[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
FEBRUARY 3, 2010
No. 09-10067 JOHN LEY
ACTING CLERK
_______________________
D. C. Docket No. 07-00796-CV-FTM-29-SPC
PAMELA VAN HOOK,
Plaintiff-
Counter-Defendant-
Appellee,
versus
THE RESIDENCES AT COCONUT POINT, LLC,
an Indiana limited liability company,
Defendant-
Counter-Claimant-
Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
_________________________
(February 3, 2010)
Before BARKETT, PRYOR and FAY, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
The Residences at Coconut Point, LLC (“Coconut Point”) appeal from a
Judgment entitling Pamela Van Hook to terminate her agreement with Coconut
Point for the purchase of a condominium in Florida and to have returned to her the
$110,337.50 she paid in deposits for the condominium. Van Hook claims that she
is entitled to this relief because Coconut Point did not provide her with the
property report required by the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act
(“ILSFDA”). See 15 U.S.C. § 1703. The issue on appeal is whether the district
court erred in granting summary judgment to Van Hook on Coconut Point’s
counterclaim that it is exempt from the reporting and disclosure requirements of
ILSFDA. Coconut Point argues that it is exempt from ILSFDA because it was
obligated under its agreement with Van Hook to complete construction of the
condominium within a period of two years, thereby exempting Coconut Point from
ILSFDA’s reporting and disclosure requirements. See id. § 1702(a)(2).
Van Hook argues that the two-year completion requirement in the agreement
is illusory. The agreement provides in relevant part:
(d) Completion Date. Seller anticipates Units will be substantially
completed by the estimated date of within two (2) years of the date of
this Agreement, but Buyer understands and agrees that Seller cannot
guarantee substantial completion by that date. Seller will not be liable
for any delays and Seller will not have to make, provide or
compensate Buyer for any accommodations or costs as a result of any
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delays, and any delays will not permit Buyer to cancel, amend, or
diminish any of Buyer’s obligations. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
however, Seller agrees to substantially complete construction of the
Unit in the name specified in this Agreement by a date no later than
two (2) years from the date that Buyer signs this Agreement, subject,
however, only to delays caused by matters which are legally
recognized as defenses to contract actions in the jurisdiction where the
Unit is being constructed.
The district court found that the last sentence in this paragraph rendered the two-
year completion requirement illusory, thereby not exempting the agreement from
ILSFDA.
After the district court ruled and while this case was on appeal, another panel
of this Court decided Stein v. Paradigm Mirasol, LLC, 586 F.3d 849 (11th Cir.
2009). Similar to Van Hook, the buyers in Stein sought to terminate their contract
for the purchase of a condominium in Florida on the basis that the developer failed
to provide them with a property report as required under ILSFDA. 586 F.3d at
852. The developer objected on the basis that the contract obligated it to complete
construction within two years and thus entitled the developer to ILSFDA’s §
1702(a)(2) exemption. In relevant part Stein concluded that the clause which
excused delays for failure to complete the construction in two years because of
“acts of God, weather conditions, restrictions imposed by any governmental
agency, labor strikes, material shortages or other delays beyond the control of the
Seller,” did not render the contract illusory. Id. at 858.
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We find that, under Stein, the last sentence of the Completion Date
paragraph in this case does not make the agreement illusory. Nonetheless, Van
Hook also argued to the district court that the agreement’s provisions regarding
limitations on remedies and the contradictions within the Completion Date
paragraph also rendered the two-year completion requirement illusory. Having
decided the case based on the last sentence of the paragraph, the district court did
not address these other contentions. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for
reconsideration of these remaining arguments and any other pending matters.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
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