MANTILLA v. FABIAN (2019)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

Rene MANTILLA, Appellant, v. Raul Hernandez FABIAN; Multicultural Community Mental Health Center, Inc.; Manuel Suarez; and Manuel Suarez & Associates, P.A., Appellees.

No. 4D18-2429

Decided: November 20, 2019

Angelo Marino, Jr. and William H. Brennan, III of Angelo Marino, Jr., P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for appellant. Thomas Regnier of Tom Regnier Appeals, P.A., Sunrise, for appellee Raul Hernandez Fabian.

Rene Mantilla appeals an order granting summary judgment in favor of Raul Hernandez Fabian. Mantilla and Fabian jointly owned a business, and Mantilla eventually sold his fifty percent interest to Fabian. Mantilla later sued Fabian and other defendants alleging fraud in the inducement of the sale documents, among other claims. The trial court granted summary judgment based on a release executed at the time of the sale. We reverse.

“[O]ur supreme court has spoken clearly that no contract provision can preclude rescission on the basis of fraud in the inducement unless the contract provision explicitly states that fraud is not a ground for rescission.” Lower Fees, Inc. v. Bankrate, Inc., 74 So. 3d 517, 520 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (citing Oceanic Villas, Inc. v. Godson, 148 Fla. 454, 4 So. 2d 689, 690 (Fla. 1941)). Because the release at issue does not “specifically and explicitly negate[ ] the right to bring” a fraudulent inducement claim, we reverse and remand for further proceedings. See id.

Reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

PER CURIAM.

Ciklin, Gerber and Forst, JJ., concur.

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