Turnberry Woods at the Strand Condominium Association, Inc. v. Empire Indemnity Insurance Company

• Court: District Court, M.D. Florida
• Decided: September 29, 2021
• Docket: 2:21-cv-00138
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA FORT MYERS DIVISION

TURNBERRY WOODS AT THE STRAND CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, INC,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No: 2:21-cv-138-SPC-MRM

EMPIRE INDEMNITY INSURANCE COMPANY,

Defendant. / ORDER1 Before the Court is Plaintiff Turnberry Woods at the Strand Condominium Association, Inc.’s Motion to Stay and Compel Appraisal (Doc. 16), along with Defendant Empire Indemnity Insurance Company’s opposition (Doc. 22). In opposing the motion, Defendant asks the Court not to compel appraisal and require the parties to mediate first per the terms of the insurance policy. (Doc. 16-1 at 38). Since the parties have filed their briefs, however, they attended mediation and reached an impasse. (Doc. 26). As such, Defendant’s only

1 Disclaimer: Documents hyperlinked to CM/ECF are subject to PACER fees. By using hyperlinks, the Court does not endorse, recommend, approve, or guarantee any third parties or the services or products they provide, nor does it have any agreements with them. The Court is also not responsible for a hyperlink’s availability and functionality, and a failed hyperlink does not affect this Order. reason to oppose appraisal is moot. And Defendant has done nothing in the month since mediation to try to further oppose appraisal. So, having reviewed

the parties’ papers, record, and applicable law, it will exercise its discretion to compel appraisal. See generally Waterford Condo. Ass’n of Collier Cnty., Inc. v. Empire Indem. Ins., No. 2:19-CV-81-SPC-NPM, 2019 WL 4861196, at *1 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 2, 2019) (adopting the majority view among Florida courts that

gives trial courts discretion over the relative timing of appraisal and coverage determinations); State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Middleton, 648 So. 2d 1200, 1201-02 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1995) (noting “the general, even overwhelming, preference in Florida for the resolution of conflicts through extra-judicial

means, especially [appraisal], for which the parties have themselves contracted”). The Court thus grants Plaintiff’s motion. Accordingly, it is now ORDERED:

1. Plaintiff Turnberry Woods at the Strand Condominium Association, Inc.’s Motion to Stay and Compel Appraisal (Doc. 16) is GRANTED. 2. This case is STAYED pending appraisal, and the Clerk must add a stay flag to the file.

3. The parties are DIRECTED to file a joint report on the status of appraisal on or before December 28, 2021, and every ninety days thereafter until appraisal has ended. 4, Within seven days of appraisal ending, the parties are DIRECTED to jointly notify the Court of (a) what issues, if any, remain for the Court to resolve; (b) whether the stay needs to be lifted; and (c) how this action should proceed, if at all. DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on September 29, 2021.

, Lh platrathe 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Copies: All Parties of Record