Black Point Assets, Inc. v. Ventures Trust 2013-I-H-R
Black Point Assets, Inc. v. Ventures Trust 2013-I-H-R
Opinion of the Court
Black Point Assets, Inc. (Black Point), as trustee under the 4551 Remington Road Trust dated March 1, 2013, appeals the final judgment of foreclosure entered in favor of Ventures Trust 2013-I-H-R (Ventures Trust), by MCM Capital Partners, LLC, its trustee. We affirm the portion of the final judgment awarding monies for the outstanding principal, interest, and escrow advances without further comment. However, we reverse the portion of the final judgment awarding attorneys' fees because there was no competent, substantial evidence to support the amount awarded and because the discrepancies between the amount requested, the amount determined to be reasonable, and the amount awarded result in that portion of the final judgment failing to comply with the intent of Florida Patient's Compensation Fund v. Rowe,
I. BACKGROUND
Because we have found error only in the award of attorneys' fees, a complete recitation of the facts is unnecessary. It is sufficient to note that Ventures Trust, a substituted party for the original plaintiff in the foreclosure action, obtained the final judgment against Black Point, a nonparty to the note and mortgage who purchased the subject property after the original property owner's default, but before the filing of the original foreclosure complaint. While the foreclosure case was pending, Ventures Trust filed two affidavits for attorneys' fees, one from an attorneys' fees expert and one from the attorney hired by Ventures Trust. The attorney who represented Ventures Trust sought fees in the amount of $11,710.50.
The record does not reflect that a hearing was held on the issue of attorneys'
*1136fees, and no expert testimony was presented on that issue at the nonjury trial. It is undisputed that there was no fee agreement between the parties.
At the conclusion of the trial, the trial court entered final judgment in favor of Ventures Trust which included attorneys' fees and costs totaling $12,841.61. That amount was listed in a table of all of the awarded sums of money
II. ANALYSIS
"Values awarded in a foreclosure judgment must be based on competent, substantial evidence." Boyette v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP,
Here, at trial, the payment history, account ledger, and payoff statement were properly introduced into evidence. However, none of those documents contained competent, substantial evidence to support the $12,841.61 fee award. The payment history consisted of coded data entries with no final totals. The payoff statement reflects that $181,951.91 was the total amount due as of November 17, 2015, and one of the line items was "UNPAID FEES" in the amount of $12,841.61, but there was no description of the services that resulted in the imposition of those fees. The account ledger contains a spreadsheet which reflect numerous charges for "FEE BILLED" in varying amounts that were posted between October 10, 2014, and October 26, 2015. Those amounts, when added together, result in the amount awarded: $12,841.61. But like the payoff statement, there was no description of the services provided that resulted in the imposition of those fees. Another document that was admitted in conjunction with the account ledger reflected a table entitled "BSI Fee Breakdown" with a total of $7,016.68, along with another table entitled "Prior Servicer Fee Breakdown" with a total of $5,824.93. Like the other documents, there was no description of the services provided that resulted in the imposition of those fees. Nor was there any testimony explaining these documents or the figures in them. Specifically, there was no testimony "regarding the identity of the timekeeper, the hours worked, or the work performed." Diwakar, 143 So.3d at 961 ; see also Boyette,
We note that the trial court made a finding that "38.70 hours were reasonably expended by Plaintiff's counsel and that an[ ] hourly rate of $215.00 is appropriate." This finding appears to emanate from the attorneys' fees affidavits filed prior to trial. The attorney who billed Ventures Trust stated he had completed 38.70 hours of work at the rate of $215 per hour. The attorney also stated that in addition to the hourly work, Ventures Trust had agreed to pay a flat fee of $3390. Thus the attorney was seeking a total award of $11,710.50 ($8320.50 for the hourly rate plus $3390 for the flat fee), an amount that the attorneys' fees expert opined was a reasonable fee.
Black Point contends that a reversal of the fee award without remand is the proper remedy because Ventures Trust failed to present any evidence in support of the fee award. However, the transcript of the trial reflects that Black Point's trial counsel challenged the amount of the requested fees and suggested that the fee issue "might require a hearing."
Because we are reversing the portion of the final judgment awarding attorneys' fees and remanding for an evidentiary hearing, we write to address one other issue briefly raised by Black Point. Although it appears that the trial court attempted to comply with Rowe by finding that 38.70 hours were reasonably expended and that $215 per hour was a reasonable rate, the internal inconsistencies within the order as well as the discrepancy between the amount requested and the amount awarded preclude us from engaging in meaningful appellate review.
Rowe dictates that courts must multiply the number of hours reasonably expended by a reasonable hourly rate to reach the lodestar amount.
Here, the amount requested was $11,710.50, the amount that the trial court determined was reasonable was $8,320.50 (38.70 hours at $215 per hour), and the amount that the trial court awarded was $12,841.61. Although some of the documents submitted into evidence reflect the $12,841.61 award amount, there was no testimony to provide context to that amount as we previously explained. Further, because the amount awarded exceeded both the amount determined to be reasonable and the amount requested, one interpretation is that the trial court intended to award more than the lodestar amount, though we acknowledge that that is unlikely due to the trial court's finding that "there are no reduction or enhancement factors for consideration by the Court pursuant to" Rowe. However, because the amount awarded exceeded both the amount determined to be reasonable and the amount requested, we do not know what led to the trial court's decision to award the amount that it did. The internal inconsistency in the order as well as the discrepancy between the amount requested and the amount awarded make it impossible for us to determine the basis for the trial court's award. Cf. In re Guardianship of Ansley,
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for proceedings in conformance herewith.
CASANUEVA and SALARIO, JJ., Concur.
The table also listed amounts for the principal, interest, and escrow advances.
The attorneys' fees expert opined in his affidavit that 38.70 hours was reasonable for this type of litigation and that 36.40 hours at a rate of $215 per hour plus a flat fee of $3390 resulted in "a total reasonable fee of $11,710.50." The reference to 36.40 hours appears to be a typographical error as it is clear from the totality of the affidavit that the expert believed the hourly rate should be based on 38.70 hours of work.
Although not raised by Black Point as an independent basis for reversal, we note that " '[r]easonable attorney's fees' generally are not liquidated damages and require a hearing." Zumpf v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.