchandise was “missing.” Plaintiff seeks recovery not only for the $2,290.50 but for “loss of profits,” “punitive damages”, and “attorney’s fees” as a result of Defendant’s conduct.

6. Defendant filed a Counterclaim against Plaintiff for back rent in the amount of $1,561.87, but for the purpose of its Motion for Summary Judgment reduced its claim to $1,115.62, representing the agreed rent for one-half (V2) of the month of October, 1985, and the months of November and December, 1985. Defendant filed an Affidavit in support of its claim for rent; no affidavit in opposition was filed by Plaintiff/Counter-defendant.

7. With regard to Defendant’s Counterclaim, Plaintiff raised the Affirmative Defenses of “Illegality of Contract” and “Payment;” however, by “Illegality of Contract,” the Plaintiff/Counter-defendant refers only to the “self-help” provisions of the Lease, there being no suggestion of illegal purpose in leasing the “booth” or “stall” either on the part of Plaintiff or Defendant. By “Payment,” Plaintiff/Counter-defendant does not claim that all rent under the parties’ Lease as written was ever actually paid; instead, Plaintiff/Counter-defendant claims, as indicated by his deposition, that he paid only some of the rent required but that the remaining unpaid rent was allegedly forgiven by a gratuitous and oral modification of the Lease.

8. The Lease provides in paragraph twenty-eight (28), “This Lease Agreement may not be altered except by written agreement.”

9. The Lease also provides in paragraph twelve (12) that the Tenant shall pay “reasonable attorney’s fees” upon “any of [the] rental that may be collected by suit or by attorney, after the same is past due;” however, the Lease makes no reciprocal provision for payment of attorney’s fees by the Landlord to the Tenant under any circumstances.

[13]*13AND BASED upon the foregoing uncontroverted facts, the Court enters the following legal conclusions:

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. The law to be applied in this case, based upon its unique facts and circumstances, is the particular law of “stall holders” within “market places.” See, e.g., 52 American Jurisprudence, Second Edition, Markets and Marketing, particularly, § 12, “Rights and Liabilities of Stall Holders.”

2. FS § 83.05, which is generally applicable to such usual commercial premises as stores, offices and warehouses, is not applicable to the facts of this case. See, e.g., Adelhelm v Dougherty 176 So. 775 (Fla. 1937); Ardell v Milner, 166 So.2d 715 (Fla. 3d DCA 1964); and Van Hoose v Robbins, 165 So.2d 109 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964). See also, FS § 2.01.

3. A “self-help” provision, which can be exercised peaceably and which is contained in a lease for a “booth” or “stall” within a “flea market,” does not necessarily offend the public policy of Florida.

4. In this case, the Lease, which was signed by both parties, constituted consent to the terms thereof, as a matter of law, and specifically consent to re-entry by the Landlord as provided therein. See, Baumwald v Treasure Isle Motel, Inc., 177 So.2d 252 (Fla. 3d DCA 1965); Rodeway Inns of America v Alpaugh, 390 So.2d 370 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980); and S. H. Kress & Company v Desser & Garfield, Inc., 193 So.2d 192 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966).

5. No legal basis has been demonstrated in this case for an award of punitive damages or for an award of attorney’s fees in favor of the Plaintiff and against the Defendant. The Lease provides for attorney’s fees in favor of the Landlord and against the Tenant, in the event of the Tenant’s default. See, Paragraph 18 of the Lease.

6. With respect to the Defendant’s Counterclaim for rent, Plaintiff has neither shown nor alleged any illegality of contract as would defeat Defendant’s right to recover rent under the parties’ Lease.

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Related

Ardell v. Milner
166 So. 2d 714 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1964)
Lott v. Kees
165 So. 2d 106 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1964)
Rodeway Inns of America v. Alpaugh
390 So. 2d 370 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1980)
Adelhelm v. Dougherty
176 So. 775 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1937)
Manufacturers & Traders Trust Co. v. First National Bank in Fort Lauderdale
113 So. 2d 869 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1959)
Aime v. Nola Cabs, Inc.
75 So. 2d 526 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1954)
Baumwald v. Treasure Isle Motel, Inc.
177 So. 2d 252 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1965)
S. H. Kress & Co. v. Desser & Garfield, Inc.
193 So. 2d 192 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1966)
Dobbs v. Petko
207 So. 2d 11 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
31 Fla. Supp. 2d 10, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jarrouj-v-ljs-realty-inc-flacirct-1988.