Armstrong v. Bank of America, N.A.

Florida District Courts of Appeal
Armstrong v. Bank of America, N.A., 776 So. 2d 326 (2001)
2001 Fla. App. LEXIS 108; 2001 WL 20755
Goderich, Nesbitt, Ramirez

Armstrong v. Bank of America, N.A.

Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

Appellant/Defendant William Armstrong appeals an entry of judgment in an amount that exceeds the limit provided in his personal guaranty of a note executed by Co-Defendant NGLC to Appellee/Plaintiff Bank of America, N.A. Because we find that a court may impose against a guarantor an award of prejudgment interest that causes a judgment to exceed the stated limit of the guaranty, we affirm.

Armstrong guaranteed payment of NGLC’s note in the amount of $1,072,500.00. When the note went into default, Bank of America sued both NGLC and Armstrong. The trial court entered judgment for the bank in the principal amount of $1,072,500.00, plus prejudgment interest in the amount of $61,998.13 for a total award of $1,134,498.13. Although the award of prejudgment interest in this case caused the final judgment to exceed the limit stated in Armstrong’s guaranty, we hold that Florida law permits such an award. A guarantor’s total liability after litigation on the guaranteed note may ex*327ceed the stated limit where the additional amount is the result of the imposition of prejudgment interest which accrues as a matter of law. See Alpha Elec. Supply, Inc. v. G.E. Lee Enters., Inc., 441 So.2d 698, 700 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988) (guarantors’ personal guarantees limited their total liability to $30,000.00; nevertheless, they were held hable for prejudgment interest on the liquidated claim irrespective of the limits contained in their guaranties).

Affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
William J. ARMSTRONG v. BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
Cited By
1 case
Status
Published