Michael Oana and Florida 10002, LLC v. Sorin Lupu
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledFebruary 24, 2023
Docket2D22-0772
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
MICHAEL OANA and FLORIDA 10002, LLC,
Appellants,
v.
GENE SOLOMON and SYLVIA LUPU,
as co-personal representatives of the
Estate of Sorin Lupu, deceased; and
LUNA PARTNERSHIP ONE, LLP,
Appellees.
No. 2D22-772
February 24, 2023
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County; Darren D.
Farfante, Judge.
R. Quincy Bird and Timothy W. Weber, of Weber, Crabb & Wein, P.A., St.
Petersburg, for Appellants.
Amy Dilday, Courtney L. Fernald, and Julia Kapusta (withdrew after
briefing) of Englander and Fischer LLP, St. Petersburg, for Appellees Gene
Solomon and Sylvia Lupu, as co-personal representatives of the Estate of
Sorin Lupu, deceased.
Lindsay Patrick Lopez, Patrick M. Causey, and Marie Tomassi, of
Trenam, Kemker, Scharf, Barkin, Frye, O'Neill & Mullis, P.A., Tampa, for
Appellee Luna Partnership One, LLP.
ROTHSTEIN-YOUAKIM, Judge.
Michael Oana and Florida 10002, LLC (collectively, Oana), appeal
an order that both confirms and approves an arbitration award and also
authorizes the appointed receiver of Luna Partnership One, LLC, to sell
the partnership's assetsโ246 condominium unitsโto Axonic Properties.
To the extent the order generally confirms and approves the arbitration
award, it is nonfinal and nonappealable, see Ross v. Prospectplus!, Inc.,
182 So. 3d 802, 803 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) ("[A]n order confirming an
arbitration award is not the final order in such a proceeding; it must be
followed by a final judgment."); accordingly, we lack jurisdiction to
consider Oana's challenge to that portion of the order and dismiss the
appeal to that extent. To the extent the order approved the sale of the
partnership's assets, however, we have jurisdiction. See Fla. R. App. P.
9.130(a)(3)(C)(ii); Arzuman v. Saud, 964 So. 2d 809, 811 (Fla. 4th DCA
2007) (concluding that an order approving sale and directing a receiver to
proceed with closing was reviewable as an order determining the right to
immediate possession of property).
We reject Oana's argument that the order approving sale is
subordinate to the arbitration award and cannot be confirmed
independent of a final arbitration award, as Oana never raised this
objection below. See Sunset Harbour Condo. Ass'n v. Robbins, 914 So. 2d
925, 928 (Fla. 2005). Moreover, Oana has identified no outstanding
matters concerning the sale of the assets, and an incomplete award may
be validly confirmed where omitted matters are severable from and
sufficiently independent of the matters determined in the order
confirming the award. See Air Conditioning Equip., Inc. v. Rogers, 551 So.
2d 554, 556 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989).
Oana additionally argues that the trial court erred in confirming
the order approving the sale because the sale relief provisions of the
arbitration award did not include a prejudice analysis, which Oana
claims the partnership's operating agreement required and delegated to
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the arbitrator. Again, this issue was not raised below and is therefore
waived. See Sunset Harbour Condo. Ass'n, 914 So. 2d at 928.
Nonetheless, this argument lacks merit as the award indicates the
arbitrator did undertake a prejudice analysis. And even if the arbitrator
were required to undertake a second prejudice analysis before approving
sale of the assets to a third party, we cannot imagine that Oana could
establish prejudice from the sale of property that he cannot afford to buy;
the only conceivable prejudice on this record is that he would no longer
be able to mismanage the partnership's affairs to his advantage.
Finally, Oana wholly fails to challenge the substance of the
recommendation that the partnership's assets be sold to Axonic. He
does not argue that there has been some misapprehension of fact or,
apart from the arbitrator's asserted failure to engage in a prejudice
analysis, some irregularity of procedure in any aspect of either the
arbitration or the receivership. Rather, this appeal appears to be nothing
more than an attempt to delay the inevitable. Thus, we affirm the trial
court's order approving the arbitrator's order authorizing the sale of the
partnership's assets to Axonic. We express no opinion as to any other
aspect of the arbitration award.
Affirmed in part; dismissed in part.
NORTHCUTT and SILBERMAN, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
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