Case Name: Jason BIBI, Appellant, v. ROYAL HIDDEN COVE AT the POLO CLUB HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., a Florida not for profit corporation, Albert Eyal, Joy Meyers, Marise Rudnick, Jack Feldman, and Jeannie Fibus, Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2008-02-27
Citations: 974 So. 2d 619
Docket Number: No. 4D07-291
Parties: Jason BIBI, Appellant, v. ROYAL HIDDEN COVE AT the POLO CLUB HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., a Florida not for profit corporation, Albert Eyal, Joy Meyers, Marise Rudnick, Jack Feldman, and Jeannie Fibus, Appellees.
Judges: DAMOORGIAN, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 974
Pages: 619–622

Head Matter:
Jason BIBI, Appellant, v. ROYAL HIDDEN COVE AT the POLO CLUB HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., a Florida not for profit corporation, Albert Eyal, Joy Meyers, Marise Rudnick, Jack Feldman, and Jeannie Fibus, Appellees.
No. 4D07-291.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
Feb. 27, 2008.
Ricardo A. Reyes of Tobin & Reyes, P.A., Boca Raton, and Nancy W. Gregoire of Bunnell, Woulfe, Kirschbaum, Keller, McIntyre, Gregoire & Klein, P.A., Ft. Lauderdale, for appellant.
Kara Berard Rockenbach of Gaunt, Pratt, Radford, Methe & Rockenbach, P.A., West Palm Beach, for appellees.

Opinion:
KLEIN, J.
Appellant sued his homeowner's association because of the failure of the association to approve his plans to build a home on his lot. After mediation the parties entered into a settlement agreement; however, that agreement resulted in a further dispute which is the subject of this appeal. We affirm.
The problem arose in the first place because the homeowner had to have approval from two different associations, his homeowner association, which is a party, and a master association, which is not a party. After becoming frustrated by his inability to start construction, either because of his delay in starting construction after approval, or failure to receive timely approvals, he filed this suit against his association seeking declaratory relief as well as damages and other remedies.
At the request of his association, the homeowner agreed to participate in mediation, on the condition that the master association, which was not a party, would also participate. The master association attended part, but not all, of the mediation, during which the homeowner and his association entered into a settlement agreement that allowed the homeowner to continue his lawsuit if his plans were not approved by August 19, 2005. As it turned out, his association did approve his plans by that deadline; however, the master association did not approve the plans until several months later.
The issue before the trial court centered on the meaning of paragraph 7 as applied to the approval dates. The agreement was as follows:
2. Defendant Association agrees to call an emergency meeting of the Board of Director today, August 16, 2005, to approve Plaintiffs landscaping plan as presented by Plaintiff at mediation and by Association's property manager. The landscape plan is attached to this settlement agreement. Except for the landscaping plan, the Board has previously approved the balance of the construction plan on July 23, 2004.
3. If approved, the Association's property manager, Ken Soler will deliver said plans and seek approval from the Master Association at the Polo Club by Friday August 19, 2005.
4. If the landscaping plans and construction plans are approved by the defendant Association and the Master Association, Plaintiff will have six months from August 19, 2005 to seek governmental approval and commence construction.
5. If Plaintiff fails to obtain approval and fails to commence construction within six months, except for future acts of God, approval is permanently and automatically revoked. In such an event, the defendant Association will not have any obligation to approve Plaintiffs' plans again.
6. Upon receipt of confirmation from the Defendant Association and the Master Association that the landscaping plans and construction plans have been approved, and Plaintiff is approved by the Association to commence construction, the parties shall submit a stipulation to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice with each party to bear their own attorneys fees and costs.
7. If both the defendant Association and the Master Association do not provide approvals as specified herein by August 19, 2005, either party may void this settlement agreement and proceed with the lawsuit.
8. Defendant Association would not be opposed to a reduction in square footage of the guest house. However Defendant Association must receive, review and approval all revisions to architectural building plans, which may be submitted simultaneously with request for governmental approval.
The homeowner was able to build his home, but he took the position that, because both approvals were not obtained by the August 19 deadline, he was not required to dismiss his lawsuit for damages. The trial court found the agreement unambiguous and that it permitted the homeowner to continue with his lawsuit only if, as the agreement provided: "both the . Association and the Master Association failed to provide approval by August 19, 2005." In other words, if only one association failed to provide approval then the homeowner lost his right to continue his suit.
The homeowner argues that the intent of the agreement as a whole was to require approvals of both associations by August 19, because obtaining the approval of only one would have been of no benefit to him. On the other hand, the association points out that the master association was not a party to the lawsuit and the association had no control over the master association.
The dissent would change paragraph 7 from "if both the defendant Association and the Master Association do not provide approvals" to "if either the defendant Association or the Master Association do not provide approvals." A court, however, may not change the terms of a contract to achieve what it might think is a more appropriate result. McCutcheon v. Tracy, 928 So.2d 364 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006). Because the condition of both failing to approve did not occur, the trial court did not err in interpreting the agreement in favor of the association.
Affirmed.
DAMOORGIAN, J., concurs.
HAZOURI, J., dissents with opinion.