Zlotnick v. Premier Sales Group, Inc.

Opinion

 [*1282]  HULL, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff Philip A. Zlotnick appeals the district court's order dismissing his suit against Premier Sales Group, Inc. ("Premier"), Boynton Waterways Investment Associates, LLC ("Boynton Waterways"), and Panther Real Estate Partners, Inc. ("Panther"), filed pursuant to the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act ("FDUTPA"), Fla. Stat. Ann. §§ 501.201-.213. After review, we affirm the dismissal of Zlotnick's complaint for failure to state a claim.

I. BACKGROUND

On February 23, 2005, Zlotnick, a citizen of Maryland, signed a reservation agreement with Boynton Waterways, a citizen of  [*1283]  Florida, for a unit in a condominium complex to be built in Boynton Beach, Florida. The reservation agreement provided that payment of a $ 15,000 reservation deposit "expresses Purchaser's interest in purchasing Unit No. 207N (the 'Unit') in the proposed condominium . . . at a purchase price of $ 310,000." The reservation agreement then stated [**2]  that Boynton Waterways "assures that the foregoing purchase price will be the purchase price in the contract for the sale and purchase of the Unit (the "Contract") submitted to Purchaser."

The reservation agreement also gave both Zlotnick and Boynton Waterways the option of canceling the agreement at any time prior to entering a purchasing contract, as follows:

Purchaser may cancel this Reservation Agreement by notifying Seller or the Escrow Agent in a signed writing at any time before Purchaser signs the [purchase contract] . . . . Before both Purchaser and Seller sign and deliver the [purchase contract], Seller may cancel this Agreement for any reason whatsoever, by giving written notice thereof to Purchaser and Escrow Agent, in which event the Reservation Deposit, together with any interest thereon, shall be returned to Purchaser, and thereafter Purchaser shall have no claim of any kind against Seller.

Moreover, the agreement states, "Purchaser recognizes that this Reservation Agreement is a reservation solely with respect to a proposed condominium; and, accordingly, this Reservation Agreement is not an agreement to sell the Unit, nor does it confer any lien [**3]  upon or interest in the Unit or on the proposed Condominium property."

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