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ALLIANCE JJ MIAMI, LLC v. JOSIAH COATES
Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida
Opinion filed June 29, 2022. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D21-1766 Lower Tribunal No. 20-13216 SP ________________
Alliance JJ Miami, LLC, Appellant,
vs.
Josiah Coates, Appellee.
An appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Gisela Cardonne Ely, Senior Judge.
Ainsworth + Clancy, PLLC, and Yamila Lorenzo, and Ryan M. Clancy, for appellant.
Josiah Coates, in proper person. Before LOGUE, MILLER, and GORDO, JJ.
MILLER, J.
Appellant, Alliance JJ Miami, LLC, challenges a final judgment entered in favor of appellee, Josiah Coates, in the underlying small claims action. As relevant to this appeal, the underlying dispute concerned whether Coates was entitled to reimbursement of a $350 “early cancellation fee” assessed purportedly pursuant to a martial arts membership agreement. Following a bench trial, the lower tribunal determined that the fee was unauthorized under the circumstances. Our de novo review of the contract yields the identical conclusion. See D & E Real Est., LLC v. Vitto, 260 So. 3d 429, 433 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018) (“The interpretation of a contract is a question of law which is . . . subject to de novo review.”). The agreement contains no early cancellation fee provision. Instead, it only allows for the imposition of a $350 fee “[i]f the payment responsibilities stipulated in this contract are not fulfilled.” Declining to engraft an additional obligation into the contract and further finding that the conclusion by the trial court that the parties rescinded the original term of the contract in favor of a month-to-month option, rendering Coates compliant with payment obligations, is amply supported by competent, substantial evidence, we affirm in all respects. See Fed. Nat’l Mortg. Ass’n v. Morton, 196 So. 3d 428, 431 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) (“[W]hether a party has substantially complied with or performed a contract term remains a question of fact.”). Affirmed.