JACKIE STETSON LEDERER, APPELLANT,
v.
MARIE ONEILL FRAVEL, APPELLEE
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A tenant appeals an order denying her motion to dismiss and vacate eviction and damages judgments entered four to five years prior in a landlord-tenant dispute. The tenant argued the trial court lacked jurisdiction, but the appellate court affirmed, finding the judgments were properly entered and have long since become final.
The court affirmed the order denying the motion to dismiss and vacating the judgments, holding that the judgments were properly entered by a judge with jurisdiction to do so and have long since become final and unreviewable.
[1] A motion to vacate judgments entered years ago, claiming lack of jurisdiction, may be treated as an appeal from an order denying relief under Florida Rule of Civil Proced…
[2] A county court judge temporarily assigned to the circuit court, with all the jurisdiction and powers of a circuit judge, has the authority to enter judgments in circuit c…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the judgments were properly entered by a judge with the jurisdiction to do so”
Establishes that despite some confusion about which court issued the judgments, they were valid because the presiding judge had proper jurisdiction
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceA county court dispute was transferred to circuit court. A county court judge, acting pursuant to an administrative order conferring temporary assignm…
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A tenant appeals an order denying a motion to dismiss. The motion sought to vacate judgments for eviction, liability, damages, and attorney’s fees in a landlord/tenant dispute entered four and five years ago. In its motion, the tenant claimed that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter the judgments. The tenant now asks us to sort through a procedural quagmire and undo things that long ago became final. We decline to do so. We treat this appeal as one from an order entered, pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540, to vacate the judgments and affirm.
We will not belabor the tortured procedural history of this case. Suffice it to say, a county court dispute was transferred to circuit court. Pursuant to an administrative order conferring a temporary assignment to the circuit court, the *63county court judge presided over the proceedings, including the circuit court case.1
When the judgments were entered, some of them unclearly indicated the court from which they emanated and caused further confusion for the appellate process. Nevertheless, the judgments were properly entered by a judge with the jurisdiction to do so. Opportunities to seek review of the various judgments have come and gone. The decisions have been made and are final. The tenant’s twelfth hour attempt to resuscitate issues resolved long ago is futile.
Affirmed.
GROSS, C.J., and CIKLIN, J., concur.