Bawtinhimer v. D.R. Horton, Inc.
Docket: No. 5D13-2580
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; October 10, 2014; Florida; State Appellate Court
Jonathan Bawtinhimer and Geoffrey Fortunato appeal the denial of class certification for their action against D.R. Horton, Inc. and DHI Mortgage Co. Ltd. The trial court’s single-page order denied certification for all eight claims, citing the appellants' demand for rescission of contracts as rendering the case unsuitable for class treatment. The appellate court affirms the trial court’s decision. The opinion addresses a dissenting view that Florida law mandates a claim-by-claim analysis for class certification requests. In federal court, such analysis is required per case law, which the appellate court notes as persuasive given that Florida's class action rule is modeled after the federal rule. While previous Florida cases have employed claim-by-claim analysis, none have mandated individualized findings in denials of class certification. The court concludes that the trial court's order sufficiently analyzed the issues at hand to justify the denial of class certification for all claims presented by the appellants. The decision is affirmed, with concurring opinions from Judges Berger and Orfinger, the latter concurring in part and dissenting in part.