TALHASSEE — The state’s civil property insurance company sued immediately after a Hillsboro County Circuit Judge on Friday took on the side of homeowners who challenged the constitutionality of the controversial arbitration process to resolve claim disputes.
Citizens’ attorneys filed a notice Monday in the Second District Court of Appeals after Circuit Judge Melissa M. Polo issued a temporary injunction to stop Florida Administrative Courts from blocking disputes into the arbitration process.
The notice also said the appeal would result in an automatic stay for Polo’s decision. It effectively means that the arbitration process can continue while the award is pending and the legal battle takes place. Such automatic stays are common when government agencies appeal.
Notification is the first step and does not detail the discussion that citizens will have in the Court of Appeal. However, the case includes an arbitration process approved in 2022 by civic leaders and insurance regulators, and Congress entered the law in 2023.
Essentially, citizens allowed to send claim disputes to arbitration in the administrative hearing department, the state agency, rather than face civil lawsuits in court. In issuing the temporary injunction Friday, Polo wrote that Tampa homeowner Martin Alvarez “exemplified the substantial potential for success” on his argument that the arbitration process violates parts of the Florida Constitution, which was designed to ensure access to courts.
“The plaintiff also established that a citizen’s policyholder, who is similarly located, will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief,” Polo wrote. “Specifically, enforcement of the arbitration clause in question forces insurance (policyholders) into a forum that lacks neutrality, discovery, campaign practices and meaningful judicial review.”
Alvarez’s lawyers retreated after citizens filed a notice of appeal on Monday. If that happens, a temporary injunction to the arbitration process will take effect as the appeal progresses.
“Due to urgent circumstances on this issue, the court (POLO) should be free of automated stays,” wrote Attorney Lynn Brauer. “The outcome of the automatic stay is to deny the court’s prior judgment on the same issue and to target situational individuals as plaintiffs as the plaintiffs, under the unconstitutional and biased scheme.” In 2022 and 2023, Congress and Governor Ron DeSantis also approved a series of other steps aimed at protecting insurance companies from litigation.
Following Friday’s ruling, civic spokesman Michael Peltier said the state law “specifically approves the DOAH (Administrative Judgment Division) process and believes the law is constitutional. Beyond that, we will not comment on pending cases.”
However, plaintiffs’ lawyers and other critics argued that recent changes have leaned too far towards the insurance industry, making it difficult for homeowners to fight to pay legitimate claims. They also argue that the arbitration process is overwhelmingly supportive of citizens.
Alvarez filed a request for a lawsuit and a temporary injunction on July 11, about a month after the citizen sent a claim dispute to the Administrative Hearing Division for arbitration. Documents filed in the litigation and administrative hearings department said that Alvarez’s home was damaged in October 2024.
Citizens’ demand for an arbitration hearing indicates that the dispute includes $72,811.
Citizens were established as insurance companies for last resorts, but in recent years it has become the state’s largest insurance company amidst the private industry issues. As of Friday there were 782,728 policies.
In a motion filed Tuesday, the civic attorney also called for a change of venue for the Alvarez case, claiming that citizens should be heard in Leon County, where their headquarters is located, instead of Hillsboro County.
Original issue: August 6, 2025, 1:17pm
