Restoration Genie, Inc., etc. v. Citizens Property Insurance Company

Summary

The Florida Third District Court of Appeal granted Restoration Genie’s petition for writ of certiorari and quashed an order awarding costs and staying proceedings. The court accepted Citizens Property Insurance Company’s confession of error, concluding that the motion to tax costs was untimely because it was filed more than 30 days after dismissal and not in the same action.

Holdings

1. A motion to tax costs in a dismissed action must comply with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.525, or the materially equivalent Florida Small Claims Rule 7.110(d), including the requirement that costs be assessed and judgment entered in the same action and that the motion be filed within the applicable thirty-day period.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court erred by granting Citizens's motion to tax costs when the motion was filed more than thirty days after dismissal of the first action.
2. Whether a motion to tax costs after dismissal must be filed in the same action in which the costs were incurred.

Disposition

writ_granted