03-1523 REWARDS V. ELITE

State: Florida

Court: Florida Third District Court

Docket No: 03-1523 REWARDS V. ELITE

Case Date: 12/03/2003

Preview:NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DISPOSED OF.

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA THIRD DISTRICT JULY TERM, A.D. 2003

REWARDS HOTEL MANAGEMENT COMPANY, LLC., ** Appellant, ** vs. ** ELITE GENERAL CONTRACTORS, INC., and YIZI WEINGARTEN, NATIONAL HOTEL RENOVATION CORP., d/b/a NHRC and KEN SHRIBER, Appellees. ** ** **

**

CASE NO. 3D03-1523

LOWER TRIBUNAL NO. 03-50

** Opinion filed December 3, 2003. An appeal from the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Mark H. Jones, Judge. Campbell & Malafy, P.A., and John Campbell, for appellant.

Leiby, Taylor, Stearns, Linkhorst and Roberts, P.A., and Larry Leiby, for appellees.

Before COPE, GODERICH and SHEVIN, JJ.

COPE, J.

Rewards Hotel Management, LLC appeals an order enforcing an arbitration clause. We affirm.

I. Rewards Hotel Management operates a Ramada Inn in Marathon, Florida. Rewards contracted with appellee National Hotel

Renovation Corp. (NHRC) to remodel the hotel. contained an arbitration clause.

The contract

Work began in July 2002 and disputes arose by the end of the year. In February 2003, Rewards Hotel Management filed suit NHRC timely moved to

against NHRC and three other defendants.1

compel arbitration and the other three defendants joined the motion. Rewards Hotel Management moved to strike the demand, arguing that the construction contract was unenforceable. Rewards Hotel

Management contended that NHRC had violated section 489.128, Florida Statutes (2002), which provides: 489.128. Contracts contractors unenforceable performed by unlicensed

As a matter of public policy, contracts entered into on or after October 1, 1990, and performed in full or in part by any contractor who fails to obtain

1

Defendant Kenneth Shriberg is president of NHRC; defendant Elite General Contractors, Inc. is a general contractor affiliated with NHRC; and defendant Yizi Weingarten is a principal of Elite. 2

or maintain a license in accordance with this part shall be unenforceable in law or in equity.

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