Opinion
Case No. 95-4302
Opinion filed December 26, 1996.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, St. Lucie County; Scott M. Kenney, Judge; L.T. Case No. 92-1634 CA 17.
Terry S. Bienstock and Philip J. Kantor of Bienstock Clark, Miami, for appellant.
Rickey L. Farrell, Port St. Lucie, for appellee WJB Television Limited Partnership, as general partner of WJB-TV Ft. Pierce Limited Partnership, d/b/a Coastal Wireless Cable Television.
The trial court erred in denying appellant's claim for attorney's fees under section 501.2105(1), Florida Statutes (1991), on grounds that appellees' counterclaim did not involve a consumer transaction. The court had previously granted a directed verdict in favor of appellant on appellees' counterclaim which was specifically based on an alleged violation of chapter 501. See Brown v. Gardens by the Sea South Condominium Ass'n., 424 So.2d 181 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); and Rustic Village, Inc. v. Friedman, 417 So.2d 305 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982).
We reverse with directions for the trial court to award appellant's attorney's fees.
GUNTHER, C.J., and FARMER, JJ., concur.