FRED C. HOUGH AND L.H. HOUGH, PETITIONERS,
v.
LOUIS T. BAILEY, T.B.F. PROPERTIES, INC., AND EUGENE LOFTIN, RESPONDENTS

Fla. 1st DCA | 1982-11-09
No. AM-269
WIGGINTON, J., concurs., ERVIN, J., dissents with opinion.
421 So. 2d 708 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1982) Caution
Cited by 31 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The Houghs appealed an order dissolving a lis pendens filed in connection with their lawsuit seeking specific performance and reformation of deeds based on a nonrecorded contract. The First District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that while the action was not founded on a recorded instrument, the trial court must determine whether the lis pendens was appropriate to the circumstances before dissolving it.


Holding

The court held that the action was not 'founded' on a recorded instrument because the asserted right arose from an unrecorded contract rather than from the recorded deeds. Additionally, when a lis pendens is not subject to discharge under Section 48.23(3), it remains subject to the trial court's control as an existing injunction would be, and the burden is on the moving party to establish that the lis pendens is inappropriate to the circumstances and cause of action.


Headnotes

[1] An action seeking specific performance of an unrecorded agreement and reformation or cancellation of deeds as fraudulent is not an action "founded upon" a recorded instru…

[2] A notice of lis pendens is subject to the trial court's control as in the case of an existing injunction, even if not discharged due to a lack of a prior hearing.

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Key Quotes

“"Founded upon" is commonly used synonymously with "based upon." It suggests that the right asserted arose from the recorded instrument.”

Establishes the court's interpretation of 'founded upon' in the context of lis pendens statutes, requiring that the right arise from the recorded instrument itself.

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Facts & Procedural History

The Houghs filed a complaint against Bailey, T.B.F. Properties, and Loftin seeking specific performance of an unrecorded agreement and reformation or …

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Opinion of the Court
MILLS, Judge.

MILLS, Judge.

The Houghs sought to appeal an interlocutory order dissolving a lis pendens. We have treated the appeal as a petition for a writ of certiorari. Cooper Village v. Moretti, 383 So. 2d 705 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980). We grant the petition and reverse the order. The Houghs filed a complaint seeking specific performance of an agreement and reformation or cancellation of several deeds as fraudulent. The underlying agreement was between the parties, arising from their relationship as defendants in another suit. This agreement has not been recorded with the clerk of the court as registrar of deeds. Bailey then transferred the subject property to T.B.F. Properties in a recorded instrument. T.B.F. has further alienated the sub ject property in recorded instruments. A lis pendens was filed on all the subject property.

We are faced with an attack on recorded instruments based on a nonrecorded document'. We are called on to first decide if the action is “founded” on a recorded instrument within the meaning of Section 48.23(3), Florida Statutes (1981), and, secondly, if not, to interpret “the court may control and discharge the notice of lis pen-dens as the court may grant and dissolve injunctions.”

The trial court apparently found that this action was not so “founded.” We agree. Hough, citing Boca Raton Land Dev. v. Sparling, 397 So. 2d 1053 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981), argues that an action seeking to set aside a fraudulent deed is founded upon that deed. We are not persuaded. “Founded upon” is commonly used synonymously with “based upon.” It suggests that the right asserted arose from the recorded instrument. The asserted right in this case arose from an unrecorded contract, so it was not so founded.

We turn to the impact of Section 48.23(3) upon a lis pendens when the action is not founded upon a recorded instrument. In Kirk v. Baumann, 336 So. 2d 125 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976), the Second District Court of Appeal held that a lis pendens could not be filed under these circumstances without a prior order of court. We think that the better view is that of Cacara v. Swan, 394 So. 2d 538 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981):

[W]e hold that the notice of lis pendens was not subject to motion to discharge simply because there was no hearing pri-or to its recording. The notice was, however, subject to the trial court’s control as in the case of an existing injunction. Therefore the burden was on the moving party to establish that the lis pendens was inappropriate to the circumstances and cause of action stated in the complaint.

An existing lis pendens will be inappropriate under the same circumstances that an existing injunction would be inappropriate. Since the court below made no findings on appropriateness, instead dismissing in reliance on Kirk, we reverse the order and remand so that findings on the appropriateness of a continued lis pendens can be made. Whatever further proceedings are needed for this may be held.

The petition for writ of certiorari is granted, the order is reversed, and the case is remanded.

WIGGINTON, J., concurs.

ERVIN, J., dissents with opinion.

Dissent
ERVIN, Judge,

ERVIN, Judge,

dissenting.

I respectfully dissent to the majority’s opinion granting the petition for writ of certiorari. We previously stated in Gadsden County Times, Inc. v. Horne, 382 So. 2d 347, 348 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980), that

[cjertiorari will be granted only in cases in which it clearly appears that there is no full, adequate and complete remedy available to the petitioner by appeal after final judgment, as where (a) the trial court has acted without or in excess of its jurisdiction, or (b) its order does not conform to the essential requirements of law and may cause material injury throughout subsequent proceedings for which the remedy by appeal will be inadequate. Pullman Company v. Fleishel, 101 So. 2d 188 (Fla. 1st DCA 1958); Tallahassee Democrat v. Pogue, 280 So. 2d 512 (Fla. 1st DCA 1973); and West Volusia Hospital Authority v. Williams, 308 So. 2d 634 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975).

Moreover we recognized that as a general rule, “the burden, vexation, or hazard of defending litigation does not furnish a basis for certiorari intervention.... ” Id.

In the present case,'-the trial judge based his order striking the lis pendens on the authority of Kirk v. Baumann, 336 So. 2d 125 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976); consequently there was clear-cut authority supporting his determination. Whether we consider the view of Cacara v. Swan, 394 So. 2d 538 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981), the better view than that of Kirk is immaterial to a consideration of whether or not certiorari review should be granted. In my judgment there has been no showing that the trial judge either acted without or in excess of his jurisdiction, or that his order fails to conform to the essential requirements of law. J would therefore deny the petition for writ of certiorari.


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Cited By (16 total)

  • Am. Legion Cmty. Club v. Murray Diamond, 561 So. 2d 268 (Fla. 1990)
    …oss v. Breder, 528 So. 2d 64 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Feinstein v. Dolene, Inc. 455 So. 2d 1126 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Mohican Valley, Inc. v. MacDonald, 443 So. 2d 479 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984); Kent v. Kent, 431 So. 2d 279 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983); Hough v. Bailey, 421 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), review denied, 441 So. 2d 614 (Fla.1983); Glusman v. Warren, 413 So. 2d 857 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). The minority view is set forth by the First District Court of Appeal in Albega Corp. v. Manning, 468 So. 2d 1109 (Fla. 1st DCA 198…
  • Berkley Multi-Units, Inc. v. Linder, 464 So. 2d 1356 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985)
    …s have consistently so interpreted the statute. Feinstein v. Dolene, Inc., 455 So. 2d 1126 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Mohican Valley, Inc. v. MacDonald, 443 So. 2d 479 (Fla. 5th DCA 1984); Kent v. Kent, 431 So. 2d 279 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983); Hough v. Bailey, 421 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Glusman v. Warren, 413 So. 2d 857 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). Florida Peach Corp. of America v. Lurie, 411 So. 2d 339 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982) (receded from in Mohican Valley), and Chapman v. L & N Grove, Inc., 244 So. 2d 154 (Fla. 2d DCA…
  • Feinstein v. Dolene, Inc., 455 So. 2d 1126 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)
    …is for determining the terms and amount of the bond. Accordingly, certiora-ri was granted. We see no conflict between Glusman and Mohican Valley as to what is meant by a lis pendens founded upon a duly recorded instrument. See also Hough v. Bailey, 421 So. 2d 708 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). Further, we believe Mohican Valley correctly states the law, as does Glusman v. Warren; and that the trial court erred in its ruling. The essential idea behind section 48.23(3) is that if it was already clear to the public befor…

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