Unjust Enrichment

A claim for unjust enrichment is an equitable claim, based on a legal fiction created by courts to imply a "contract" as a matter of law. Although the parties may have never by word or deed indicated in any way that there was any agreement between them, the law will, in essence, "create" an agreement in situations where it is deemed unjust for one party to have received a benefit without having to pay compensation for it. It derives, not from a "real" contract but a "quasi-contract." See Commerce Partnership 8098 Ltd. Partnership v. Equity Contracting Co., 695 So.2d 383, 386 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1997) (en banc). To succeed in a suit for unjust enrichment a plaintiff must prove that:


 * 1) The plaintiff has conferred a benefit on the defendant, who has knowledge thereof;
 * 2) The defendant has voluntarily accepted and retained the benefit conferred; and
 * 3) The circumstances are such that it would be inequitable for the defendant to retain the benefit without paying the value thereof to the plaintiff.

See Greenfield v. Manor Care, Inc., Case::705 So. 2d 926, 930-31 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1997), rev. denied, 717 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 1998).