RICHARD C. WEIT, APPELLANT,
v.
ANNIE RHODES, APPELLEE
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Weit obtained a tax deed and sued to eject Rhodes, but the trial court set aside the deed and granted Weit only a lien while specifically denying foreclosure rights. Weit then filed a separate action to foreclose the lien, and Rhodes moved to dismiss on res judicata grounds. The appellate court reversed, holding that whether the prior denial of foreclosure was on the merits could not be determined from the complaint and judgment alone at the motion to dismiss stage.
The court held that it was error to grant the motion to dismiss based on res judicata because the record does not clearly establish whether the prior denial of foreclosure was decided on the merits, and this determination cannot normally be made at the motion to dismiss stage.
[1] Res judicata is an affirmative defense that generally requires examination of the entire record, not just the judgment, to determine its effect.
[2] The res judicata effect of a prior judgment cannot typically be determined on a motion to dismiss, as this requires consideration of matters outside the pleadings.
Previewing 2 of 3 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“for res judicata to apply, there must be a "clear-cut former adjudication" on the merits”
Establishes the requirement that res judicata demands a clear adjudication on the merits, citing Suniland Assocs., Ltd v. Wilbenka, Inc.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRhodes owned property with unpaid taxes for approximately a decade. A tax deed was issued to Weit, who filed an ejectment action against Rhodes. Rhode…
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KLEIN, Judge.
Appellee Rhodes owned property for which taxes had not been paid for close to a decade, and a tax deed was issued on the property to appellant Weit, who brought an action to eject Rhodes. Rhodes counterclaimed to set aside the tax deed based upon improper notice of the sale. After finding in favor of Rhodes and setting aside the tax deed, the trial court granted Weit a lien on the property, but specifically denied Weit the right to foreclose on the property. That judgment was not appealed.
A few months after entry of that judgment, Weit filed this action to foreclose the lien, and the owner moved to dismiss on the ground that this action was barred by res judicata in that Weit had been denied foreclosure of the lien in the prior action. In response to the motion to dismiss Weit argued that in the prior action Rhodes took the position that Weit was not entitled to foreclose his hen because that had to be done by an independent action. That, argued Weit, was the only reason the court had denied foreclosure, and there was thus no adjudication on the merits as is necessary for the apphcation of res judicata. See Suniland Assocs., Ltd v. Wilbenka, Inc., 656 So. 2d 1356, 1358 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995) (for res judi-cata to apply, there must be a “clear-cut former adjudication” on the merits). The trial court dismissed the complaint, and Weit appeals.
Res judicata is an affirmative defense. Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.110(d). Generally the res judicata effect of a judgment must be determined from the entire record, not just the judgment. deCancino v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 283 So. 2d 97 (Fla.1973). The effect of a prior judgment cannot normally be determined on a motion to dismiss, because it requires a court to go beyond the four corners of the complaint. Muns v. Shurgard Income Properties Fund, 682 So. 2d 166 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996).
In the present case it cannot be determined, from a reading of the complaint and the attached judgment, whether the denial of foreclosure was on the merits. It was therefore error for the court to conclude that this claim was barred by res judicata at this stage of the proceedings. Reversed.
GUNTHER, C.J., and SHAHOOD, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Topps v. State, 865 So. 2d 1253 (Fla. 2004)…grounds which do not involve the merits of the action may not be used as a basis for the operation of the doctrine of res judicata”), cited in Cabinet Craft, Inc. v. A.G. Spanos Enters., Inc., 348 So. 2d 920, 922 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977); Weit v. Rhodes, 691 So. 2d 1108, 1109 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Florida courts have set forth similar holdings with regard to specific writ petitions. See Barone v. Scandinavian World Cruises (Bahamas), Ltd., 531 So. 2d 1036, 1039 n. 3 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988) (petitions for writ of certiora…
Authorities Cited
- Joann Blaisdell deCANCINO v. E. Airlines, Inc., 283 So. 2d 97 (Fla. 1973)
- Suniland Assocs., Ltd. v. Wilbenka, Inc., 656 So. 2d 1356 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)
- Muns v. Shurgard Income Props. Fund 16-Limited P'ship, 682 So. 2d 166 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)