Opinion ID: 2495109
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Decision Under Review

Text: FIGA argued in the district court that the trial court erred in not enforcing the insurance contract right to appraisal because section 627.7015, as amended in 2005, did not apply retroactively to commercial residential policies issued in 2004. The district court proceeded to analyze the retroactivity issue solely in terms of whether retroactive application would unconstitutionally impair the obligations of contract, stating: Similar to the federal constitutional contract clause, Article I, Section 10 of the Florida Constitution, prohibits the enactment of any law impairing the obligation of contracts. In Pomponio , [6] after reviewing the evolution of contract clause analysis by the United States Supreme Court from strict prohibition to the use of a balancing approach, the Florida Supreme Court itself adopted a balancing approach to determine whether a statute amounted to a constitutionally impermissible impairment of contract. Fla. Ins. Guar. Ass'n, Inc. , 33 So.3d at 51. The Fourth District applied the balancing test set forth in Pomponio v. Claridge of Pompano Condominium, Inc. , 378 So.2d 774, 780 (Fla.1979), and held that the 2005 amendments to section 627.7015 could be applied constitutionally in a retroactive manner to the 2004 contract of insurance. 33 So.3d at 53. FIGA contends that in analyzing the retroactivity question solely in terms of whether the statute may be constitutionally applied retroactively to the 2004 contract, the Fourth District misapplied controlling precedent that mandates a two-prong test for determining retroactivity of a statute, citing Metropolitan Dade County v. Chase Federal Housing Corp. , 737 So.2d 494 (Fla.1999), Old Port Cove Holdings, Inc. v. Old Port Cove Condominium Ass'n One, Inc. , 986 So.2d 1279 (Fla.2008), and this Court's subsequent decision in Menendez v. Progressive Express Insurance Co. , 35 So.3d 873 (Fla.2010). Thus, we turn to a discussion of these authorities.