IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, FOURTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR DUVAL COUNTY, FLORIDA CAROL ECOS and SUSAN BESSING; Plaintiffs, v. CASENO: —16-2009-CA-011183, DIVISION: CV-G ‘TAYLOR MORRISON SERVICES, INC. ffk/a MORRISON HOMES, INC., a Foreign Profit Corporation; Defendant. / FINAL JUDGMENT WITH FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW. This cause came before the Court for trial upon Count IV of Plaintiffs’ Complaint against Defendant for negligence by an unlicensed contractor pursuant to section 768.0425, Florida Statutes. Upon the evidence received, the stipulations of the Parties and the arguments of counsel, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law: 1. Prior to trial, the parties reached a settlement agreement that resolved all counts of Plaintiffs’ complaint except for Count IV, (Plaintiffs? claim against Defendant for negligence by an unlicensed contractor pursuant to section 768.0425, Florida Statutes) and all defenses raised by Defendant to Count IV except its sixth affirmative defense, which claimed that Defendant ‘was not engaged in contracting and was not required to be licensed. 2. The Parties stipulated that Defendant was negligent in the construction of Plaintiffs’ house and that Plaintiffs were damaged by Defendant’s negligence in the amount of $200,000.00. 3. Defendant was the contractor of Plaintiffs house and under Florida law was required to be licensed. Page 1 of 34, In order to be licensed for the construction of Plaintiffs’ house, Defendant had to have a primary or secondary qualifying agent who was charged with directing, supervising, managing, and controlling the construction of Plaintiffs" house, 5. Defendant was required to have the licensed individual who was charged with directing, supervising, managing and controlling the construction of Plaintiffs’ house pull the building permit. 6. Defendant, through person or persons unknown, applied for and obtained a building permit as the contractor of Plaintifis’ house by providing to the City of Jacksonville the name and license number of a licensed contractor who no longer worked for Defendant, and made the application without that licensed contractor's knowledge or permission. 7. Additionally, Defendant built Plaintiffs’ house without the direction, supervision, management, and control of the licensed contractor listed on the building permit or any other licensed contractor. 8, Therefore, Defendant acted as an unlicensed contractor when it constructed Plaintiffs’ house. Based on the above findings of fact and conclusions of law, it is ADJUDGED: 1. That judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiffs, Carol Ecos and Susan Bessing, as to Count IV. 2. Based on the stipulation of the Parties as to compensatory damages and pursuant to section 768.0425, Florida Statutes, Plaintiffs shall recover damages in the amount of Six Hundred Thousand and 00/100 Dollars ($600,000.00) ($200,000.00 x 3 = $600,000.00) from Defendant. 3. Further, pursuant to section 768.0425, Florida Statutes Plaintiffs are entitled to an Page 2 of 3award of their reasonable attomey’s fees and costs. The Parties have stipulated that Five Hundred Thousand and 00/100 Dollars ($500,000.00) are the reasonable attorney's fees incurred by Plaintiffs and that Sixty-Two Thousand Five Hundred and 00/100 Dollars ($62,500.00) are the reasonable costs incurred by Plaintiffs. 4. Therefore, Plaintiffs Carol Ecos whose addresses is 14710 Silver Glen Drive East, Jacksonville, Florida 32258 and Susan Bessing whose addresses is 2907 Westberry Hideaway Court, Jacksonville, FL 32223 shall recover the total sum of One Million One Hundred Sixty- Two Thousand Five Hundred and 00/100 Dollars ($1,162,500.00) from Defendant, Taylor Morrison Services, Inc. f/k/a Morrison Homes, Inc., whose address is 4900 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 2000, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251. 5. The Parties have stipulated that no amount of pre- or post-judgment interest shall accrue on the amounts recited herein. ORDERED in Jacksonville, Florida this 5” day of June, 2014 ‘CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE Copies furnished to: Kevin A. Schoeppel, Esquire R. Casey Ratchford, Esquire Durant, Schoeppel, Decunto & Ratchford, P.A. 6550 St. Augustine Rd,, Ste. 105 Jacksonville, Florida 32217 Attorneys for Plaintiffs Neal A. Sivyer, Esquire J. Carlton Mitchell, Esquire Sivyer, Barlow & Watson, P.A. 401 E. Jackson Street, Suite 2225 Tampa, FL 33602 Attorneys for Defendant Page 3 of 3