PATRICIA A. SEITZ, District Judge.
THIS CAUSE is before the Court on the two Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, or in the Alternative, for a More Definite Statement [DE-14], Plaintiffs' response [DE-58],
Defendant Wyndham Vacation Resorts, Inc. (Wyndham) advertises, sells, and manages timeshare properties in Florida. Defendant FairShare Vacation Owners Association (FairShare) is the trustee for the beneficiaries of the Wyndham Trust, which consists of the owners of timeshare properties owned by Wyndham. Plaintiffs generally allege that Defendants were deceptive and misleading in their sale and management of timeshare properties. Specifically, Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint alleges six causes of action: (1) equitable relief against both Defendants; (2) breach of fiduciary duty against FairShare; (3) breach of fiduciary duty against Wyndham; (4) violation of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) against Wyndham; (5) breach of contract against both Defendants; and (6) fraud by Wyndham.
The Amended Complaint alleges that Defendants made misleading representations and omissions prior to and during the sale of the timeshares, which misrepresented the actual nature, identity, and financial and legal consequences of the sale and the respective rights, obligations, and duties of the parties arising from the sale. Defendants characterized the transaction as a simple purchase of a timeshare vacation but the purchase is bundled within a complex and confusing set of transactions which relate to financial, management, maintenance, trust, and other legal relationships and obligations undertaken by the purchaser and seller. By misrepresenting the nature of the transactions, Defendants induced Plaintiffs to enter into financially onerous relationships.
The sale transaction actually involves multiple transactions: (1) the purchase and sale of a fractional fee simple interest in real estate; (2) the transfer of the fee simple interest to a Wyndham controlled trust; (3) an assignment of "points" to the purchaser which can be traded for vacation time at certain Wyndham owned properties; (4) an agreement by purchaser to engage Wyndham-controlled property
After the closing of the transactions, Defendants begin collecting the fees and costs associated with the timeshare ownership. Plaintiffs assert that these fees and costs are so excessive, unreasonable, and unrelated to Defendants' actual costs and expenses as to unjustly enrich Defendants and impose an extreme detriment on Plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs incorporate every prior allegation into each count of the Amended Complaint. In addition to the preceding allegations, Count I of the Amended Complaint alleges that Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm if Defendants are not enjoined from continuing to sell timeshares using their current methods and if Defendants are not enjoined from continuing to impose inflated management and maintenance fees. Count II alleges that Florida Statute § 718.111(1)(a) provides that officers and directors of condominium associations have a fiduciary relationship to owners and that FairShare has breached its fiduciary duties to Plaintiffs.
The purpose of a motion to dismiss filed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) is to test the facial sufficiency
When a complaint is challenged under Rule 12(b)(6), a court will presume that all well-pleaded allegations are true and view the pleadings in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. American United Life Ins. Co. v. Martinez, 480 F.3d 1043, 1066 (11th Cir.2007). However, once a court "identifies pleadings that, because they are no more than conclusions, are not entitled to the assumption of truth," it must determine whether the well-pled facts "state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). A complaint can only survive a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss if it contains factual allegations that are "enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level, on the assumption that all the [factual] allegations in the complaint are true." Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. However, a well-pled complaint survives a motion to dismiss "even if it strikes a savvy judge that actual proof of these facts is improbable, and `that a recovery is very remote and unlikely.'" Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955.
Defendants have moved to dismiss all counts of the Amended Complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) and the fraud counts for failure to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). Defendants also seek to dismiss the Amended Complaint because it is a shotgun pleading. In the alternative, Defendants seek a more definite statement as to Counts II, III, and V. The Court will address the claims in the same order as the parties have in their papers.
Defendants move to dismiss Plaintiffs' breach of contract claim for three reasons: (1) Plaintiffs did not attach a copy of the contracts at issue to the Amended Complaint, as required by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.130(a); (2) the Amended Complaint does not set out any specific contractual provisions that Defendants have breached; and (3) the claim includes an allegation that Defendants have breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing without specifying how Defendants have breached the contracts. Plaintiffs respond that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not require them to attach the contracts to the Amended Complaint and that the Amended Complaint has adequately pled a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Under Florida law the "duty of good faith must relate to the performance of an express term of the contract and is not an abstract and independent term of a contract which may be asserted as a source of breach when all other terms have been performed pursuant to the contract requirements." Hospital Corp. of America
Count V of the Amended Complaint alleges that Defendants assessed excessive fees, overstated the actual market value of services, and charged interest on funds that do not exist. The Amended Complaint provides no factual details to support these adjectival conclusions as to "excessive" and "overstated." Moreover, the Amended Complaint does not set out which of the multiple contracts between the parties, let alone which provisions of those contracts, gave Defendants the discretion to do these things. Nor have Plaintiffs pled how Defendants failed to carry out in good faith a particular provision of a contract. Without this information, Plaintiffs have not stated a cause of action for breach of the covenant of good faith. Consequently, Count V is dismissed with leave to replead, if there are facts to support these allegations.
Defendants move to dismiss Count VI of the Amended Complaint because it does not comply with the particularity requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). In response, Plaintiffs concede that they have not pled the date, time, and place of the allegedly fraudulent representations made by Defendants, but, instead, assert that they can meet the Rule 9(b) pleading requirements by other means. Plaintiffs argue that the pleading requirements are "relaxed" when the false information is disseminated through standardized corporate documents, when the Defendant has almost exclusive knowledge of and control over the factual information underlying the fraud, or when the fraudulent transactions are numerous and take place over an extended period of time.
As a general rule, Rule 9(b) may be satisfied if a complaint sets forth: "(1) precisely what statements or omissions were made in which documents or oral representations; (2) the time and place of each such statement and the person responsible for making (or, in the case of omissions, not making) them; (3) the content of such statements and the manner in which they misled the plaintiff; and (4) what the defendant obtained as a consequence of the fraud." FindWhat Investor Group v. FindWhat.com, 658 F.3d 1282, 1296 (11th Cir.2011); see also Brooks v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., 116 F.3d 1364, 1371 (11th Cir.1997). Quite simply, Plaintiffs have not pled Count VI with the required specificity. Nor have Plaintiffs pled their fraud claim through the "relaxed" requirements on which they rely.
First, Plaintiffs have not pled in the Amended Complaint that Defendants used standardized corporate documents. Second, Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint does not allege that Defendants had exclusive control over the factual information underlying the fraud. In fact, the Amended Complaint alleges, in a conclusory manner, that Plaintiffs received misleading information and documents, thus, giving Plaintiffs access to the allegedly fraudulent materials, which would enable Plaintiffs to plead the alleged fraud with the required specificity. Finally, Plaintiffs do not allege that they took part in numerous fraudulent transactions with Defendants. Thus, none of the reasons for the "relaxed" standards apply here. Further, there is nothing in the pleadings that indicates that Plaintiffs cannot set forth the fraudulent representations
Defendants move to dismiss Plaintiffs FDUTPA claim because: (1) it does not comply with the pleading requirements of Rule 9(b); (2) it does not satisfy the pleading standards set forth in Iqbal and Twombly; and (3) the damages allegations are insufficient to sustain a FDUTPA claim. Plaintiffs' FDUTPA claim is clearly based on fraud, as the claim alleges that Wyndham "purposefully and systematically [made] affirmative misrepresentations and [] omissions of material information."
Rule 9(b) states that "[i]n alleging fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake." The rule does not state that it only applies to claims for fraud; it says it applies to allegations of fraud. While not all claims under FDUTPA will be based on fraud, Plaintiffs' claim is.
Defendants move to dismiss Count I for declaratory and injunctive relief because (1) it combines two counts into one; (2) it does not sufficiently allege entitlement to declaratory relief; and (3) it does not allege the requisite elements for entitlement to injunctive relief. Plaintiffs' claim for equitable relief does not set forth the legal basis for the claim. In their opposition to the motion to dismiss, Plaintiffs state that the claim for declaratory relief is based on the Florida Declaratory Judgment Act and FDUTPA and that the claim for injunctive relief is based on FDUTPA. However, there is nothing in the Amended Complaint that indicates that these statutes are the legal basis for Plaintiffs' claim for declaratory or injunctive relief.
Plaintiffs seek a declaration that Defendants sales practices are fraudulent, unconscionable, and inequitable. Defendants move to dismiss the claim for declaratory judgment because the claim arises from the same conduct that forms the basis of Plaintiffs' breach of contract claim and thus declaratory relief is not available under the Federal Declaratory Judgment Act. Plaintiffs respond by arguing that
Defendants move to dismiss the claim for injunctive relief because Plaintiffs have not pled the elements to demonstrate a right to injunctive relief and Plaintiffs have not alleged the lack of an adequate remedy at law. Plaintiffs respond that their claim for injunctive relief is brought pursuant to FDUTPA. However, nothing in the Amended Complaint indicates that. Further, Count I does not adequately allege a claim under FDUTPA that would permit Plaintiffs to obtain injunctive relief. Consequently, Count I is dismissed in its entirety without prejudice.
Defendants argue that Plaintiffs' breach of fiduciary duty claims should be dismissed because they are barred by the economic loss rule, to the extent that the claims are based on duties that arise from a contractual relationship. In response, Plaintiffs assert that the economic loss rule does not bar well-established causes of action in tort, such as breaches of fiduciary duty, the economic loss rule does not bar intentional torts, and the economic loss rule does not bar causes of action where the duty is created by statute or non-contractual sources. However, the Amended Complaint is not clear as to the basis of the alleged fiduciary duty, particularly in light of Plaintiffs' incorporation of all preceding allegations into each count of the Amended Complaint. Because the basis for the claims is not clear, Defendants' motion is granted with leave to replead the basis of Defendants' fiduciary duties and the factual basis for the breach of those duties. However, to the extent that Plaintiffs' claims are based on a breach of any contract, the claims are dismissed with prejudice.
Finally, Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint is a perfect example of shotgun pleading. It incorporates every allegation by reference into each subsequent claim for relief. See Wagner v. First Horizon Pharmaceutical Corp., 464 F.3d 1273, 1279 (11th Cir. 2006). As a result, "it is virtually impossible to know which allegations of fact are intended to support which claim(s) for relief." Anderson v. District Board of Trustees of Central Florida Community College, 77 F.3d 364, 366 (11th Cir.1996). Because it is impossible to properly respond to such a shotgun pleading, Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint is dismissed with leave to replead in accordance with the rest of this order.
Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, or in the Alternative, for a More Definite Statement [DE-14] is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
b) The Motion for a More Definite Statement is DENIED as moot.