JACK STEIN
v.
BURTON DEFREN
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Jack Stein appeals the trial court's dismissal of his third-party complaint as a sanction for fraud on the court against John Charles and Riverwalk of the Palm Beaches Homeowners Association, Inc. The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirms the trial court's dismissal on five procedural grounds but reverses and remands on the sixth issue regarding the trial court's failure to make express written findings of fact supporting the sanction.
The trial court must include express written findings demonstrating careful balancing of equities and supporting the conclusion that the moving party has proven by clear and convincing evidence that the non-moving party implemented a deliberate scheme calculated to subvert the judicial process. The dismissal order lacked such findings and therefore must be remanded.
[1] An order dismissing a complaint as a sanction for fraud on the court must include express written findings demonstrating that the trial court carefully balanced the equit…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceJack Stein filed a third-party complaint against John Charles and Riverwalk of the Palm Beaches Homeowners Association, Inc. The trial court dismissed…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Balancing Of Equities cases and more on FLexlaw
Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Joseph G. Marx, Judge; L.T. Case No. 50-2015-CA-006183-XXXX-MB.
Jack Stein, West Palm Beach, pro se. Ashley N. Landrum and Karen M. Nissen of Vernis & Bowling of Palm Beach, P.A., North Palm Beach, for appellees Riverwalk of the Palm Beaches Homeowners Association Inc., and John Charles.
PER CURIAM.
The appellant, Jack Stein (“Stein”), appeals the trial court’s order dismissing his third-party complaint against the appellees, John Charles and Riverwalk of the Palm Beaches Homeowners Association, Inc., as a sanction for fraud on the court. Stein argues six purported errors by the trial court as a basis for reversal. Five of the asserted errors revolve around arguments that the trial court improperly weighed evidence, improperly conducted the sanction hearing, or applied the facts incorrectly in reaching legal conclusions. Because Stein has not provided us with a transcript of the proceedings and many of the assertions of facts in his brief, which he contends are favorable to his position, do not support his arguments, we affirm the trial court as to those five issues without discussion. However, we find merit in his sixth argument that the trial court erred by failing to make findings of fact in its order granting dismissal as a sanction. As we recently held in Chacha v. Transp. USA, Inc., 78 So. 3d 727 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012):
An order granting a dismissal or default for fraud on the court must include express written findings demonstrating that the trial court has carefully balanced the equities and supporting the conclusion that the moving party has proven, clearly and convincingly, that the non-moving party implemented a deliberate scheme calculated to subvert the judicial process.
Id. at 731; see also Smith v. Brinks, Inc., 133 So. 3d 1176, 1177 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014).
Therefore, we reverse the final order granting dismissal and remand for the trial court to make express written findings. We make no comment on whether reconsideration of the ultimate ruling is warranted or not.
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. GERBER, C.J., GROSS and CONNER, JJ., concur. * * * Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Stein v. Charles, 264 So. 3d 994 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019)
Authorities Cited
- Chacha v. Transp. USA, Inc., 78 So. 3d 727 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)
- Haldeane Smith and Jennifer Smith v. Brinks, Inc., 133 So. 3d 1176 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)
- State v. Miller, 133 So. 3d 1176 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)