REAL ESTATE CORNER
REAL ESTATE CORNER
Florida Real Property and Business Litigation Report( Continued)
MANUEL FARACH
Fernandez v. Wilmington Tr. Co., Case No. 3D25-0364( Fla. 3d DCA 2025). A lender properly reestablishes a lost note and proves standing through the testimony of the loan servicer’ s employee and the admission of business records, including a lost note affidavit and assignment of mortgage, which demonstrated the plaintiff was entitled to enforce the instrument when the loss of possession occurred.
Fletcher v. Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Case No. 3D24-1497( Fla. 3d DCA 2025). An appellants ' appeal of an amended final judgment is limited to reviewing only the amended portions of the Amended Final Judgment, and an appellate court lacks appellate jurisdiction if the appellant uses the appeal to argue error in the original( prior to amendment of) Final Judgment.
Merco Group at Akoya, Inc. v. General Computer Services, Inc., Case No. 3D25- 0322( Fla. 3d DCA 2025). Florida Statutes section 56.10 authorizes the trial court to appoint a receiver for the corporate judgment debtor for the purpose of collecting the unsatisfied judgment.
Cooksey v. Town of Ocean Ridge, Case No. 4D2024-2428( Fla. 4th DCA 2025). Multiple complaint allegations, even if inartfully pleaded, provide sufficient notice of claim of procedural due process challenge to code enforcement ordinance.
New Leaf Assets, LLC v. Jerue, Case No. 4D2025-0048( Fla. 4th DCA 2025). Investment agreement’ s latent ambiguity regarding expiration of investors ' option to exchange membership interest for capital contribution requires a jury determination whether a two-year exercise period was reasonable. Mistivar v. Broward County Sheriff ' s Office, Case No. 4D2025-0959( Fla. 4th DCA 2025). Florida’ s vexatious litigant designation under Florida Statute section 68.093( 4) authorizes a court to prohibit future pro se filings but not to dismiss a pending action.
Friend v. Serpa, Case No. 4D2024-2959( Fla. 4th DCA 2025). Pro se parties and attorneys using artificial intelligence bear responsibility for accuracy of citations.
Bensusan v. Design Eng ' g Grp., LLC, Case No. 4D2024-1340( Fla. 4th DCA 2025). A guarantor who executes an absolute and unconditional guaranty becomes liable upon the principal ' s default without requiring the creditor to first pursue remedies against the principal, and the guarantor remained liable for statutory pre-judgment and post-judgment interest but an award of contractual interest applies only between the original contracting parties.
Doe v. Finkelman, Case No. 4D2024-1978( Fla. 4th DCA 2025). Each episode of a six-episode series constitutes a separate publication for statute of limitations purposes in a defamation suit and provides legally sufficient causes of action where the series presents itself as a true story, features the defendant using his real identity, portrays the plaintiff as identifiable despite a fictitious name, and includes statements accusing the plaintiff of criminal conduct that are capable of defamatory meaning.
Gore v. Encarnacion, Case No. 4D2025-0764( Fla. 4th DCA 2025). The current version of Florida Statutes section 48.161( substitute service) requires the filing of an affidavit of compliance within forty days and a demonstration of due diligence.
Baldwin v. Douglas R. Beam, P. A., Case No. 5D2024-2423( Fla. 5th DCA 2025). A charging lien enforces the contract between attorney and client and must be based on the agreed-upon rates and terms within that contract, rather than judicial reasonableness findings made for the purpose of fee-shifting and cannot be based on a prior fee judgment against an opposing party rather than the attorney’ s contract with the client.
Johnson v. Wolter, Case No. 6D2 024-0812( Fla. 6th DCA 2025). A trustee who successfully defends against a breach of trust claim is authorized under section Florida Statutes 736.0802( 10)( g) to pay attorney ' s fees and costs from trust assets without notice to beneficiaries or court approval; a final judgment provision stating each party shall bear its own fees prohibits recovering fees from the opposing party but does not restrict the trustee ' s statutory authority to pay defense costs from trust property.
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PBCBA BAR BULLETIN 23