YOANI FERNANDEZ AND YADIRA SOMOZA v. CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: February 17, 2021
• Docket: 19-2444
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed February 17, 2021. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D19-2444 Lower Tribunal No. 17-28742 ________________

Yoani Fernandez and Yadira Somoza, Appellants,

vs.

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Appellee.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Alexander Bokor, Judge.

Billbrough & Marks, P.A., and Geoffrey B. Marks, for appellants.

Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP and Kathryn L. Ender, for appellee.

Before EMAS, C.J., and SCALES and LOBREE, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Yoani Fernandez and Yadira Somoza appeal from an order entering final summary judgment in favor of their insurer Citizens Property Insurance

Corporation. Because we agree with the insureds that disputed issues of

material fact remain as to whether a covered peril caused an opening in the

door of their home, allowing rain water to enter and damage the interior, we

reverse the final summary judgment and remand for further proceedings. 1

See Ortega v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp., 257 So. 3d 1171, 1173 (Fla. 3d DCA

2018); Hernandez v. United Auto. Ins. Co., Inc., 730 So. 2d 344, 346 (Fla.

3d DCA 1999).

Reversed and remanded.

1 We acknowledge that the Florida Supreme Court recently amended Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510(c), adopting the summary judgment standard of Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (1986). See In re: Amendments to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510, 46 Fla. L. Weekly S6 (Fla. Dec. 31, 2020). However, as the effective date of the amendment is May 1, 2021, we do not apply that standard in this appeal.