Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...d costs assessed against them in connection with a foreclosure action to collect the special assessment. The sole issue in this appeal is whether the parcels subject to foreclosure should be assessed an award of attorney's fees and costs pursuant to section 173.08, Florida Statutes (1985), based upon all fees and costs incurred in the entire collection process....

...Counsel's affidavit reflects that 47.8 hours were expended in the foreclosure suit; the other 180.6 hours were expended in research directed to all 136 parcels. *388 Resolution of this case turns upon construction of the attorney's fee provision of section 173.08, Florida Statutes (1985). Section 173.08(1) states: (1) In all cases where the cause may be decided for complainant, the judgment for delinquent taxes, tax certificates and special assessments against any parcel of land shall include the principal of, and interest and penalti...

..., they must be strictly construed. Whitten v. Progressive Casualty Insurance Co., 410 So.2d 501 (Fla. 1982); Nolan v. Altman, 449 So.2d 898 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984), petition for review denied, 458 So.2d 271 (Fla. 1984). An examination of the language of section 173.08 indicates that the statute does not, in express terms, limit the attorney's fees recoverable under the statute to those fees incurred in relation to the foreclosure suit nor does it, in express terms, state that the fees shall pertain to work expended prior to default....

...The title of what is now Chapter *389 173 indicates the statute was enacted to provide a supplemental, additional, optional, and alternative method of enforcing tax liens and special assessments. Ch. 15038, Laws of Fla. (1931). [1] With the exception of two minor changes, section 173.08 has remained the same since its adoption. [2] Although section 173.08 does not state expressly that attorney's fees recoverable under the statute are to be limited to expenses incurred in connection with the foreclosure action, we believe such intent is implicit in light of the meaning generally accorded to the term "costs" when used in connection with a suit for foreclosure....

...Thus, the common overall meaning accorded to "costs" in the context of a lawsuit is the expense incurred in prosecuting or defending an action. Those costs or expenses will include attorney's fees where, as in the instant case, attorney's fees are by statute allowed to be recovered in the judgment. An interpretation of section 173.08 which denominates as recoverable all the time expended in filing special assessment notices more than a year prior to institution of foreclosure proceedings would, in our judgment, constitute an impermissible extension of the "reasonable and obvious implications" of the statutory language....

...rcels subject to foreclosure. Such an interpretation would constitute not only an impermissible extension of the statutory language, but also would interject the possibility of denial of due process. *390 In summary, we conclude that the language of section 173.08(1) implicitly evinces legislative intent that only those attorney's fees and costs attributable to the foreclosure action may be charged against the parcels subject to foreclosure....

...conceded may need to be amended. The cause is remanded to the trial court to determine whether the property description used in the judgment is proper. If it is not, the court shall amend the judgment to provide the proper description. Furthermore, section 173.08, Florida Statutes (1989), provides for an allowance of attorney’s fees to the successful complainant....