Summary
granting petition for certiorari and quashing circuit court order transferring matter to county court because the record could not support conclusion that the amount in controversy was indisputably less than the jurisdictional limit or that the allegations in complaint claiming entitlement in excess of that limit were not made in good faith
Summary of this case from Curtis v. Centauri Specialty Ins. Co.Opinion
No. 83-1522.
August 23, 1983. Rehearing Denied September 21, 1983.
A Writ of Certiorari to Circuit Court, Dade County; David L. Levy, Judge.
Susan G. Chopin, West Palm Beach, for petitioner.
Paul R. Lipton, North Miami Beach, for respondents.
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and DANIEL S. PEARSON and FERGUSON, JJ.
We grant the petition for certiorari which seeks review of an order of the Circuit Court transferring Count II of the complaint to the County Court upon the ground that the amount in controversy was less than $5,000, the jurisdictional requisite for the Circuit Court to hear the matter. We quash the order of transfer upon a holding that it cannot be concluded from the record now before us that the amount in controversy is indisputably less than $5,000 or that the allegations of Count II claiming entitlement to an amount in excess of $5,000 were not made in good faith. See Norris v. Southern Bell Telephone Telegraph Company, 324 So.2d 108 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975); Thibadeau v. Santini Bros., Inc., 315 So.2d 550 (Fla. 4th DCA 1975). If later developments in the case show without dispute that the amount in controversy is less than $5,000, the trial court is free to transfer Count II. Norris v. Southern Bell Telephone Telegraph Company, 324 So.2d at 109.
Certiorari granted; order quashed.