ADMIRAL SECURITY & INVESTMENT CO.; AND DORIS E. JOHNSON, AS TRUSTEE, APPELLANTS,
v.
PETER SHAW CURTIS; MARGARET MARTYN CURTIS; FLORIDA COAST BANK OF PALM BEACH COUNTY, N.A.; CARTERET SAVINGS BANK, F.A.; AND JOHN DALE STAUFFER, JR., APPELLEES
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In this quiet title action, the court affirmed summary judgment holding that statutes of limitations and repose bar enforcement of mortgages. The court rejected defendants' argument that recoupment could be used defensively to reduce a debt based on time-barred mortgage claims, distinguishing between money damages and claims involving real property title.
Recoupment cannot be used defensively in a quiet title action to reduce a debt based on time-barred mortgage claims. The Allie recoupment doctrine is inapplicable where the claim sought to be reduced by recoupment is not merely money damages but involves title to real property.
[1] Statutes of limitations and repose may bar enforcement of mortgages in a quiet title action.
[2] The defense of recoupment, even if based on a time-barred claim, cannot be asserted to defeat a quiet title action concerning real property.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The argument advanced by Atkins, if accepted by this Court, would have the effect of placing a cloud on the title of any real property that was the subject of a failed contract for purchase and sale.”
Establishes the public policy concern that recoupment in real property disputes creates clouds on title contrary to Florida law encouraging alienability
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAdmiral Security & Investment Co. and Doris E. Johnson as trustee sought to enforce mortgages against Curtis and other defendants in a quiet title act…
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PER CURIAM.
We affirm the trial court’s holding on summary judgment in this quiet title action that the applicable statutes of limitations and repose bar enforcement of the subject mortgages. See §§ 95.11(2)(c) and 95.241, Fla. Stat. (2000). We write only to address defendants’ argument that their defense of recoupment may be asserted to defeat this quiet title action even though it is based on the debt secured by the mortgages whose enforcement is barred by the statute of limitations.
Defendants argue that under Allie v. Ionata, 503 So. 2d 1237 (Fla.1987), recoupment may be used defensively to reduce a debt even though it is founded on a time-barred claim. Their argument overlooks the supreme court’s later decision in Rybovich Boat Works, Inc., v. Atkins, 585 So. 2d 270 (Fla.1991), holding that the Allie re-coupment theory could not be used defensively against a claim for specific enforcement of contract to sell realty. The court explained that:
The argument advanced by Atkins, if accepted by this Court, would have the effect of placing a cloud on the title of any real property that was the subject of a failed contract for purchase and sale. This cloud would exist for at least several years after the contract failed, until the point in time at which every conceivable lawsuit arising from the failed contract was time-barred. During this period, the marketability of the property would be reduced, its value would be lessened by the possibility of a future lawsuit, and title insurance companies would be unwilling to insure the property against an eventual claim for specific performance. The mere fact of entering into a contract for purchase and sale thus could become a risky venture, giving buyers great pause. All of these results are contrary to the public policy of Florida, as expressed in legal authority such as section 95.11(5)(a), Florida Statutes (1985), which seek to encourage the alienability of real property.
585 So. 2d at 271. The court then added:
In sum, we do not believe the rationale of Allie applies whenever the particular remedy raised in counterclaim seeks the delivery of unique or nonfungible property such as real estate. The issue in Allie was money damages. With money, it does not matter which particular units are used as payment, and there is no serious restraint on property rights if the possibility of a defendant’s counterclaim for money damages endures over the several years during which a plaintiff may bring a lawsuit. Moreover, no undue restraint on the alienability of property occurs if plaintiffs are required to offset their own money damages against the money damages they have inflicted on their defendants, even if the latter damages otherwise are time-barred.
585 So. 2d at 272.
We conclude that Allie cannot be used where the claim sought to be reduced by recoupment is not a money damages claim. Here, not only is the Curtis claim not one for money damages, but it is distinctly an action regarding title to realty, as was the claim in Rybovich, which specifically involved a quiet title claim as well. Rybo-vich thus supports the trial judge’s grant of summary judgment in this case.
AFFIRMED.
GUNTHER, FARMER and KLEIN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Davis v. Kaye B. Starling, 799 So. 2d 373 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
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Caiazza v. Tuff Realty Corp., 805 So. 2d 29 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001)…plaintiffs are required to offset their own money damages against the money damages they have inflicted on their defendants, even if the latter damages otherwise are time-barred. Rybovich, 585 So. 2d at 272; see also Admiral Sec. & Inv. v. Curtis, 804 So. 2d 354 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (holding that based on Rybovich, the defense of recoupment could not be asserted to defeat quiet title action even though it was based on debt secured by mortgage whose enforcement was barred by statute of limitations as claim so…
Authorities Cited
- Allie v. Ionata, 503 So. 2d 1237 (Fla. 1987)
- Rybovich Boat Works, Inc. v. Atkins, 585 So. 2d 270 (Fla. 1991)