GULF STATE BANK, A FLORIDA BANKING CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
BLUE SKIES, INC. OF GEORGIA, A FLORIDA CORPORATION, AND DIVISION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND TOBACCO, DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS REGULATION, STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEES; ELIZABETH C. ATKINSON LIVING TRUST, SUBSTITUTE APPELLEE FOR ELIZABETH C. ATKINSON AND SKYLINE MOTOR LODGE, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE, V. DOUGLAS J. BENSON, ET AL., APPELLEES
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Gulf State Bank appealed an order setting aside two judicial sales—a beverage license and real property—and reinstating foreclosure judgments for new sales. The court affirmed most of the lower court's decision but reversed the portion requiring Gulf State to refund the full purchase price of the beverage license, limiting the refund to the amount Gulf State actually received from the sale proceeds.
The court affirmed the circuit court's exercise of equitable discretion to set aside the judicial sales, but reversed the requirement that Gulf State refund the full $48,000 in proceeds from the beverage license sale, limiting the refund to $46,301.53—the amount Gulf State actually received. The court affirmed all other aspects of the lower court's order.
[1] A circuit court, in the exercise of its equity jurisdiction, has discretion to set aside a judicial sale upon a showing that the sale resulted from mistake, accident, sur…
[2] An abuse of discretion occurs when a court orders a party to refund more funds than it actually received from the proceeds of a judicial sale.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Upon a showing that a judicial sale resulted from any mistake, accident, surprise, misconduct, fraud or irregularity in the conduct of the sale, the circuit court, in the exercise of its equity jurisdiction, has discretion to set aside the judicial sale in the exercise of its right and duty to supervise the process and "protect parties from all fraud, unfairness, and imposition" therein.”
Establishes the legal standard for setting aside judicial sales and the court's equitable discretion in doing so
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceGulf State Bank held second mortgages on properties involved in two foreclosure cases. In case no. 90-336, a judicial sale of an alcoholic beverage li…
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PER CURIAM.
Gulf State Bank appeals an order that sets aside the January 14, 1992, judicial sale of real property in circuit case no. 91-183, and the March 8,1991, judicial sale of an alcoholic beverage license in circuit case no. 90-336. The order also reinstates the foreclosure judgments with respect to those properties, and orders a new judicial sale of those properties. Gulf State raises four issues on appeal: (1) in circuit case no. 90-336, the circuit court erred in setting aside the judicial sale of the beverage license to George D. George; (2) in circuit case no. 91-183, the circuit court erred in not sustaining the Gulf State’s affirmative defense of estoppel against Elizabeth Atkinson and Skyline Motor Lodge, Inc.; (3) in circuit case no. 90-336, the circuit court erred in requiring Gulf State to repay all monies paid by George for the beverage license at the judicial sale because Gulf State received only a portion of the proceeds; and (4) in circuit case no. 91-183, the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the first mortgage holders, Atkinson and Skyline, without allowing the second mortgage holder, Gulf State, to contest the amount of the foreclosure judgment entered in a proceeding where the second mortgage holder was not made a party. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
Each of the points raised by Appellant arises out of the trial court’s exercise of its equitable powers. Hence, the standard of appellate review is whether any abuse of discretion in exercising that power has been shown by Appellant. Upon a showing that a judicial sale resulted from any mistake, accident, surprise, misconduct, fraud or irregularity in the conduct of the sale, the circuit court, in the exercise of its equity jurisdiction, has discretion to set aside the judicial sale in the exercise of its right and duty to supervise the process and “protect parties from all fraud, unfairness, and imposition” therein. Moran-Alleen Co. v. Brown, 98 Fla. 203, 123 So. 561 (1929); Macfarlane v. Macfarlane, 50 Fla. 570, 39 So. 995, 998 (1905). We find no abuse of discretion under the circumstances of this case, with one exception. In setting aside the judicial sale of the beverage license in circuit court case no. 90-336, the circuit court ordered Gulf State to refund to George “all monies paid by [George] for the Beverage License he purchased at the foreclosure sale.” However, the record indicates that out of $48,000.00 in proceeds George paid to the clerk of the court for the license, Gulf State received only $46,301.53 of the proceeds. The remainder of the proceeds, $1,698.47, apparently was either defaulted to the Board of County Commissions or paid to the licensee, Blue Skies, Inc., of Georgia. Requiring the Bank to repay more funds that it received constitutes an abuse of discretion.
Accordingly, we vacate that portion of the appealed order requiring Gulf State to refund the full amount of the proceeds paid by George for the license, and remand with direction to refund only $46,301.53, the sum Gulf State actually received from the proceeds of the sale. The order is affirmed in all other respects. AFFIRMED in part, REVERSED in part, and REMANDED.
ZEHMER, C.J., and ERVIN and SMITH, JJ., concur.
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Ingorvaia v. Horton, 816 So. 2d 1256 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)…lt, Brown has been relied upon in cases like this one involving judicial sales in which there was no mention of the bid price as a ground asserted by the complaining party for the vacation of the sale. See Gulf State Bank v. Blue Skies, Inc. of Ga., 639 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994) (affirming order setting aside judicial sale of real property in rebanee on Brown because court found no abuse of trial court’s discretion); U-M Publ’g, Inc. v. Home News Publ’g, Inc., 279 So. 2d 379 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973) 2(reversin…
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Evaristo Beltran and Grisel Beltran v. Kalb, 63 So. 3d 783 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011)…S We review the denial of a motion to set aside/vacate a sale for abuse of discretion. See Long Beach Mortg. Corp. v. Bebble, 985 So. 2d 611 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008), review denied, 996 So. 2d 211 (Fla.2008); Gulf State Bank v. Blue Skies, Inc., of Ga., 639 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). However, review of whether the trial court applied “the correct legal rule is de novo, because application of an incorrect rule is erroneous as a matter of law.” Vaughn v. State, 711 So. 2d 64, 66 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). 1. Carmen…
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Lyon v. Sanford, 911 So. 2d 806 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005)…conducting a hearing under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540, presumably taking the competing equities in the present case into account. This order has not been shown to be an abuse of discretion. See Gulf State Bank v. Blue Skies, Inc. of Ga., 639 So. 2d 161, 162 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994) (appellant must show an “abuse of discretion”). See also LPP Mortgage Ltd. v. Bank of Am., N.A., 826 So. 2d 462, 463-64 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002) (“Whether relief should be granted pursuant to Rule 1.540 is a fact specific question…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Moran-Alleen Co. v. Brown, 98 Fla. 203 (Fla. 1929)
- Macfarlane v. Macfarlane, 50 Fla. 570 (Fla. 1905)