McCaughan Mortgage Co. v. American National Bank
Docket: No. 93-2064
Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida; March 21, 1994; Florida; State Appellate Court
The court addressed the appeal regarding the dismissal order of a case involving plaintiffs-mortgagors who had previously voluntarily dismissed a similar action in Illinois against the defendant, claiming excessive mortgage servicing fees. The court determined that the prior dismissal constituted an adjudication on the merits, thus the current dismissal should be amended to "with prejudice" rather than "without prejudice." The trial court's denial of costs to the defendant was reversed, as costs are mandated by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420(d). However, the denial of attorney’s fees was upheld because the defendant, acting as a servicing agent, was not entitled to fees per the mortgage contracts, which allowed fees only to successful mortgagees. Additionally, under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, the defendant could only recover fees if the plaintiffs' action was found to be brought in bad faith, which was not established in this case. The judgment was partially reversed and partially affirmed, with instructions to amend the dismissal order to one with prejudice and to assess taxable costs. The issue of attorney’s fees was deemed unnecessary to resolve further.