In short: No: a jury waiver in a guaranty signed by the owner personally does not bind the tenant company if the lease itself has no waiver and does not incorporate the guaranty. In Pierre’s Caribbean Cuisine LLC v. LeaseFlorida LLC, the Third District reversed a bench-trial judgment for the landlord on March 12, 2025, holding the restaurant tenant was entitled to a jury.
The Facts
In 2022 Pierre’s Caribbean Cuisine LLC signed a commercial lease with LeaseFlorida LLC. The tenant’s principal, Ananias Pierre, separately signed a personal guaranty of the lease. The guaranty contained a jury trial waiver. The lease did not, and it did not refer to or incorporate the guaranty. The tenant company never signed the guaranty.
The tenant sued the landlord for breach of contract and demanded a jury. The landlord counterclaimed against the tenant and brought a third-party claim against Mr. Pierre on the guaranty. The trial court struck the tenant’s jury demand based on the guaranty’s waiver, held one nonjury trial, and entered judgment for the landlord on all claims. The tenant and Mr. Pierre appealed (No. 3D24-0512).
The Decision
The Third District reversed and remanded in a written opinion filed March 12, 2025. It held the guaranty’s jury waiver was unenforceable against the non-signatory tenant, so the tenant was entitled to a jury trial, and it vacated the final judgment in its entirety.
The court’s reasons: the right to a jury is constitutional, and contractual waivers are strictly construed, with doubts resolved in favor of a jury. Mr. Pierre signed the guaranty only in his individual capacity, and nothing showed he signed it as the tenant’s agent. The lease did not incorporate the guaranty. Treating the tenant as bound would ignore the corporate form and make the personal guaranty meaningless. The court noted the landlord could have added a tenant signature block to the guaranty or put a waiver in the lease.
The court rejected the landlord’s equitable estoppel argument because those cases let a non-signatory enforce a waiver against someone who signed it, the reverse of this situation. The judgment on the guaranty also fell, because it depended on the finding that the lease was breached. The court denied the landlord’s motion for rehearing or clarification on April 24, 2025, and the mandate issued May 14, 2025.
The Law
Article I, section 22 of the Florida Constitution protects the right to trial by jury. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.430 sets how a party demands a jury and how the right is waived.
A contractual jury waiver binds only those who agreed to it. The opinion relied on Third District precedent, including Dezer Intracoastal Mall, LLC v. Seahorse Grill, LLC, that such waivers are strictly construed. A guaranty is a separate contract from the lease it secures, and terms in one do not carry over to the other unless the documents say so.
Lessons
- Landlords: put the jury waiver in the lease itself, or have the tenant entity sign any document that contains one.
- Tenants: check which documents the company actually signed. A principal’s personal guaranty usually binds only the principal.
- A wrongly stricken jury demand can undo an entire bench-trial judgment, years into a case.
- Incorporation language matters. A lease that does not mention the guaranty does not pick up the guaranty’s terms.
Source: Pierre’s Caribbean Cuisine LLC v. LeaseFlorida LLC, No. 3D24-0512 (Fla. 3d DCA Mar. 12, 2025); ACIS docket.
Watch the Oral Argument
This is the recording of the actual oral argument, posted on the channel. What lawyers and judges say at argument is not the ruling; the decision is summarized above.
🍽️ The Jury Waiver Was in the Guaranty, Not the Lease — So It Bound No One
Read the Law on FloridaRules.net
The statutes and court rules discussed in this article, free to read on FloridaRules.net:
Go Deeper
- Can an HOA Try Its Injunction Before the Owner's Jury Claims? (Clark v. Bluewater Key)
- Commercial Lease Fights in Florida: Lockouts, Holdovers and One Word in the Lease
- A Default Doesn't Prove How Much Rent Is Owed (Maggiano v. Whiskey Creek)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are jury trial waivers in commercial leases enforceable in Florida?
Generally yes, against the parties who agreed to them. Courts construe them strictly and resolve doubts in favor of a jury. In Pierre’s Caribbean Cuisine, the waiver failed because it was in the guaranty, not the lease.
If I sign a personal guaranty, does it bind my company?
Not by itself. The Third District held that a guaranty Mr. Pierre signed individually did not bind his restaurant company, which never signed it, and treating it otherwise would ignore the corporate form.
Can a landlord enforce a guaranty's terms against the tenant?
Only if the tenant agreed to them, for example by signing the guaranty or through a lease that incorporates it. The lease in this case did neither, so the tenant kept its right to a jury.
What happens if a judge wrongly denies a jury trial?
The judgment can be reversed and the case retried before a jury. Here the Third District vacated the entire final judgment, including the judgment against the guarantor, and remanded.
Talk to a Florida real estate litigation lawyer
Weidner Law, P.A. handles Florida real estate disputes, title problems and appeals from St. Petersburg. If you need a real estate litigation lawyer, call (727) 954-8752 or email weidner@mattweidnerlaw.com.
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