Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal in the case of Snell v. Mott’s Contracting Services, Inc. addressed an issue pertaining to lien rights and the difference between filing a lawsuit and resolving a dispute through arbitration. A big concern that this case resolves is that attempting to resolve your dispute through arbitration instead of litigation may cost you some of your Florida’s lien law rights.
The Snell case involved a construction contract between the homeowner and the contractor that had a provision which provided for disputes to be resolved through arbitration rather than litigation. In Snell, the contractor properly recorded its lien, and the homeowners filed a lawsuit in which they asked the court to determine that the lien was invalid. The contractor moved the case to arbitration based on the arbitration provision. The court agreed and the parties were to arbitrate the matter. The contractor prevailed in the arbitration and was entitled to recover its attorney’s fees in accordance with Section 713.29 of the Florida Statutes. The appellate court found that the contractor, by asking to have its dispute resolved through arbitration, did not bring an action “in a court of competent jurisdiction.” In doing so, the court held that the contractor’s rights under Florida Lien law had expired, and that the contractor had no basis for recovering its attorney fees. As a result of the hodling in Snell, a contractor may lose a substantial portion of its recovery merely because he followed the language of his contract by resolving his dispute through arbitration.
Ray Garcia, Esq.
Board Certified in Real Estate Law
by the Florida Bar
www.floridaconstructionlawgroup.com
