ROBERT WRIGHT, APPELLANT,
v.
WILLIAM SPRIGGS, DEIN P. SPRIGGS, PATRICIA SPRIGGS, SHERRI SPRIGGS, AND BROWARD COUNTY, A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEES
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Robert Wright appealed a summary judgment in a tax deed sale cancellation case where Broward County failed to provide him notice of the sale despite his being the record owner of the property. The court reversed and remanded, holding that Wright retained a vested ownership interest entitling him to notice under Florida law.
The court held that Wright had a vested ownership interest in the property at all relevant times and was therefore entitled to notice of the tax deed sale, despite his conveyance of a life estate to Mattie Green and his failure to record her death certificate. The summary judgment for appellees was reversed and final judgment was entered for Wright as to Broward County and as to Counts I and II of the Spriggs counterclaim.
[1] A record owner of real property is entitled to notice of a tax deed sale, even if they have conveyed a life estate interest and failed to record a death certificate of th…
[2] A legal titleholder of record is entitled to notice of a tax deed sale if their address appears on the record of conveyance of the lands to them.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“even though he conveyed a life estate interest to Mattie Green and failed to record a copy of her death certificate upon her demise, he had a vested ownership interest in the subject property at all relevant times and was therefore entitled to notice of the tax deed sale”
The court's holding that Wright retained a vested ownership interest despite the life estate conveyance, entitling him to notice
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceWright received a warranty deed to real property in 1977 with his address recorded. In 1978, he conveyed a life estate to Mattie Green by warranty dee…
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PER CURIAM.
This is an appeal from a final summary judgment rendered by the Broward County Circuit Court. We reverse and remand with direction to enter final judgment for appellant as to appellee, Broward County, and as to Count I and II of the counterclaim of appellees, Spriggs.
Appellant filed a petition to cancel, vacate and set aside a tax deed sale, alleging that although he was the record owner of the real property sold at the tax deed sale, he was not furnished notice of the sale. He then filed a motion for summary judgment and an affidavit in support thereof. Appellees also filed motions for final summary judgment and the trial court entered final summary judgment in favor of appel-lees.
On October 12, 1977, the subject real property was conveyed by Mattie Green to appellant, which showed his address as 443 N.W. 6th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the address of his attorney as 1018 1/2 N.W. 6th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The warranty deed was duly recorded in Broward County, Florida.
On May 26, 1978, Wright conveyed to Mattie Green a life estate in the same real property by warranty deed. That warranty deed was also duly recorded in Broward County, Florida. On August 16,1978, Mattie Green died; but no death certificate was recorded.
Taxes on the real property were not paid for several years. As a result, Broward County issued tax certificates for each year of the delinquency. On July 1, 1986, an application for a tax deed was made by one of the holders of the outstanding tax certificates.
On August 12, 1986, Broward County issued a request to Record Data of Florida, Inc., to conduct a search for the purpose of determining the identity of the parties entitled to notice under section 197.502(4)(a), Florida Statutes (1985). The search produced the names of Robert Wright as grantor and Mattie Green as grantee in the last recorded document in the subject property’s chain of title.
Broward County sent notice of the pending tax deed sale to Mattie Green at her address of record, the attorney who prepared the warranty deed conveying the life estate to Mattie Green and whose name appeared on the deed, the Broward County Accounting Department, the Engineering Department and the Broward Sheriff's Department. None went to appellant nor to his attorney who prepared the warranty deed by which appellant became the fee simple owner of the property. On February 11,1987, a tax deed sale was conducted by Broward County. The individual appel-lees purchased at the sale and were issued a tax deed on the property.
We find persuasive appellant’s argument that even though he conveyed a life estate interest to Mattie Green and failed to record a copy of her death certificate upon her demise, he had a vested ownership interest in the subject property at all relevant times and was therefore entitled to notice of the tax deed sale. See section 197.502(4)(a), Florida Statutes, which provides that prior to the sale of property pursuant to that statute, notification of the sale must be made to “[a]ny legal titleholder of record if the address of the owner appears on the record of conveyance of the lands to the owner.”
ANSTEAD, GLICKSTEIN and WARNER, JJ., concur.
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Dawson v. Abe Saada, 608 So. 2d 806 (Fla. 1992)…this case. I. Notice Requirements A landowner whose property is to be sold for delinquent taxes undoubtedly has a vested ownership interest in the subject property and is therefore entitled to notice of a pending tax deed sale. Wright v. Spriggs, 567 So. 2d 3 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990). However, we do not agree with Saada’s contention that due process requires strict compliance with the notice provisions in both subsections of section 197.522. In any proceeding which is to be accorded finality, due process requ…
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Evans v. Ireland, 707 So. 2d 1135 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998)…t because they were on the assessment list they should have received notice which they would have forwarded to the real owners. They argue that they were interested parties by virtue of mistakenly being placed on the tax roll. See Wright v. Spriggs, 567 So. 2d 3 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990). In Wright, the Fourth District Court held that the plaintiff was entitled to notice because he had a legal interest in the property as a remainderman and there were recorded instruments to support his legal interest. There is no…
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Abe Saada and Regina S. Saada v. Dawson, 573 So. 2d 1008 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991)…any of the statutory notice requirements. Such an interpretation could hardly be intended by the legislature. To the contrary, tax deeds have been repeatedly recognized as invalid where statutory procedures are not followed. See Wright v. Spriggs, 567 So. 2d 3 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); Weiss v. Prudential Enterprises, Inc., 387 So. 2d 457 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). See also Montgomery v. Gipson, 69 So. 2d 305 (Fla.1954); Ozark Corp. v. Pattishall, 135 Fla. 610, 185 So. 333 (1938); Kovaleski v. Tallahassee Title Co.,…