Michael Mayoral Featured in Daily Business Review After Securing Disqualification of Miami Judge in HOA Dispute

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Third DCA Disqualifies Miami Judge

Michael Mayoral, a shareholder at Perez Mayoral, P.A., was featured in the Daily Business Review (read article here) for his role in a high-profile appellate victory resulting in the disqualification of a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge.

The case involved a dispute between unit owner Leslie Gratz, represented by Mayoral, and 1750 James Condominium Association, Inc., which sued Gratz for allegedly failing to replace his unit’s windows with impact glass and for other structural issues. The trial court had denied arbitration and moved toward emergency relief based on life safety concerns, invoking comparisons to the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside.

But Mayoral pushed back on what he saw as judicial overreach.

“Homeowners still have rights post-Surfside,” Mayoral told the Daily Business Review. “An association cannot ask a court to disregard those rights based on the bare allegation of a life and safety issue.”

The dispute escalated after the trial judge made statements prioritizing emergency safety concerns over the defendant’s due process rights, remarks that the Third District Court of Appeal found troubling enough to justify disqualification. In a one-paragraph opinion, the appellate court granted a writ of prohibition, finding that the defendant’s allegations were sufficient to cause a reasonably prudent person to fear they could not receive a fair hearing.

The court’s decision underscores the importance of impartiality and procedural fairness in Florida’s post-Surfside legal landscape.

“It’s not about being afraid of being reversed,” Mayoral said. “It’s about following the law. There’s no exception to due process just because someone alleges an emergency.”

A new judge will now be assigned to hear the case.