THE KIDWELL GROUP, LLC, D/ B/ A AIR QUALITY ASSESSORS OF FLORIDA , A/ A/ O ROBERT AND MAUREEN MUCCIACCIO v. AMERICAN INTEGRITY INSURANCE COMPANY OF FLORIDA ( 2022 )

DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
THE KIDWELL GROUP, LLC, d/b/a Air Quality Assessors
of Florida, a/a/o Robert and Maureen Mucciaccio,
Appellant,
v.
AMERICAN INTEGRITY INSURANCE COMPANY OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
No. 2D21-205
September 16, 2022
Appeal from the County Court for Charlotte County; John L. Burns,
Judge.
Chad A. Barr of Chad Barr Law, Altamonte Springs, for Appellant.
Kimberly J. Fernandes of Kelley Kronenberg, Tallahassee, for
Appellee.
LaROSE, Judge.
The Kidwell Group, LLC, d/b/a Air Quality Assessors of
Florida, a/a/o Robert and Maureen Mucciaccio (Air Quality),
appeals a final order dismissing, with prejudice, its breach-of-
contract complaint against American Integrity Insurance Company
of Florida (AIIC). The trial court concluded that the assignment of
benefits (AOB) that Air Quality obtained from the Mucciaccios was
invalid and unenforceable under section 627.7152(2)(a), Florida
Statutes (2019). We have jurisdiction. See Fla. R. App. P.
9.030(b)(1)(A).
Air Quality raises two issues on appeal.1 First, whether a
factual dispute precluded the trial court from determining that
section 627.7152 governed the type of services Air Quality provided
under the AOB. Second, whether section 627.7152 retroactively
applied to this case. We affirm.
I. Background
AIIC insured the Mucciaccios' home. The home sustained
hurricane damage in 2017. In 2019, the Mucciaccios assigned
postloss benefits in an AOB to Air Quality in exchange for certain
services. Air Quality would
1 As Air Quality stated during oral argument, it presented
similar arguments to the Fifth District. See 21-1000 Oral Argument
at 14:33-17:15, Kidwell Grp., LLC. v. Am. Integrity Ins. Co. of Fla.,
339 So. 3d 1068 (Fla. 5th DCA 2022) (No. 5D21-1000), https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q_Wv0PiKZQ. The Fifth District, in a
rather sparse opinion that we discuss below, agreed with Air
Quality and reversed. Am. Integrity Ins. Co. of Fla., 339 So. 3d at
1069-70.
2
perform a non-emergency indoor environmental
assessment and/or forensic engineering study . . . . to
determine repairability, scope and/or categorization of
water damage, testing for contamination including
bacteria and/or mold in order to prepare a forensic
engineering report and/or remediation protocol report
that may be used to prescribe or confirm proper
remediation procedures for the damaged property.
The AOB provided that "this non-emergency indoor environmental
assessment in no way is meant to protect, repair, restore, or replace
damaged property or to mitigate against further damage to the
property."
After providing the services, Air Quality submitted its invoices
to AIIC. AIIC refused to pay; Air Quality sued. Air Quality alleged
in its complaint that the homeowners "suffered a loss due to water
and/or mold, covered perils under the [AIIC] Policy," and Air Quality
agreed to provide "reasonable and necessary assessment services to
the [homeowners] relating to the loss" in exchange for the
assignment of postloss insurance benefits. Air Quality attached the
AOB to the complaint. It did not provide the insurance policy.
AIIC moved to dismiss Air Quality's complaint. AIIC argued
that Air Quality lacked standing to sue because the language in the
complaint and the AOB led to the "undisputed conclusion" that the
3
AOB was an "assignment agreement" subject to section 627.7152.
Specifically, AIIC observed that (i) the AOB did not include the
required provisions under section 627.7152(2)(a),2 and (ii) Air
Quality failed to comply with the presuit notice requirement of
section 627.7152(9)(a).3
2 The pertinent parts of section 627.7152(2)(a) require that the
AOB contain: "a provision that allows the assignor to rescind the
assignment agreement without a penalty or fee"; "a provision
requiring the assignee to provide a copy of the executed assignment
agreement to the insurer within 3 business days after the date on
which the assignment agreement is executed or the date on which
work begins, whichever is earlier"; "a written, itemized, per-unit cost
estimate of the services to be performed by the assignee"; a "notice
in 18-point uppercase and boldfaced type" regarding the rights the
assignor is giving up to a third party and the assignor's right to
cancel the assignment agreement; and "a provision requiring the
assignee to indemnify and hold harmless the assignor from all
liabilities, damages, losses, and costs, including, but not limited to,
attorney fees, should the policy subject to the assignment
agreement prohibit, in whole or in part, the assignment of benefits."
§ 627.7152(2)(a)2-4, 6-7.
3 Section 627.7152(9)(a) provides:
An assignee must provide the named insured,
insurer, and the assignor, if not the named insured, with
a written notice of intent to initiate litigation before filing
suit under the policy. Such notice must be served by
certified mail, return receipt requested, or electronic
delivery at least 10 business days before filing suit, but
may not be served before the insurer has made a
determination of coverage under s. 627.70131. The
notice must specify the damages in dispute, the amount
4
Air Quality countered that the AOB was not an "assignment
agreement." Although "the [assessment] report is certainly used in
furtherance of repairs or replacements to a property," Air Quality
maintained that "it does not actually fall within any of the
enumerated service types within [section] 627.7152" because the
report "does not specifically protect, repair, restore, or replace
property or . . . mitigate against further damage to the property."
Air Quality also argued that section 627.7152 could not apply to an
AOB relating to an insurance policy in effect before enactment of
the statute.
The trial court agreed with AIIC and dismissed the complaint.
It concluded that the AOB was an "assignment agreement" that did
not comply with section 627.7152(2)(a). It also noted that section
claimed, and a presuit settlement demand. Concurrent
with the notice, and as a precondition to filing suit, the
assignee must provide the named insured, insurer, and
the assignor, if not the named insured, a detailed written
invoice or estimate of services, including itemized
information on equipment, materials, and supplies; the
number of labor hours; and, in the case of work
performed, proof that the work has been performed in
accordance with accepted industry standards.
5
627.7152 applied because the AOB "was executed after the
enactment of the statute."
II. Discussion
A. Types of Services
Air Quality argues that the complaint did not demonstrate that
its services were governed by section 627.7152. The crux of its
argument is that there was no basis for the trial court to determine
that Air Quality provided any service to "protect, repair, restore, or
replace property or to mitigate against further damage to the
property."
AIIC, for its part, emphasizes that Air Quality conceded in the
trial court that its assessment report is "certainly used in
furtherance of repairs or replacements to a property." AIIC further
asserts that, "regardless of what labels Air Quality applie[d] to its
contract," the services were of the type enumerated in the statute.
We review the trial court's dismissal of a complaint for failure
to state a claim de novo. See Payas v. Adventist Health
Sys./Sunbelt, Inc., 238 So. 3d 887, 890 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018). We
review questions of statutory interpretation de novo, as well.
McCloud v. State, 260 So. 3d 911, 914 (Fla. 2018).
6
In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the trial court is limited to
the four corners of the complaint and its incorporated attachments;
"all factual allegations . . . [are] taken as true and all reasonable
inferences . . . drawn in the appellant's favor." Payas, 238 So. 3d at
890 (first citing Wallace v. Dean, 3 So. 3d 1035, 1042-43 (Fla.
2009); and then citing Toney v. C. Courtney, 191 So. 3d 505, 507
(Fla. 1st DCA 2016)); Fla. Carry, Inc. v. Univ. of Fla., 180 So. 3d 137,
148 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015). A motion to dismiss is "designed to test
the legal sufficiency of a complaint to state a cause of action, not to
determine issues of ultimate fact." Howard v. Greenwich Ins. Co.,
307 So. 3d 844, 849-50 (Fla. 3d DCA 2020) (quoting Behnam v.
Zadeh, 132 So. 3d 951, 952 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014)). Additionally,
"[a]ffirmative defenses 'cannot ordinarily be raised by motion to
dismiss' unless 'the face of the complaint is sufficient to
demonstrate the existence of the defense.' " Wallisville Corp. v.
McGuinness, 154 So. 3d 501, 504 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015) (quoting
Ramos v. Mast, 789 So. 2d 1226, 1227 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)).
The "complaint must allege 'a short and plain statement of the
ultimate facts showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.' "
Payas, 238 So. 3d at 890 (quoting Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.110(b)(2)). In
7
this case, Air Quality needed a valid AOB to maintain a breach-of-
contract cause of action. See Gables Ins. Recovery, Inc. v. Citizens
Prop. Ins. Corp., 261 So. 3d 613, 627 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018) ("Matusow
did not validly assign her claim, and without the assignment,
Gables Recovery did not have standing to sue Citizens."); see also
SFR Servs., LLC v. Indian Harbor Ins. Co., 529 F. Supp. 3d 1285,
1298 (M.D. Fla. 2021) (explaining that "the issue of whether the
AOB is valid is a merits question of contractual standing" that
raises the issue of whether the plaintiff states a claim for relief).
The legislature enacted section 627.7152 in May 2019 "to
regulate assignment agreements that seek to transfer insurance
benefits from the policyholder to a third party." Total Care
Restoration, LLC v. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp., 337 So. 3d 74, 75-76
(Fla. 4th DCA 2022); see also ch. 2019-57, §§ 1-6, Laws of Fla. "An
assignment agreement that does not comply with [subsection (2)] is
invalid and unenforceable." § 627.7152(2)(d).
An "assignment agreement" is
any instrument by which post-loss [sic] benefits under a
residential property insurance policy or commercial
property insurance policy, as that term is defined in
[section] 627.0625(1), are assigned or transferred, or
acquired in any manner, in whole or in part, to or from a
8
person providing services to protect, repair, restore, or
replace property or to mitigate against further damage to
the property.[4]
§ 627.7152(1)(b) (emphasis added). The legislature excluded some
types of assignments that are not applicable here. See
§ 627.7152(11) ("This section does not apply to: (a) An assignment,
transfer, or conveyance granted to a subsequent purchaser of the
property with an insurable interest in the property following a loss;
(b) A power of attorney under chapter 709 that grants to a
management company, family member, guardian, or similarly
situated person of an insured the authority to act on behalf of an
4 During the pendency of this appeal, the legislature amended
the term "assignment agreement" to instruments that pertain to
"services, including, but not limited to, inspecting, protecting,
repairing, restoring, or replacing the property or mitigating against
further damage to the property. The term does not include fees
collected by a public adjuster as defined in s. 626.854(1)." Ch.
2022-268, § 18, Laws. of Fla. (2022).
The amendment took effect on May 26, 2022. Id. at § 23. It
does not alter our disposition regarding the 2019 version of the
statute. Cf. Dean Wish, LLC v. Lee County, 326 So. 3d 840, 850
(Fla. 2d DCA 2021) (explaining that although "[c]ourts may look to a
statutory amendment as clarification of the legislature's 'intent
behind the prior version of the statute,' " this court did not need to
"look at the 2021 amendment to discern a prior legislative intent"
where "the Act's language before us [was] clear" (quoting Leftwich v.
Fla. Dep't of Corr., 148 So. 3d 79, 83-84 (Fla. 2014))), review denied,
No. SC21-1529, 2022 WL 852956 (Fla. Mar. 23, 2022).
9
insured as it relates to a property insurance claim; or (c) Liability
coverage under a property insurance policy.").
Air Quality's AOB disclaimed that the assessment services
were "meant to protect, repair, restore, or replace damaged property
or to mitigate against further damage to the property." But, upon
closer examination, we see that the AOB described the purpose of
the assessment "to determine repairability, scope and/or
categorization of water damage, testing for contamination including
bacteria and/or mold in order to prepare a forensic engineering
report and/or remediation protocol report that may be used to
prescribe or confirm proper remediation procedures for the
damaged property." Further, Air Quality alleged in its complaint
that it agreed to provide "reasonable and necessary assessment
services" relating to the damage.
We are hard-pressed to conclude that Air Quality's assessment
was not a service that falls within the scope of an "assignment
agreement." As AIIC observes, "[i]f it looks like a duck, and quacks
like a duck, then it is a duck." See generally Villamorey, S.A. v. BDT
Invs., Inc., 245 So. 3d 909, 911 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018) ("This well-
known abductive reasoning test posits: 'If it looks like a duck, and
10
quacks like a duck, then it is a duck.' "). The AOB is an
"assignment agreement" under section 627.7152, regardless of Air
Quality's attempts to disguise it as something else.
Notably, the legislature did not exclude assessment services
from its definition of "assignment agreement" or add such services
to subsection (11)'s exclusion list. See § 627.7152(1)(b), (11). And,
of course, "[i]t is not our role to act as the [l]egislature or to add
words to the statute which do not exist." State v. Estime, 259 So.
3d 884, 889 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018).
Accordingly, the allegations of the complaint and the AOB are
clear; Air Quality agreed to provide services as part of the
homeowners' efforts to remediate property damage. Cf. Wallisville
Corp., 154 So. 3d at 504 (holding the trial court erroneously
dismissed the complaint as barred by the statute where, "given the
complaint's minimal factual allegations regarding the deposit, the
trial court did not have enough information to decide the merits of
appellees' affirmative defense").
B. Retroactivity
Air Quality stresses that the legislature enacted the statute
after the insurance policy issued to the Mucciaccios. According to
11
Air Quality, the statute was substantive or "accomplishe[d] a
remedial purpose by creating new substantive rights or imposing
new legal burdens." AIIC counters that the trial court did not apply
the statute retroactively because the statute affects AOBs executed
after the statute's effective date.
We review whether a statute applies retroactively or
prospectively de novo. Love v. State, 286 So. 3d 177, 183 (Fla.
2019). A trial court applies a statute prospectively, not
retroactively, to a contract where the statute preexisted the
contract. Total Care Restoration, LLC, 337 So. 3d at 76.
The statute applies to AOBs "executed on or after July 1,
2019." § 627.7152(13); ch. 2019-57, §§ 1, 6, Laws of Fla. As Judge
Badalamenti recently explained, subsection (2) "affect[s] rights
under the [AOB], not substantive rights under the insurance
policy." SFR Servs., LLC, 529 F. Supp. 3d at 1290. The statute
provides procedural requirements for an AOB to be valid and
enforceable. § 627.7152(2). In the legislature's view, the
requirements address legitimate concerns of insureds and insurers.
Cf. SFR Servs., LLC, 529 F. Supp. 3d at 1295 n.9 (recognizing the
legislature may have "had the interests of both insureds and
12
insurers in mind" when it passed section 627.7152 as policy
arguments for both the insureds and insurers "were before the
Florida Legislature in its consideration of the Act"); Fla. H.R. Comm.
on Judiciary, CS/CS/HB 7065 (2019) Final Staff Analysis 1, 13
(May 28, 2019), available at https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/
Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=h7065z1.CJS.DOCX
&DocumentType=Analysis&BillNumber=7065&Session=2019
(stating that the statute "addresses the abuse of post-loss [sic]
AOBs for property insurance claims" where the Office of Insurance
Regulation's report of increased litigation "related to AOBs for
property insurance claims, project[ed] recurring significant annual
rate increases due to costs associated with such litigation, and
predict[ed that] insurers may discontinue writing certain business
within certain areas of the state if the trends continue"; and that
"[t]he bill may have a positive direct economic impact on the private
sector by reducing litigation costs for insurers and lowering
insurance rates for consumers").
It seems beyond cavil that an assignee acquires no rights to an
insured claim until it executes a valid AOB. See Total Care
Restoration, LLC, 337 So. 3d at 76 ("Total Care acquired no interest
13
in the claim until the assignment was executed. It is only when the
assignment was executed that Total Care stood in the shoes of the
assignor, 'able to maintain suit in its own name as the real party in
interest.' " (quoting QBE Specialty Ins. v. United Reconstruction Grp.,
Inc., 325 So. 3d 57, 60 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021))); QBE Specialty Ins.,
325 So. 3d at 60 ("[A] third-party's ability to bring suit against an
insurance company is predicated on it having received a valid
assignment of benefits from the insured.").
Accordingly, the law in effect at the time the parties executed
the AOB controls. See Total Care Restoration, LLC, 337 So. 3d at
76-77 (focusing on the AOB's date); SFR Servs., LLC, 529 F. Supp.
3d at 1290 (focusing on the AOB's date because "subsection 2,
unlike subsection 10, imposes procedural requirements for [AOBs]
to be valid and enforceable," and affect only the rights under the
AOB, not the insurance policy).
Section 627.7152 had been in effect for months when Air
Quality acquired the AOB. The language in the AOB reflects Air
Quality's awareness of the statute given that it tried to disclaim its
application. Thus, the trial court properly applied the preexisting
14
statute; there was no retroactive application.5 See Total Care
Restoration, LLC, 337 So. 3d at 76 ("[T]he statute was not applied
retroactively—the trial court applied it to an assignment executed
after the effective date of the statute."); SFR Servs., LLC, 529 F.
Supp. 3d at 1290 ("The AOB here was undisputedly executed after
the effective date of the Act, and therefore applying the Act to the
AOB does not amount to an impermissible retroactive application.").
Air Quality's reliance on Menendez v. Progressive Express
Insurance Co., 35 So. 3d 873, 876 (Fla. 2010), is misplaced.
Menendez is distinguishable. See Total Care Restoration, LLC, 337
So. 3d at 76 (explaining that Menendez was inapplicable where it
did not involve an AOB and "did not address . . . whether a
subsequent contract, the [AOB] under an insurance policy, is
subject to the notice requirements of an earlier enacted statute");
SFR Servs., LLC, 529 F. Supp. 3d at 1289 (illuminating that "SFR
Services's reliance on Menendez is misplaced" because, unlike here,
5 We do not determine whether subsection (2) is procedural or
substantive for purposes of retroactive application. See Total Care
Restoration, LLC, 337 So. 3d at 77 ("Because we hold that section
627.7152(9)(a) was not retroactively applied to the assignment, we
do not reach the question of whether the statute is procedural or
substantive.").
15
the new pre-suit requirement in Menendez "deprived the vested,
substantive rights of the insured and insurer under existing
policies"). We similarly find the federal cases cited by Air Quality
unpersuasive. See, e.g., CMR Constr. & Roofing, LLC v. Hartford Ins.
Co. of the Midwest, No. 19-CV-81610, 2020 WL 264671, at *1-2
(S.D. Fla. Jan. 17, 2020) (failing to mention whether the AOB was
executed after the effective date of section 627.7152(10)); JPJ Cos.,
LLC v. Hartford Ins. Co. of the Midwest, No. 19-CV-81696, 2020 WL
264673, at *1-2 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 17, 2020) (same); Procraft Exteriors,
Inc v. Metro. Cas. Ins. Co., No. 219CV883FTM38MRM, 2020 WL
5943845, at *2 (M.D. Fla. May 13, 2020) (involving subsection (10),
which the court found impaired a substantive right arising out of
the insurance policy, i.e., attorney's fees).
C. Sister Cases from the Fifth District
The Fifth District recently ruled for Air Quality in a case
involving similar facts. Kidwell Grp., LLC. v. Am. Integrity Ins. Co. of
Fla., 339 So. 3d 1068, 1069-70 (Fla. 5th DCA 2022). The Fifth
District concluded that dismissal was inappropriate because the
underlying insurance policy was not attached to the complaint. Id.Accordingly, the Fifth District faulted the trial court with relying on
16
evidence outside the four corners of the complaint in dismissing the
case. Id.From our vantage point, the Fifth District's opinion offers
scant facts and limited legal analysis. Judge Eisnaugle provides
some clue to the court's reasoning, stating in his special
concurrence that "while [Air Quality's] report might not be
necessary, the trial court could not determine if section 627.7152,
Florida Statutes (2019), applies without, at a minimum, the
insurance policy." Am. Integrity Ins. Co. of Fla., 339 So. 3d at 1070
(Eisnaugle, J., concurring specially). The opinion provides nothing
more.
Although Air Quality failed to attach a copy of the insurance
policy to the complaint, we are not hindered in our appellate review.
The Fifth District's apparent focus on the underlying insurance
contract would be a red herring if applied to this case. There seems
to be no dispute that the property damage suffered by the
Mucciaccios is a covered claim; Air Quality alleges as much. The
statute is obviously a legislative effort to regulate those who seek
out "assignment agreements" from homeowners who have suffered a
covered loss. See § 627.7152. The statute's procedural
17
requirements are directed at the AOB, not the insurance policy.
See § 627.7152(2); SFR Servs., LLC, 529 F. Supp. 3d at 1290
("[S]ubsection 2(a)(4) does not affect whether benefits under a policy
can be assigned but only how that assignment can be
accomplished—in other words, the procedures that need to be
followed."). Accordingly, our focus must remain on the operative
document that is central to this appeal, the AOB. Efforts to rely on
a separate contract, the insurance policy, are distractions.
In fact, after its American Integrity Insurance Co. opinion, the
Fifth District clarified that "the operative date for purposes of
[section 627.7152] is the date of the [AOB], not the date the
insurance policy was issued."6 Kidwell Grp., LLC v. Olympus Ins.
Co., 47 Fla. L. Weekly D1571, D1571 (Fla. 5th DCA July 22, 2022).
The Fifth District further explained that the assignee cannot "step[]
6 The Fifth District noted that the statute's legislative history
was irrelevant and relied solely on the statute's plain language to
determine that "the trial court properly applied section 627.7152
prospectively to the assignment agreement in [its] case." Kidwell
Grp., LLC v. Olympus Ins. Co., 47 Fla. L. Weekly D1571, D1571-72
n.4 (Fla. 5th DCA July 22, 2022). Although we briefly mentioned
above the legislature's view to provide the statute's full context, we
recognize and agree that the statute's plain language, alone, is
sufficient to reach our disposition here.
18
into the shoes" of the insured when the statute in effect at the time
of the AOB "dictat[ed] otherwise." Id. That is the same legal
sentiment we apply here. Because Air Quality did not execute a
valid AOB under the statute in effect at the time, Air Quality
remains a stranger to the insurance policy. See Olympus Ins. Co.,
47 Fla. L. Weekly at D1571 (reasoning that "Kidwell never
successfully stepped into the shoes of the insured" because it never
entered a valid and enforceable AOB); Total Care Restoration, LLC,
337 So. 3d at 76; QBE Specialty Ins., 325 So. 3d at 60.
III. Conclusion
We conclude that the trial court correctly applied section
627.7152(2) to the AOB. See Olympus Ins. Co., 47 Fla. L. Weekly at
D1571; Total Care Restoration, LLC, 337 So. 3d at 76-77; SFR
Servs., LLC, 529 F. Supp. 3d at 1290-91. Accordingly, the trial
court properly dismissed the case. See Wallisville Corp., 154 So. 3d
at 504.
Affirmed.
CASANUEVA and SMITH, JJ., Concur.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
19