Unjust Enrichment -
[1] Elements and Case Citations
(1) Plaintiff has conferred benefit on the defendant, who has knowledge thereof;
(2) Defendant voluntarily accepts and retains the benefit conferred; and
(3) The circumstances render the defendant’s
retention of the benefit inequitable unless the defendant pays to the plaintiff the value of the benefit.
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Florida State Courts
First District: Cole Taylor Bank v. Shannon, 772 So.2d 546, 551 (Fla. 1st
DCA 2000)
Second District: Rollins, Inc. v. Butland, 951 So. 2d 860, 876 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006)
Third District: N.G.L. Travel Assoc. v. Celebrity Cruises, Inc., 764 So.2d
672, 675 n. 5 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2000)
Fourth District: Della Ratta v. Della Ratta, 927 So. 2d 1055, 1059 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006)
Fifth District: Duncan v. Kasim, Inc., 2002 WL 125686, *3 (Fla. 5th
DCA 2002)
Florida Federal Courts
Eleventh Circuit: Nova Information Systems, Inc. v. Greenwich Insurance Co., 365 F.3d 996, 1006-07 (11th Cir. 2004)
Southern District: Greenberg v. Miami Children's Hospital Reseach Institute, Inc., 264 F.Supp.2d 1064, 1072 (S.D.Fla. 2003)
Middle District: In re Gulf N. Transp., Inc., 340 B.R. 111, 124 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2006)
[2] Defenses to Claim
for Unjust Enrichment
(1) Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.110(d) (pleading affirmative defenses), and other
standard defenses. See § 60.
(2) Statute of Limitations: § 95.11(3)(j), Fla. Stat. (four years);
Calder v. Uwanawich, 449 So. 2d 911, 912 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984).
(3) Plaintiff cannot recover money paid under a mistake of fact when the payee
``received it in good faith in satisfaction of an equitable claim, nor where it was due in honor and conscience’’. Pensacola and A. R. Co. v.
Braxton, 34 Fla. 471, 16 So. 317, 317 (1894).
(4) Plaintiff cannot obtain restitution through unjust enrichment when criminal
or other wrongful conduct was utilized to confer the benefit. Restatement of Restitution § 140 (1937).
(5) Unjust enrichment is unavailable when a change in circumstances renders
payment to plaintiff for the benefit conferred inequitable. Restatement of Restitution §§ 142, 143 (1937).
(6) Unjust enrichment is unavailable when it is proven that an express contract
exists. See, e.g., Williams v. Bear Stearns & Co., 725 So. 2d 397, 399 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998).
