The general rules on contract enforceability in Florida and recent contract decisions

To determine a contract’s enforceability, the Florida Supreme Court has long-established that Florida uses the objective (as opposed to the subjective) test (first expressed by the late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes):

The making of a contract depends not on the agreement of two minds in one intention, but on the agreement of two sets of external signs-not on the parties having meant the same thing, but on their having said the same thing.

Robbie v. City of Miami, 469 So. 2d 1384, 1385 (Fla. 1985) (quoting Blackhawk Heating & Plumbing Co. v. Data Lease Financial Corp., 302 So. 2d 404 (Fla. 1974)); see also, Oliver Holmes, The Path of the Law, 10 Harv. L. Rev. 457 (quoted in Gendzier v. Bielecki, 97 So. 2d 604, 608 (Fla. 1957)).

The Florida Supreme Court also holds in Blackhawk Heating and Plumbing Co. Inc. v. Data Lease Fin. Corp., 302 So. 2d 404 (Fla. 1974), that nonessential terms left for future negotiations do not render a contract unenforceable.   Where an Agreement consists of “two sets of external signs”, “says the same thing”, and on the same day, it is generally enforceable. 

Below are some recent decisions of interest on CONTRACTS:

Contracts -- Error to enter summary judgment for plaintiff in breach of contract action where there was a lack of evidence to establish that plaintiff had standing at time action was filed, and an incorrect cardmember agreement was attached to complaint

DETELINA Y.A. MITEVA, Appellant, vs. AMERICAN EXPRESS BANK, FSB, Appellee. 3rd District.

Contracts -- Real property sale -- Specific performance -- Trial court erred in dismissing purchaser's complaint for specific performance, concluding an action for specific performance could not be asserted, where contract does not limit the remedies available to the purchaser in the event of default by the seller

REGENTS PARK INVESTMENTS, LLC., A FLORIDA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, Appellant, vs. KAI PROPERTIES, LTD, A FLORIDA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, Appellee. 3rd District.

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