Sandpiper Homeowners Ass'n v. Lake Yale

667 So. 2d 921, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 1007, 1996 WL 50082
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 9, 1996
Docket94-2441
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 667 So. 2d 921 (Sandpiper Homeowners Ass'n v. Lake Yale) 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
Sandpiper Homeowners Ass'n v. Lake Yale, 667 So. 2d 921, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 1007, 1996 WL 50082 (Fla. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

667 So.2d 921 (1996)

SANDPIPER HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellant,
v.
LAKE YALE CORP., etc., et al., Appellees.

No. 94-2441.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.

February 9, 1996.

Scott A. Gerken of Stone & Gerken, P.A., Eustis, for Appellant.

Paul R. Ezatoff and Daniel C. Brown and Brian M. Nugent of Katz, Kutter, Haigler, Alderman, Marks, Bryant & Yon, P.A., Tallahassee, for Appellees.

GOSHORN, Judge.

Sandpiper Homeowners Association, Inc. ("the Association") appeals from the order dismissing its complaint against Lake Yale Corporation ("Lake Yale") for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We reverse.

THE FACTS

The Association consists of homeowners living in Sandpiper Mobile Home Manor, a mobile home park. The park obtains water for its residents from Lake Yale, a utility company owned by the park owner. Since the park's inception in 1967, the owner provided *922 residents with water and wastewater services for a fixed amount per month which was included in the monthly lot rental amount.[1] Following a dispute in 1990, the Association and Lake Yale entered into a settlement agreement that attached any increase in the lot rental amount to the consumer price index. That agreement states in pertinent part:

The base monthly lot rental amount for all lots in Sandpiper shall be subject to increases or decreases annually on January 1 of each of the years 1992, 1993 and 1994, in accordance with any increase or decrease as of September 1st in the Consumer Price Index, (CPI) U.S. Department of Labor (All urban Consumer XXXX-XXXX-XXX) as defined in the prospectus for Sandpiper. The lot rental amount shall not be subject to any other increases for the duration of the three year lease term....

In 1992, Lake Yale successfully applied to the St. Johns Water Management District ("SJWMD") for a new consumptive use permit which affected future water use within the park. The permit required that all homes in the park be equipped with individual water meters and that the homeowners be "charged for water such that the greater the volume used, the greater the rate per gallon." This is known as an "inverted rate."

Lake Yale then filed an application with the Florida Public Service Commission ("PSC") for water and wastewater certificates to approve a new rate structure which would implement the SJWMD's consumptive use permit. The application provided that the residents would pay the inverted rate rather than the agreed flat charge. The Association filed objections to Lake Yale's request, arguing that the proposed action violated the park prospectus and the settlement agreement between the Association and Lake Yale. In response, Lake Yale filed a motion to dismiss the Association's objections. The PSC dismissed the Association's objections, stating that:
Sandpiper's basis for its objection appears to be the existence of the prospectus. With respect to agreements between utilities and customers or other parties, contract disputes are matters which must be settled by the Circuit Court. The Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over utilities with regard to service, authority, and rates pursuant to Section 367.011, Florida Statutes.... (emphasis supplied).

Thereafter, Lake Yale installed meters on each resident's lot. It then delivered to residents a "Notice of Change of Rent Because of Reduction of Services." The letter explained that the SJWMD had directed that all homes in the park be metered, and therefore, the prospectus was now modified to reflect this mandate. Lake Yale stated that because the monthly lot rental amount would no longer include a charge for water and sewage service, it had unilaterally lowered the monthly rental amount by $20, which, it claimed, was the previous cost to Lake Yale for providing water to each home.

The Association filed a four-count complaint against Lake Yale. Count I alleged that Lake Yale had breached the lot rental agreement by refusing to sufficiently reduce the lot rental amount. Count II asserted breach of the settlement agreement in that Lake Yale increased the lot rental amount in direct violation of that agreement. In Count III, the Association sought a declaratory judgment as to the rights and duties of the parties under the prospectus and Florida's Mobile Home Act[2] in light of the PSC's actions. Finally, Count IV requested declaratory relief, and any other equitable remedies pursuant to section 723.033, Florida Statutes (1993).[3] Within the body of the *923 complaint and by separate motion, the Association also requested that the court enter a temporary injunction prohibiting Lake Yale from charging the new rates and instructing residents to place the $20 monthly rental decrease into the court registry pending the outcome of the litigation.

Lake Yale filed a motion to dismiss the Association's complaint, arguing that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the question of the rates that should be charged for water and sewage services was a matter within PSC's exclusive jurisdiction pursuant to chapter 367 of the Florida Statutes. The court denied the Association's requested injunctive relief and the Association did not appeal that order. Thereafter, the trial court entered an order granting Lake Yale's motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. It is from that order that this appeal follows.

THE LAW

The resolution of this issue requires consideration of the interplay of two chapters within the Florida Statutes. Chapter 367 was enacted to regulate utilities and chapter 723, termed the Florida Mobile Home Act, was enacted to regulate mobile home lot tenancies. Subsection 367.011(2), Florida Statutes (1993) grants the PSC "exclusive jurisdiction over each utility with respect to its authority, service, and rates," while section 723.0381 provides that disputes arising under the Florida Mobile Home Act may be filed in circuit court. Therefore, the trial court was faced with having to determine whether the circuit court was the appropriate forum to address a breach of contract complaint against a chapter 367 utility where the utility provided services within a mobile home park, as regulated by chapter 723. The court found that because the suit was against a chapter 367 utility and involved rates, the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the dispute. We disagree and reverse.

The Association argues that the rights of mobile home owners set forth in the Florida Mobile Home Act are separate and distinct from those rights enumerated in chapter 367.

As such, it contends that the circuit court's power to adjudicate matters falling outside of chapter 367 does not interfere with the PSC's exclusive jurisdiction. Lake Yale responds that the effect of any relief awardable pursuant to the Association's complaint would be to circumvent the PSC's regulatory power. It claims that if the circuit court were permitted to adjust the rental amount to overcome the inverted rate structure, it would essentially be skirting the PSC's authority to create an incentive to conserve water.

In ruling that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction, the trial court relied primarily on two cases, State, Public Service Commission v. Lindahl, 613 So.2d 63 (Fla. 2d DCA 1993) and Cohee v. Crestridge Utilities Corp., 324 So.2d 155 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975). In Lindahl,

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Bluebook (online)
667 So. 2d 921, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 1007, 1996 WL 50082, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sandpiper-homeowners-assn-v-lake-yale-fladistctapp-1996.