CARL C. MEYERS AND NANCY T. MEYERS, APPELLANTS,
v.
SHORE INDUSTRIES, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1992-04-10
No. 91-00616
SCHOONOVER, C.J., and DANAHY, J., concur.
597 So. 2d 345 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1992) Positive Treatment
Cited by 13 cases

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Holding

The court held that the party asserting estoppel by judgment bears the burden of proving the issue was fully litigated and adjudicated, and summary judgment is precluded if a genuine issue of material fact remains.


Headnotes

[1] A party asserting the doctrine of estoppel by judgment bears the burden of demonstrating with sufficient certainty that the issue in question was fully litigated and adju…

[2] A prior judgment does not preclude litigation of an issue if the judgment does not address or resolve that specific issue.

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Facts & Procedural History

Appellants purchased a business and leased premises, executing a note and mortgage. A prior eviction action by the lessor's assignee did not address t…

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Opinion of the Court
PARKER, Judge.

PARKER, Judge.

Carl C. Meyers and Nancy T. Meyers appeal a summary final judgment entered in favor of Shore Industries, Inc. (Shore) for mortgage foreclosure of the Meyers’ home. The trial court found that the affirmative defense of fraud raised by the Meyers was adjudicated finally against them in a prior proceeding. We reverse, concluding that Shore did not meet its bur den of demonstrating with sufficient certainty that the issue of fraud had been litigated and adjudicated fully. Therefore, summary judgment is precluded as there is a genuine issue of material fact.

In 1989 the Meyers purchased the assets of a business named West Coast Marine and Trailers and leased the premises upon which it is located from W.C. Industries, Inc., (W.C. Industries). The Meyers executed and delivered purchase documents consisting of a note, mortgage, and sublease. Later, W.C. Industries assigned the note and mortgage to Shore. In 1990 the Meyers failed to make the rent and note payments.

W.C. Industries thereafter filed a summary procedure action in county court for eviction. The Meyers answered, raising an affirmative defense that legal recourse was unnecessary since they had returned the keys to the premises and had assigned the inventory on the premises back to W.C. Industries. The Meyers also raised an affirmative defense in their answer and filed a counterclaim alleging fraud in the inducement against W.C. Industries, one of its employees, and the realty brokers of W.C. Industries. The final judgment entered in county court states that the Meyers breached their sublease for failure to pay rent and that judgment is entered in favor of W.C. Industries on their summary procedure complaint. The final judgment awarded possession of the premises to W.C. Industries plus costs and attorneys’ fees. The final judgment neither addresses the Meyers’ affirmative defenses nor their counterclaim. The Meyers voluntarily dismissed their counterclaim the day the county court entered the final judgment.

Subsequently, Shore filed its mortgage foreclosure action against the Meyers. The Meyers answered, alleging that the county court had struck their affirmative defenses in the summary procedure action. The Meyers also alleged an affirmative defense of fraud and misrepresentation against the same parties that the Meyers had listed in their defense and counterclaim in the county court eviction action. Shore filed a motion for summary judgment and affidavits in which it argued that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law as it fully litigated and the court fully adjudicated the Meyers’ fraud and misrepresentation affirmative defense. The trial court entered a summary final judgment in favor of Shore, holding that the fraud and misrepresentation issues raised by the Meyers had been adjudicated finally against them in the county court eviction action.

We reverse. Neither the trial court nor this court have a record of the county court proceeding. The county court’s final judgment speaks only to possession of the property, costs, and fees. Shore argues that the Meyers raised or waived their defenses in the county court case. The Meyers argue that the county judge informed them that he would not permit the fraud defense or counterclaim to be heard in the eviction action.

The doctrine of estoppel by judgment applies when the parties in the present lawsuit are the same as or in privity with the parties in the former suit and when a relevant issue between the same parties was litigated and determined fully in a case which resulted in a final decision. Mobil Oil Corp. v. Shevin, 354 So. 2d 372 (Fla.1977). The party asserting the defense of estoppel by judgment has the burden of demonstrating with sufficient certainty through the record or extrinsic evidence that the issue was adjudicated fully. See Krug v. Meros, 468 So. 2d 299 (Fla. 2d DCA), review denied, 480 So. 2d 1295 (Fla.1985); Sun State Roofing Co. v. Cotton States Mut. Ins. Co., 400 So. 2d 842 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). We conclude that Shore did not satisfy this burden. Accordingly, the trial court erred in applying the doctrine of estoppel by judgment.

Finally, the movant for summary judgment has the burden of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact as to the affirmative defenses set forth in the answer. Howdeshell v. First Nat’l Bank of Clearwater, 369 So. 2d 432 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979). The Meyers’ defense that the note and mortgage were induced by fraud remains a question of fact. Thus Shore, as the moving party, did not satisfy its burden and cannot prevail. Cf. Simco Operating Corp. v. City Nat’l Bank of Miami Beach, 341 So. 2d 232 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976) (no error in rendering summary judgment where party admits that affirmative defenses actually were litigated in prior cause), cert. denied, 348 So. 2d 952 (Fla.1977).

We reverse the summary final judgment and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

SCHOONOVER, C.J., and DANAHY, J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Campbell v. State, 906 So. 2d 293 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005)
    …bilitative Servs. v. B.J.M., 656 So. 2d 906, 910 (Fla. 1995). The party claiming collateral estop-pel bears the burden of showing its applicability with sufficient certainty through the record or extrinsic evidence. See Meyers v. Shore Indus., Inc., 597 So. 2d 345, 346 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992). State v. Strong, 593 So. 2d 1065, 1067 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), further explains that collateral estoppel “may be employed to bar prosecution or argumentation of facts necessarily established in a prior proceeding.” In Strong,…
  • Ray Cruise & Epic Mortg. & Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Graham, 622 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)
    …ed because there were genuine issues of material fact concerning the representations appellants made to ap-pellee. See Moore v. Morris, 475 So. 2d 666, 668 (Fla.1985); Holl v. Talcott, 191 So. 2d 40 (Fla.1966); see also Meyers v. Shore Indus., Inc., 597 So. 2d 345, 346-47 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992). Appellants also argue that the trial court erred in denying their motion for a directed verdict on the issue of fraud. Presented with a motion for a directed verdict, a trial court must view all the evidence in a light m…
  • State OF Wis. v. Lou Martorella, 670 So. 2d 1161 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
    …6 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984). The party claiming the benefit of the former adjudication has the burden of establishing, with sufficient certainty by the record or by extrinsic evidence, that the matter was formerly adjudicated. Meyers v. Shore Indus., Inc., 597 So. 2d 345 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992). In this case, we cannot sanction dismissal of the children’s complaint where Martorella has not sustained his burden of proving that the issue of paternity was fully adjudicated in the 1992 action. A child has an independent rig…

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