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  • The Fourth District Court of Appeal withdrew its initial Opinion Granting Appellate Attorney’s Fees in a lawsuit involving claims brought against the defendants alleging violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practice Act §§ 501.201-.213, Florida Statutes (2014)(“FDUPTA”) and the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”) and substituted with an Opinion denying appellate attorney’s fees. The Fourth District Court of Appeal aligned with the First District Court of Appeals in Heindel v. Southside Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., 476 So.2d 266, 270 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)(“In summary, we hold that to recover attorney’s fees a must (1) recover judgment on the chapter 501, part II claim, and (2) recover a net judgment in the entire case.” Because Appellant Banner prevailed solely on his FCCPA claim but did not prevail on his FDUPTA claim the Court found that under the Heidel approach Banner was not entitled to appellate attorney’s fees because he did not prevail on the entire case and a section 501.205 recovery requires that a party recover a net judgment in the entire case not just the FDIPTA claim or another theory of liability.
  • The Court made clear that “The goal of consumer protection statutes like FDUPTA and FCCPA is to deter various types of anti-consumer conduct. To allow attorney’s fees where a plaintiff does not prevail under one consumer protection statute-but obtains judgment under a different consumer law or a common law cause of action-would discourage consumers from using statutes designed for their own protection.”