Bretton Albrecht and Caryn Bellus recently won an affirmance of a defense summary judgment on statute of limitations grounds in Condominium Association of Golf Villas, II, Inc. v. Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, Inc., No. 4D2024-1059, 2025 WL 1241792 (Fla. 4th DCA Apr. 30, 2025). The Fourth District Court of Appeal held that FIGA was entitled to defend against Plaintiff’s lawsuit on this Hurricane Irma claim based on the longer 5-year statute of limitations in s.95.11(2)(b)&(2)(e), Fla. Stat., which had expired when the lawsuit was filed, even though the shorter 1-year limit to sue under the FIGA Act had not yet expired under ss.631.68 & 95.11(5)(d) (now (6)(d).
In so holding, the Court emphasized that §631.57(1)(b) expressly gives FIGA the right to rely on any defense that would have been available to the insolvent insurer, as if the insurer had not become insolvent. The Court agreed with FIGA that this must mean FIGA has the right to assert defenses based on the expiration of an underlying statute of limitations. The Court found that the statutes at issue could be read in harmony and the relevant limitation periods were not mutually exclusive. The Court rejected Plaintiff’s arguments to the contrary. Accordingly, summary judgment for FIGA was affirmed.
View the opinion here.
