Roberto J. Sotolongo v. SafePoint Insurance Company

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: October 30, 2024
• Docket: 3D2023-1373
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed October 30, 2024. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D23-1373 Lower Tribunal No. 21-25185 ________________

Roberto J. Sotolongo, et al., Appellants,

vs.

SafePoint Insurance Company, Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Vivianne Del Rio, Judge.

Shield Law Group of Florida, LLC, and Jamie Alvarez (Davie), for appellants.

Bickford & Chidnese, LLP, and Patrick M. Chidnese and Frieda C. Lindroth (Tampa), for appellee.

Before SCALES, LOBREE, and BOKOR, JJ.

PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Perez v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp., 343 So. 3d 140, 143

(Fla. 3d DCA 2022) (“Ms. Perez’s expert did not have access to any

information as to the state of the roof immediately following the Hurricane.

There was no investigation following the initial loss because Ms. Perez

waited over two years to report her claim to Citizens. Instead, Mr. Renne

formed his opinion based solely on his investigation conducted nearly three

years after the incident, after repairs had already been conducted on the

roof. This lapse in time, as well as the intervening repairs, rendered Mr.

Renne’s opinion wholly conclusory as to whether the current damage was

caused by the Hurricane or some other event from the intervening three

years. Mr. Renne’s affidavit was insufficient to rebut the presumption of

prejudice to Citizens resulting from Ms. Perez’s delay in reporting the

claim.”).