LIVE SUPPLY, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
C & S PLUMBING, INC., PRESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION, INC., C & S PLUMBING OF FLORIDA, INC., WOLFE BUILDING CORPORATION, AND FLAGLER NATIONAL BANK OF THE PALM BEACHES, APPELLEES
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Live Supply obtained a judgment against C & S Plumbing, Inc. and sought post-judgment garnishment writs, but the trial court dissolved the writs after C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc. (a separate corporation) moved to intervene and sought dissolution. The appellate court affirmed, holding that the appellant bore the burden of proving the entities were doing business together and that unsworn motions were insufficient.
The court held that Section 77.16(1) does not apply because C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc. was named as defendant in the writs and therefore cannot be a 'person other than defendant' under the statute. A non-party entity need only alert the court by motion of the impropriety of the writ, and the appellant bore the burden to prove at an evidentiary hearing that the entities were doing business together.
[1] A trial court may dissolve a writ of garnishment against a non-party entity when the writ improperly names that entity as the defendant.
[2] A non-party entity need only alert the court by motion of the impropriety of a writ of garnishment against it due to its independent corporate identity to initiate dissol…
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“If any person other than defendant claims that the debt due by a garnishee is due to him and not to defendant, or that the property in the hands or possession of any garnishee is his property and shall make an affidavit to the effect, the court shall impanel a jury to determine the right of property between the claimant and plaintiff unless a jury is waived.”
The statutory language of Section 77.16(1) that the appellant relied upon, which the court found inapplicable to this situation.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceLive Supply obtained a final judgment of $34,929.35 against C & S Plumbing, Inc. and filed three post-judgment garnishment motions alleging that C & S…
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PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal from an order dissolving writs of garnishment. We affirm.
Appellant obtained a final judgment against C & S Plumbing, Inc., in the sum of $34,929.35 and subsequently filed three motions for post-judgment writs of garnishment wherein it alleged that C & S Plumbing, Inc. was doing business as C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc. The writs issued thereon required the named garnishee to file an answer “stating whether said Garnishee is indebted to the Defendant, C & S Plumbing, Inc., a/k/a C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc.”
C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc. filed a motion for intervention and an unsworn pleading entitled “motion denying writ of garnishment and seeking dissolution of the writ of garnishment.” In the letter motion C & S Plumbing of Florida claimed to be a separate corporation from the original defendant, C & S Plumbing, Inc., and on that basis sought dissolution of the writs as they applied to the debtors of C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc. The trial court granted both motions of C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc., and dissolved the writs in question based on the court’s conclusion that they were prejudgment garnishments.
Appellant contends that Section 77.16(1), Florida Statutes (1979) requires of C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc. to file an affidavit or sworn pleading claiming that any of the subject debts were due it and not due C & S Plumbing, Inc. in order for the trial court even to consider dissolution of the writ on that basis. The statute provides:
If any person other than defendant claims that the debt due by a garnishee is due to him and not to defendant, or that the property in the hands or possession of any garnishee is his property and shall make an affidavit to the effect, the court shall impanel a jury to determine the right of property between the claimant and plaintiff unless' a jury is waived. (Emphasis added.)
However, the abovementioned statute is not applicable here for two reasons. First, the writs named C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc. as the defendant. Therefore,' C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc. cannot be a person other than the defendant. Second, in light of several cases decided since the enactment of Section 77.16(1) which have held prejudgment garnishment statutes unconstitutional,1 we believe the aforementioned statute must be given a narrow construction. It does not apply to a situation where the trial court expressly orders garnishment of debts due to an entity named in the writ which is not even a party to the lawsuit.2 We believe that all this non-party entity need do to initiate dissolution of the writ against it is to alert the court by motion of the impropriety of the writ because of the independent identity of the entity.
In this case appellant had the burden to show at an evidentiary hearing on its motions for writs of garnishment that C & S Plumbing, Inc., was doing business as C & S Plumbing of Florida, Inc. Its unsworn motions for writs of garnishment and the issuance thereof ex parte were insufficient; and the trial court was correct in dissolving the writs once it was notified of its error by appellee. Accordingly, we affirm.
AFFIRMED.
BERANEK, HERSEY and GLICK-STEIN, JJ., concur. . See e. g. North Georgia Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc., 419 U.S. 601, 95 S.Ct. 719, 42 L.Ed.2d 751 (1975); Ray Lein Construction, Inc. v. Wainwright, 346 So. 2d 1029 (Fla. 1977).
. The statute at issue undoubtedly contemplates a situation where the writ provides for the garnishment of a judgment debtor’s property and a third unrelated entity also has an interest in that property. In that event, the unrelated entity would have to file an affidavit pursuant to the statute. Since Section 77.16(1) is not at issue, we express no opinion as to its constitutionality.
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Alejandre v. Telefonica Larga Distancia de Puerto RICO, Inc., 183 F.3d 1277 (11th Cir. 1999)…an entity that was not a party to the underlying judgment on the ground that the entity is an alter ego of the judgment debtor, the plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating the alter ego relationship. See Live Supply, Inc. v. C&S Plumbing, Inc., 402 So. 2d 505, 506-07 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981); Reeves v. Don L. Tullis & Assocs., 305 So. 2d 813, 815 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975) (placing burden on plaintiff to prove truth of allegation made in reply to garnishee’s answer). This burden is consonant with the burden faced by…
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Martinez v. Republic of Cuba, 708 F. Supp. 2d 1298 (S.D. Fla. 2010)…ams v. Shipping Corp. of India, 653 F.2d 875, 880-81 (4th Cir.1981). 4 . See Alejandre v. Telefonica Larga Distancia, de Puerto Rico, Inc., 183 F.3d 1277, 1286 (11th Cir.1999) (citing Live Supply, Inc. v. C & S Plumbing, Inc., 402 So.2d 505, 506-07 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981)).…
Authorities Cited
- N. Ga. Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc., 419 U.S. 601 (U.S. 1975)
- State v. Merayo, 346 So. 2d 1029 (Fla. 1977)