Case Name: PROVIDENT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, Petitioner, v. CITY OF TREASURE ISLAND, etc., Respondent; Laurence N. BELAIR, Petitioner, v. CITY OF TREASURE ISLAND, etc., Respondent
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1998-05-07
Citations: 718 So. 2d 738
Docket Number: Nos. 89093, 89094
Parties: PROVIDENT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, Petitioner, v. CITY OF TREASURE ISLAND, etc., Respondent. Laurence N. BELAIR, Petitioner, v. CITY OF TREASURE ISLAND, etc., Respondent.
Judges: KOGAN, C.J., and HARDING, J., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 718
Pages: 738–744

Head Matter:
PROVIDENT MANAGEMENT CORPORATION, Petitioner, v. CITY OF TREASURE ISLAND, etc., Respondent. Laurence N. BELAIR, Petitioner, v. CITY OF TREASURE ISLAND, etc., Respondent.
Nos. 89093, 89094.
Supreme Court of Florida.
May 7, 1998.
Rehearing Denied Sept. 10, 1998.
Steven L. Brannock, Karl J. Brandes and Stacy D. Blank of Holland & Knight, Tampa, Michael J. Keane of Keane & Reese, St. Petersburg, and Brian P. Battaglia of Bat-taglia, Ross, Dieus & Wein, P.A., St. Peters-burg, for Petitioners.
W. Douglas Berry and William R. Lewis of Butler, Burnette & Pappas, Tampa, for Respondent.
Jorge Fernandez, President, Florida Association of County Attorneys, Tallahassee; Emeline C. Acton, Treasurer, Florida Association of County Attorneys and County Attorney of Hillsborough County, and Mary Helen Campbell and Julia C. Mandell, Assistant County Attorneys of Hillsborough County, Tampa, for Florida Association of County Attorneys, Amicus Curiae.

Opinion:
SHAW, Justice.
We have for review City of Treasure Island v. Provident Management Corp., 678 So.2d 1322 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996), based on conflict with Ross v. Champion Computer Corp., 582 So.2d 152 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. We quash Provident Management.
Many of the property owners in Land's End, a condominium complex comprising ten buildings and 177 units in Treasure Island, Florida, are absentee-owners and, since 1984, have employed Provident Management Corporation ("Provident") to manage the rental of their units. Laurence Belair bought a unit in 1984, subsequently purchased two more, and employed Provident as his rental agent. In May 1988, the City of Treasure Island ("City") issued a cease and desist order to both Provident and the unit owners, informing them that short-term rentals violated the City code. The City claimed that Provident and the unit owners were using Land's End properties for commercial purposes, as if Land's End were a motel or hotel, even though the properties were zoned for residential use. Several months later, the City obtained a temporary injunction barring Provident from acting as rental agent for Land's End properties. The order stated that the City was not required to post a bond. The injunction was affirmed on appeal (without written opinion). See Belair v. City of Treasure Island, 574 So.2d 145 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Provident Management Corp. v. City of Treasure Island, 572 So.2d 916 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990).
The City subsequently sought a peimanent injunction, and the trial court, after holding an evidentiary hearing, permanently enjoined Provident from maintaining an on-site rental office at Land's End (although Provident was allowed to act as an off-site rental agent), and barred Belair from renting any unit to third parties more than six times per calender year. Both Provident and Belair appealed. The district court reversed, holding that neither Provident nor Belair could be so restricted under the plain language of the code. See Belair v. City of Treasure Island, 611 So.2d 1285 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992). On remand, the trial court awarded damages to both Provident ($1,158,000) and Belair ($48,-843) for their losses under the injunction. On appeal, the district court reversed, holding that "[i]n the absence of a bond,' as in this case, or when a party seeks to recover damages beyond the amount of the bond, the party must allege and prove some other cause of action [such as malicious prosecution or unlawful taking]." 678 So.2d at 1325. We granted review based on conflict with SeaEscape, Ltd. v. Maximum Marketing Exposure, Inc., 568 So.2d 952 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990), wherein the district court ruled that damages for a wrongfully issued injunction are not always limited by the bond amount.
In Florida, injunction bonds are addressed by this Court's rales of procedure and Florida Statutes. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.610 provides in part:
(b) Bond. No temporary injunction shall be entered unless a bond is given by the movant in an amount the court deems proper, conditioned on the payment of costs and damages sustained by the adverse party if the adverse party is wrongfully enjoined. When any injunction is issued on the pleading of a municipality or the state or any officer, agency, or political subdivision thereof, the court may require or dispense with a bond, with or without surety, and conditioned in the same manner, having due regard for the public interest. No bond shall be required on issuance of a temporary injunction issued solely to prevent physical injury or abuse of a natural person.
Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.610(b). Florida Statutes further provides:
60.07 Assessment of damages after dissolution. — In injunction actions, on dissolution, the court may hear evidence and assess damages to which a defendant may be entitled under any injunction bond, eliminating the necessity for an action on the injunction bond if no party has requested a jury trial on damages.,
§ 60.07, Fla. Stat. (1995). Though the rale and statute are silent concerning whether liability is limited to the bond amount, we answered that question in the affirmative in Parker Tampa Two, Inc. v. Somerset Development Corp., 544 So.2d 1018 (Fla.1989), wherein we held that "the damages which are recoverable for wrongfully obtaining an injunction [are] limited to the amount of the injunction bond." Id. at 1019. The City in the present case concludes that where no injunction bond is posted no damages are recoverable. We disagree.
This Court explained several reasons for limiting liability to the bond amount in Parker Tampa Two:
Limiting liability to bond amount thus provides an orderly step-by-step procedure whereby all parties can be continually apprised of the consequences of their actions. To hold the obtaining party fully liable would in many cases expose the party to potentially staggering consequential damages difficult or impossible to project. The public policy encouraging fair access to the courts for those who are in good faith pursuit of their equitable rights must be protected from the deterrent certain to be posed by unknown liability for mistake.
Id. at 1021 (footnote omitted). We did not, however, envision this analysis to be applicable where no bond whatsoever is posted by a city, as is permitted under rule 1.610(b).
We conclude that where a court "dispense^] with a bond" pursuant to the provisions of rale 1.610(b), the enjoined party is entitled to seek the full' measure of the damages it sustained by reason of the wrongfully issued preliminary injunction. This was the position advocated in the present ease by both the court and City when Provident requested a bond:
MR. FERGUSON (counsel for Provident): Sure. There is a bond issue here. It's undisputed, I think, from the testimony, that these people can lose substantial income.
THE COURT: I don't think a municipality is required to post a bond.
MR. FOREMAN (counsel for the City): We are not required to post bond.
THE COURT: They have unlimited resources. If they are damaged they can sue them.
The law says that they are not required to put a bond up. I mean I didn't pass that law, that is a Statute.
MR. FOREMAN: There you go.
To say that damaged parties are automatically barred from redress whenever a city posts no bond would impede the injunction process for governmental bodies, for if no citizen could obtain redress without a bond, courts would be reluctant to issue unbonded injunctions. This would thwart a purpose of rule 1.610(b), which is to make it easier, not harder, for governments to enforce their policies via injunctions. We note that the Florida Association of County Attorneys has submitted an amicus brief in the present proceeding opposing the City's view for this very reason.
Florida's cities are frequently called upon to protect the public interest via temporary injunctions and are presumed to be financially responsible. The reason for allowing a city to forego the posting of a surety bond is to save the municipality the expense, inconvenience, and delay in obtaining such a bond. Where no bond whatsoever is set, however, as in the present case, a city's exposure is uncertain. Accordingly, to give effect to rule 1.610(b) and to place cities on the same footing as private parties in this regard, a court may require a city to post a bond but without surety. This will fix the city's exposure at a particular amount and also protect the enjoined party in much the same manner as if a private party were seeking the injunction.
We decline to address the other issues raised by the City — those issues are not a basis for our review and, as a rule, we eschew those claims not first subjected to the crucible of the appellate process. See generally Art. Y, § 3(b), Fla. Const. We quash Provident Management and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion. On remand, any issues previously raised but left unresolved can be addressed.
It is so ordered.
KOGAN, C.J., and HARDING, J., concur.
WELLS, J., concurs with an opinion.
OVERTON and ANSTEAD, JJ., dissent with an opinion.
GRIMES, Senior Justice, recused.