REWJB GAS INVESTMENTS, A FLORIDA GENERAL PARTNERSHIP; F.S. CONVENIENCE STORES, INC., AS GENERAL PARTNER OF REWJB GAS INVESTMENTS; AND TONI GAS AND FOOD STORES, INC., AS GENERAL PARTNER OF REWJB GAS INVESTMENTS, PETITIONERS,
v.
LAND O' SUN REALTY, LTD., A FLORIDA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, BY AND THROUGH ITS GENERAL PARTNERS, ALAN S. FOGG, JR., AS GENERAL PARTNER, STEPHEN M. FOGG, AS GENERAL PARTNER AND SUZANNE FOGG RENTZ, AS GENERAL PARTNER, RESPONDENTS

Fla. 4th DCA | 1994-08-31
No. 94-1545
STONE and POLEN, JJ., concur.
643 So. 2d 1107 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1994) Positive Treatment
Cited by 31 cases

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Holding

The court held that a trial court has discretion to impose monetary conditions, such as requiring payment of market rent, as a condition for granting a stay of eviction proceedings pending the outcome of another lawsuit.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court has broad discretion in granting a stay of proceedings pending the outcome of another action.

[2] A trial court may condition the granting of a stay of eviction proceedings on the posting of security to protect the lessor from potential financial harm.

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Facts & Procedural History

Lessees sought to stay eviction proceedings pending the outcome of a declaratory relief action concerning lease termination. The trial court granted t…

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Opinion of the Court
KLEIN, Judge.

KLEIN, Judge.

Petitioners obtained an order staying this eviction case from proceeding in the trial court, pending the outcome of another suit, and seek review of that portion of the order requiring them to pay into the registry of the court, as a condition of the stay, more than the rent under the lease. We have certiorari jurisdiction to review orders determining motions to stay a case pending the disposition of another case. Robinson v. Royal Bank of Canada, 462 So. 2d 101 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). There is also authority that a stay is renewable as a non-final appeal. See Klein v. Royal Group, Ltd., 524 So. 2d 1061, 1063 n. 1 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1988). We conclude that the imposition of the condition was proper. Petitioner/lessees operate convenience stores known as Farm Stores in Dade, Bro-ward and other Florida counties. Respondents are the lessors of the various stores. Lessees filed a suit for declaratory relief in Dade County seeking a ruling that the leases on the various stores had not been terminated. Lessors maintained that the leases had been terminated. Subsequently lessors instituted this eviction action in Broward County for the Bro-ward County stores, and lessees sought a stay of the eviction proceedings in Broward County, pending the outcome of the declaratory action in Dade County which will apparently determine whether all of these leases have been terminated.

The Broward trial judge granted the motion to stay eviction proceedings in Broward, but conditioned the stay on lessees paying rent into the registry of the court which was more than the amount of the rent required under the leases. Lessors convinced the trial court that the lease provided for below market rent, and that fair market rent should be required.

Petitioner/lessees seek review, arguing that there is no authority for imposing a monetary condition on a stay of an action in the trial court. They cite no authority, however, to persuade us that such a condition cannot be imposed.

The granting of a stay of proceedings by a trial court, pending the outcome of an action in another court, is in the broad discretion of the trial court. Neal v. Aycock, 340 So. 2d 535 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976). Here lessees are seeking to stay eviction proceedings even though their lease may not be in effect. If it is determined that these leases were terminated, an unconditional stay would cost the lessors the difference between the below market rent being paid under the lease, and market rent which the lessors could have obtained if the lessees were evicted. We think that under these circumstances both the decision to grant the stay, and the conditions upon which it would be granted, were within the discretion of the trial court.

We analogize the granting of the stay, under these circumstances, to a temporary injunction.1 In the absence of a stay the lessors would be entitled to proceed with their eviction proceedings. It seems to us that, just as with a temporary injunction, if lessees want a stay of those proceedings, there is nothing unfair or improper about the lessees having to post sufficient security to make lessors whole if it turns out that the lessees should have been evicted. See Klein, at 1063 n. 1 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1988), observing that stays and temporary injunctions should be reviewed under the same principles.

Petitioner/lessees also argue that the trial court abated the action, and that security is not required for abatement. Abatement has stricter requirements regarding identity of parties and causes of action than a stay. Burns v. Grubbs Construction, Inc., 174 So. 2d 476, 478 (Fla. 3rd DCA 1965) and Ricigliano v. Peat, Marwick, Main & Co., 585 So. 2d 387 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). Unlike a stay, which is discretionary, a party may be entitled as a matter of law to abatement of a second lawsuit, because of the pendency of another action, and thereby entitled to a dismissal of the second lawsuit. Moresca v. Allstate Insurance Company, 231 So. 2d 283 (Fla. 4th DCA 1970). In this case, although lessees moved for abatement or stay, the court only granted a stay, and we need not decide whether the security would have been proper as a condition of abatement.

We therefore deny certiorari.

STONE and POLEN, JJ., concur. . We do not mean to suggest, by comparing the granting of the stay to a temporary injunction (which requires a bond), that security would always be required. We simply hold that security may be required as a condition for a stay.


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Cited By (16 total)

  • Rewjb GAS Invs. v. Land O'Sun Realty, Ltd., 645 So. 2d 1055 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)
    …so the subject of the instant Palm Beach County eviction proceedings. We have certiorari jurisdiction to review orders determining motions to stay a cause pending the disposition of another case. See REWJB Gas Investments v. Land O’Sun Realty, Ltd., 643 So. 2d 1107 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). We quash the order denying the stay and direct the trial court to enter a stay pending the disposition of the Dade County case. We specifically hold that by denying the stay, under the particular facts at bar, the trial court…
  • Sauder v. Rayman, 800 So. 2d 355 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
    …risdiction exists to review orders determining motions to stay one cause pending disposition of another). Trial courts have broad discretion in granting or denying stays of subsequently-filed actions. See REWJB Gas Invs. v. Land O’Sun Realty, Ltd., 643 So. 2d 1107, 1108 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); Ricigliano v. Peat, Marwick, Main & Co., 585 So. 2d 387, 387 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). An important consideration for the court is the identity of parties and issues. While abatement requires complete identity of parties and ca…
  • …PER CURIAM. This petition for writ of certiorari challenges the trial court’s order abating the action. The order of abatement was not proper in this case. See REWJB Gas Invs. v. Land O’ Sun Realty, Ltd., 643 So. 2d 1107 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994), rev. dismissed, 651 So. 2d 1197 (Fla.1995); Rodriguez v. Yount, 623 So. 2d 618 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993). The term “abatement” in the trial court order may have been a misnomer; the court may have intended to enter a stay, an order wh…

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