INDUSTRIAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE COMPANY, APPELLANT,
v.
A. H. BLAKE, PROPERTY APPRAISER OF DADE COUNTY, BOARD OF TAX ADJUSTMENT OF DADE COUNTY, ROBERT OVERSTREET, TAX COLLECTOR OF DADE COUNTY, APPELLEES
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Industrial National Mortgage Company, a Rhode Island corporation, challenged a tax assessment on its apartment complex in Dade County but was barred from maintaining its action because it failed to comply with Florida's statutory requirement that foreign corporations file annual reports and pay taxes before litigating in state court.
A foreign corporation cannot maintain an action in Florida courts unless it obtains authority to transact business in the State and complies with statutory filing and tax payment requirements. Industrial National's failure to file overdue reports and pay back taxes barred it from maintaining its action, regardless of whether it was still doing business in the State at the time of the summary judgment motion.
[1] A foreign corporation transacting business in Florida without authority is barred from maintaining any action in Florida courts until it obtains such authority.
[2] A corporation failing to file annual reports and pay taxes is prohibited from maintaining or defending any action in Florida courts until compliance.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“No foreign corporation transacting business in this State without authority to do so shall be permitted to maintain any action, suit, or proceeding in any court of this State until such corporation shall have obtained authority to transact business in this State.”
Establishes the statutory bar to foreign corporations maintaining actions without proper authorization
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIndustrial National Mortgage, a Rhode Island corporation, owned and operated an apartment complex in southern Dade County and brought an action in 197…
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JORGENSON, Judge.
Industrial National Mortgage, a Rhode Island corporation, brought an action in circuit court in 1977 contesting the tax assessment on an apartment complex it owned and operated in southern Dade County. The defendants filed a motion for final summary judgment in 1980 alleging Industrial National’s failure to comply with Section 607.354(1), Florida Statutes (1975).1 The trial court appropriately gave Industrial National ample time to comply with the statutory criteria. Industrial National, in a novel argument, suggests that even though it was doing business within the State in 1977, it was not doing business within the State in 1980 and, therefore, ought not to be barred from maintaining its action. Appellant’s reliance on 1825 Collins Avenue Corporation v. Rudnick, 67 So. 2d 424 (Fla.1953), for this legal innovation is wholly misplaced. In that case, the plaintiff corporation made the necessary filings and returns and paid all taxes due the State prior to final hearing on motion for summary judgment. In the case sub judice, Industrial National has never paid its corporate taxes nor filed appropriate reports with the State of Florida.
Section 607.354(1) must be read in pari materia with Section 607.357(6), Florida Statutes (1975).2 Industrial National could have overcome its litigious disability by the simple expedient of filing the overdue reports and paying the back taxes. Town of Davie v. Hartline, 199 So. 2d 280 (Fla.1967); Marinelli v. Weaver, 208 So. 2d 489 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968).
Appellant, having failed to do so, the order dismissing the complaint is affirmed.
Affirmed.
. Section 607.354(1) provides in part:
No foreign corporation transacting business in this State without authority to do so shall be permitted to maintain any action, suit, or proceeding in any court of this State until such corporation shall have obtained authority to transact business in this State.
. Section 607.357(6) provides:
Any corporation failing to file the annual report required by this section shall not be permitted to maintain or defend any action in any court of this state until such report is filed and all taxes due under this chapter are paid, and any corporation failing to file the annual report shall be subject to dissolution or cancellation of its certificate of authority to do business as provided in this chapter.
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Szteinbaum v. Kaes Inversiones y Valores, 476 So. 2d 247 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)…. Hartline, 199 So. 2d 280 (Fla.1967) (where a corporate plaintiff paid its delinquent taxes during the pendency of the suit, but before final disposition of the suit, there was no occasion to dismiss); Industrial National Mortgage Company v. Blake, 406 So. 2d 103 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) (in suit brought by a corporation to contest tax assessments, corporate plaintiff which failed to file old reports and taxes given leave to do so and would be dismissed only if the errant corporation failed to file its overdue rep…
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Chakra 5 v. City of Miami Beach, 254 So. 3d 1056 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)
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Allied Roofing Indus., Inc. v. Denilo Venegas, 862 So. 2d 6 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003)…. Hartline, 199 So. 2d 280 (Fla.1967) (where a corporate plaintiff paid its delinquent taxes during the pendency of the suit, but before final disposition of the suit, there was no occasion to dismiss); Industrial National Mortgage Company v. Blake, 406 So. 2d 103 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981) (in suit brought by a corporation to contest tax assessments, corporate plaintiff which failed to file old reports and taxes given leave to do so and would be dismissed only if the errant corporation failed to file its over due re…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Town OF Davie v. Hartline, 199 So. 2d 280 (Fla. 1967)
- Marinelli v. Weaver, 208 So. 2d 489 (Fla. 2d DCA 1968)
- 1825 Collins AVE. Corp. v. Rudnick et ux., 67 So. 2d 424 (Fla. 1953)