Can You Seek “Windfall” Damages in a Florida Breach of Contract Lawsuit?

Commercial lease agreements often require a tenant to restore the leased property to its original condition at the end of the lease term. If a tenant fails to do so, the landlord may be able to recover the costs of performing the restoration itself through a breach of contract claim. That said, Florida courts typically limit such restoration damages to no more than the diminished value of the leased premises due to the tenant’s breach.

Landlord Not Entitled to Restoration Costs After Selling Building

A federal judge in Tampa recently addressed a case on this subject. In 600 Cleveland, LLC v. Bank of America, N.A., the plaintiff owned a commercial office building in Clearwater. The defendant leased space in this building. The original lease was signed by a different landlord and tenant back in 1986; the plaintiff and the defendant here were successors to that original lease.

As relevant here, the lease required the tenant to surrender the premises at the end of the lease term “broom swept clean in the same condition as at the commencement of the initial term normal wear and tear and casualty loss only excepted.”

In 2021, the defendant notified the plaintiff it would not renew the lease. The parties attempted to reach agreement on how much it would cost to restore the leased premises to its original condition. While these talks were ongoing, the defendant sold the building. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff sued the defendant for breach of contract, alleging that it was entitled to damages due to the plaintiff’s failure to restore the premises prior to the sale.

In a January 2026 decision, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment on this claim. Judge Mizelle explained the plaintiff had “no evidence that it could have sold the building for more had the repairs to the premises that [the defendant] vacated been made before the sale.” Absent such evidence, there was no legal basis to award the plaintiff restoration damages for a property it no longer owned. The judge noted that there were numerous Supreme Court of Florida decisions that “[did] not allow windfall recoveries or damages that result in economic waste in contract actions.”

For similar reasons, the judge also denied the plaintiff’s request for damages for “lost rent” that it allegedly could not collect from the time the defendant vacated the premises until the building was sold. Separately, the court awarded the defendant damages on its counter-claim that the plaintiff overcharged it approximately $35,000 for building operating costs during the final two years of the lease.

Contact a Davie Real Estate Contract Dispute Lawyer

Conflicts between parties to a real estate deal are not uncommon. When those conflicts rise to the level of litigation, however, it is in a party’s interest to work with an experienced Davie real estate contract dispute attorney. Contact Valero Law today at 305-607-7011 to schedule a free consultation. We serve clients in Davie, Broward County, Coconut Grove and Miami-Dade County.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1189062511606970428