BENJAMIN P. THOMAS AND ALISON THOMAS, APPELLANTS,
v.
THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK, AS TRUSTEE OF IMC HOME EQUITY LOAN TRUST 1997-7 UNDER THE POOLING AND SERVICING AGREEMENT DATED AS OF NOVEMBER 1, 1997; CONSECO FINANCE SERVICING CORPORATION F/K/A GREEN TREE FINANCIAL SERVICING CORPORATION; AND WELLS FARGO FINANCIAL BANK, APPELLEES
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In a mortgage foreclosure action, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's order striking defendants' pleadings and granting summary judgment based on the defendants' late response to a request for admissions. The court held that the sanction of dismissal was inappropriate without a prior court order compelling compliance and a finding of willful refusal.
The trial court abused its discretion by striking the Thomases' pleadings and granting summary judgment. The sanction of dismissal was legally inappropriate and too harsh without an express written court order compelling compliance and a finding of willful or deliberate refusal. The Thomases were entitled to relief from the untimely response because their affidavit contradicted the technical admissions and Chase Manhattan failed to show prejudice.
[1] A trial court abuses its discretion by striking a party's pleadings and granting summary judgment for untimely responses to requests for admissions when no motion to comp…
[2] A party is entitled to relief from an untimely response to a request for admissions if the opposing party cannot demonstrate prejudice.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“An express written finding of a party's willful or deliberate refusal to obey a court order to comply with discovery is necessary to sustain the sanction of dismissal or default against a noncomplying party.”
Establishes the legal standard required for imposing dismissal sanctions for discovery violations
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceChase Manhattan Bank filed a request for admissions against defendants Benjamin and Alison Thomas in a mortgage foreclosure action. The Thomases filed…
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STEVENSON, J.
In this mortgage foreclosure action, we have for review an order striking the defendants’ pleadings and granting summary judgment for the plaintiff based on the defendants’ untimely response to a request for admissions. We reverse.
Six months after receiving plaintiff, The Chase Manhattan Bank’s, request for admissions, defendants, Benjamin and Alison Thomas, filed their response. Despite the fact that the response had long been overdue, Chase Manhattan had not filed a motion to compel a response nor had the trial court entered an order to that effect. Nonetheless, the trial court sanctioned the defendants by striking their pleadings and affidavit and granted Chase Manhattan’s second motion for summary judgment.1 On appeal, the defendants challenge the court’s sanction and the resulting summary judgment.
First, we find that the trial court abused its discretion in failing to grant the Thomases’ rule 1.370(a) motion for relief from untimely response to request for admissions. The affidavit in opposition to summary judgment clearly contradicted the technical admissions and Chase Manhattan failed to show “prejudice” within the meaning of the rule. See Ramos v. Growing Together, Inc., 672 So. 2d 103, 104 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996).
Second, the sanction of dismissal was too harsh and legally inappropriate for the failure to timely comply with the request for admissions.2 An express written finding of a party’s willful or deliberate refusal to obey a court order to comply with discovery is necessary to sustain the sanction of dismissal or default against a noncomplying party. See Commonwealth Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n v. Tubero, 569 So. 2d 1271 (Fla.1990); see also Lahti v. Porn, 624 So. 2d 765 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)(reversing dismissal with prejudice where trial court failed to make a specific finding that counsel’s failure to comply with an order was willful or that such failure resulted in prejudice to defendants). Where a party has never been instructed by the court to comply with any discovery request, sanctions for noncompliance are inappropriate. See Stoner v. Verkaden, 493 So. 2d 1126, 1127 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986). Here, there was no order compelling compliance.
Thus, for the reasons stated, the trial court abused its discretion in striking the Thomases’ pleadings and affidavit. We, therefore, reverse the resulting summary judgment.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
STONE and HAZOURI, JJ., concur. . The trial court found that the pleadings and affidavits filed by the Thomases created mate rial issues of law or fact, thereby precluding the court from granting Chase Manhattan's first motion for summary judgment. See Ramos v. Growing Together, Inc., 672 So. 2d 103 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); see also Mahmoud v. King, 824 So. 2d 248 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002).
. While it is within the discretion of the trial court to impose sanctions, those sanctions must be commensurate with the violation. See Turner v. Anderson, 376 So. 2d 899 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979).
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Saewitz v. Saewitz, 79 So. 3d 831 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012)…v. Sam Rodgers Props., Inc., 2 So. 3d 984, 987 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) (“Where a party has never been instructed by the court to comply with any discovery request, sanctions for noncompliance are inappropriate.”) (quoting Thomas v. Chase Manhattan Bank, 875 So. 2d 758, 760 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)). Counsel for the daughters counter they did not know defense counsel failed to perform its duty or that such documents existed and were in the control of Lynn Saewitz; thus, they did not move to compel. But neither is there…
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Bechtel Corp. v. Batchelor, 250 So. 3d 187 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)…v. Sam Rodgers Props., Inc., 2 So. 3d 984, 987 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) ("Where a party has never been instructed by the court to comply with any discovery request, sanctions for noncompliance are inappropriate.") (quoting Thomas v. Chase Manhattan Bank, 875 So. 2d 758, 760 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) ). We see nothing in these facts that would take the matter out of the normal rules. In the absence of an order compelling Bechtel to undertake such an extraordinary effort on the eve of trial which involved so little promi…
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Wells Fargo Bank v. Voorhees, 194 So. 3d 448 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016)…ns and the opposing party has not shown it would be prejudiced by the withdrawal of the admissions. See PennyMac Corp., 180 So. 3d at 1219-20; Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Donaldson, 165 So. 3d 40, 42 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015); Thomas v. Chase Manhattan Bank, 875 So. 2d 758, 760 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004); Love v. Allis-Chalmers Corp., 362 So. 2d 1037, 1038-39 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978). Here the admissions indicating that Wells Fargo lacked standing are contrary to the facts of the case, and Voorhees failed to show prejudice withi…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Commonwealth Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Moshe Tubero, 569 So. 2d 1271 (Fla. 1990)
- Carver v. State, 376 So. 2d 899 (Fla. 2d DCA 1979)
- Wonna Stoner v. C.H. Verkaden & Stoner Builders Corp., 493 So. 2d 1126 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986)
- Lahti v. Porn, 624 So. 2d 765 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)
- Ramos v. Growing Together, Inc., 672 So. 2d 103 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)
- Mahmoud S. Mahmoud and Mizhar Mahmoud v. King, 824 So. 2d 248 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)