GEDALYA BLATTER
v.
D.N. SUYTE INC.
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A trial court must issue a specific ruling on a defendant's pending motion to vacate a default before entering a final default judgment, and failure to do so is reversible error as a matter of law.
[1] A trial court must issue a specific ruling on a defendant's motion to vacate a default before entering final default judgment, and the failure to do so constitutes revers…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It was established long ago that a court may not enter a default judgment with an undisposed motion pending that would affect the plaintiff's right to proceed to judgment.”
Citing Singh v. Kumar and related precedent to establish the legal principle governing the case.
Appellant Blatter failed to respond to the complaint, resulting in a default entry by the clerk. Blatter filed a motion to vacate the default, which D…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant Gedalya Blatter appeals the trial court’s order entering final default judgment in favor of appellee D.N. Suyte Inc. After the clerk entered a default against appellant for not responding to the complaint, appellant filed a motion to vacate the default which appellee opposed. The trial court held a hearing on both appellee’s motion for final default judgment and appellant’s motion to vacate. The trial court granted appellee’s motion and entered a final judgment in its favor that included an injunction against appellant.
This appeal followed. “We review the entry of a default final judgment for abuse of discretion.” Azure-Moore Invs. LLC v. Hoyen, 300 So. 3d 1268, 1270 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020). However, because the issues presented here are issues of law they are subject to a de novo review. McPhee v. The Paul Revere Life Ins. Co., 883 So. 2d 364, 367 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004).
“It was established long ago that a court may not enter a default judgment with an undisposed motion pending that would affect the plaintiff’s right to proceed to judgment.” Singh v. Kumar, 234 So. 3d 1, 3 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017); see also Goodman v. Joffe, 57 So. 3d 1001, 1001 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (“[T]he trial court should have ruled on [the defendant’s] pending motion to vacate the default entered against her before entering a default final judgment.”); Lakeview Auto Sales v. Lott, 753 So. 2d 723, 724 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) (“A trial court may not enter a default judgment without first determining the merits of any pending motion to set aside the default.”).
Here, a motion to vacate the default was filed prior to the court’s entry of the default final judgment. However, the trial court granted the motion for final default judgment without addressing appellant’s motion to vacate, and the record does not indicate the court ever specifically ruled on appellant’s motion. As we have previously held, “[o]bviously a favorable determination by the court on appellant’s motion to set aside the . . . default would have affected appellee’s right to proceed with its motion for final default judgment.” Vacation Escape, Inc. v. Mich. Nat’l Bank, 735 So. 2d 528, 529–30 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (finding the trial court reversibly erred in entering final default judgment without first determining the merits of a defendant’s pending motion to set aside the default).
While the parties almost certainly addressed the motion to vacate at the hearing, and the order granting the entry of final default judgment indicates the appellant’s arguments to vacate the default were rejected, our longstanding jurisprudence is clear that a ruling on such a motion is required, and we are compelled to follow it. See, e.g., Singh, 234 So. 3d at 3. Therefore, the court erred as a matter of law when it issued the final default judgment without entering a ruling on the appellant’s pending motion.
We reverse the default final judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. See Off Lease Only LLC v. Chariscar, 350 So. 3d 369, 370 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022).
Reversed and remanded.
KLINGENSMITH, C.J., DAMOORGIAN and LEVINE, JJ., concur.
* * *
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
2
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Gedalya Blatter v. D.N. Suyte Inc. (Fla. 4th DCA 2023)
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Marcelus v. Aqua Fin., Inc. (Fla. 4th DCA 2022)…arding the Order Setting Case Management Conference to the spam folder. The defendants filed their notice of appeal before the motion was ruled upon. We review default judgments for an abuse of discretion. See Azure- Moore Invs. LLC v. Hoyen, 300 So. 3d 1268, 1270 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020). Florida courts have a “long-standing policy in favor of resolving civil disputes on the merits.” Chaffin v. Jacobson, 793 So. 2d 102, 104 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) (citation omitted). Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.200(…
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Cano v. In re Mirdza Musa Kalnins Cano, 321 So. 3d 237 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021)…2d 1244, 1259 (Fla. 2008). As we recently explained, “[u]nder the plain language of Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.500(c), an answer filed prior to entry of default precludes the entry of default final judgment.” Azure-Moore Invs. LLC v. Hoyen, 300 So. 3d 1268, 1269 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020); see also TLC Trust v. Sender, 757 So. 2d 570, 571 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000). Where a default has been improperly entered, the resulting final judgment must be set aside regardless of whether the defendant has established excusa…
Previewing 3 of 7 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- McPHEE v. The Paul Revere Life Ins. Co., 883 So. 2d 364 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004)
- Vacation Escape, Inc. v. Mich. Nat'l Bank, 735 So. 2d 528 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)
- Lakeview Auto Sales v. Lott, 753 So. 2d 723 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)
- Goodman v. Joffe, 57 So. 3d 1001 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011)
- Gedalya Blatter v. D.N. Suyte Inc. (Fla. 4th DCA 2023)
- Archana Singh and Dennis Massey v. Dev T. Kumar, 234 So. 3d 1 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017)
- OFF Lease Only, LLC v. Fedia Chariscar, 350 So. 3d 369 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022)