SFR Services, LLC v. Indian Harbor Insurance Company

By: Marjorie M. Salazar

Case No. 2:21-cv-179-SPC-NPM, 2021 WL 2825953 (M.D. Fla. Jul. 7, 2021)

In this Hurricane Irma property-damage case, the Court denied Indian Harbor’s Renewed Motion to Dismiss in which it challenged SRF’s Assignment of Benefits’ validity because it did not comply with Florida law. Specifically, the assignment did not “contain a written, itemized, per-unit cost estimate of the services to be performed by” SFR. The Court disagreed with Indian Harbor’s argument that SFR lacked standing because of defects in the AOB. The Court said the issue boiled down to whether the AOB was void or voidable. An issue with contract formation does not automatically render the agreement void. Moreover, the precedent is that nonparties to assignments cannot challenge voidable defects. While not grounds for a Motion to Dismiss, the Court noted that Indian Harbor could raise the issue again on summary judgment, provided it could do so it good faith and provide proper support. In reaching its ruling, the Court relied upon the decision in another case between the parties with nearly identical issues, SFR Servs., LLC v. Indian Harbor Ins. (Fairway), No. 2:20-cv-583-JLB-NMP, 2021 WL 1165185 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 26, 2021).