RANDALL GUNNING, INDIVIDUALLY, CASTLE CONSULTING I LTD., INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION; AND RIVER OF LIFE INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH CENTER, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANTS,
v.
EQUESTLEADER.COM, INC., A VIRGINIA CORPORATION; AND DONALD PIERCE, INDIVIDUALLY AND PRESIDENT OF EQUESTLEADER.COM, INC., APPELLEES.
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Equestleader.com sued Gunning, Castle Consulting, and River of Life for civil trespass after discovering a defect in a 2006 warranty deed and claiming the defendants occupied the property without authority after 2010. The appellate court reversed, holding that as a matter of law no trespass occurred because Gunning became the equitable owner upon the purchase contract, and any interest Equestleader retained was subsequently extinguished by tax deed and foreclosure sale.
The court reversed the judgment and held that as a matter of law no trespass occurred because: (1) Gunning became the equitable owner upon execution of the purchase and sale contract and retained that interest despite the defective deed; (2) by the time Equestleader purported to revoke consent (after August 2010), it had no interest in lot 3501 due to the intervening tax deed to Castle Consulting; (3) any interest Equestleader retained in lot 3508 was extinguished by the foreclosure sale to D W Homes, whose subsequent transfer to River of Life was free of Equestleader's claims; and (4) therefore the defendants occupied the property with authority and Equestleader had no interest sufficient to support a trespass claim.
[1] A contract for the sale of real property establishes the buyer as the beneficial owner, with the seller retaining only naked legal title in trust for the buyer.
[2] A plaintiff must possess ownership or rightful possession of land at the time of the alleged trespass to maintain a civil trespass action.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Civil trespass to real property occurs when there is an injury to or use of the land of another by one having no right or authority [...] To sue and recover for a trespass, the plaintiff must have been the owner or rightfully in possession of the land at the time of the trespass.”
Establishes the essential elements of civil trespass: lack of authority and plaintiff's ownership/possession at time of alleged trespass.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn June 2006, Gunning purchased real property from Equestleader subject to existing mortgages, with possession granted upon contract execution. The wa…
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Roldan v. City of Hallandale Beach (S.D. Fla. 2023)…nselmann v. Reynolds, 690 So. 2d 1325, 1327 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997). To “recover for a trespass, the plaintiff must have been the owner or rightfully in possession of the land at the time of the trespass.” Gunning v. Equestleader.com, Inc., 253 So. 3d 646, 648 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) (citing Vincent v. Hines, 79 Fla. 564, 569 (Fla. 1920)). Plaintiff lives in an apartment rented by his mother and father and maintains that he has a possessory interest in the unit. Defendants counter that Plaintiff merely…
Authorities Cited
- Vincent v. Walker D. Hines, 79 Fla. 564 (Fla. 1920)
- B. W. B. Corp. v. Muscare, 349 So. 2d 183 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)
- Winselmann v. Reynolds, 690 So. 2d 1325 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)
- Demosthenes v. Girard, 955 So. 2d 1189 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007)
- Daniel v. Morris, 181 So. 3d 1195 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)
- W.C. Sullivan v. J.T. Woodward, 582 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)