WILL A. NASON, AS TRUSTEE, APPELLANT,
v.
KIRK SULLIVAN AND MARTIN M. KELLENBERGER, AS SHERIFF OF PALM BEACH COUNTY, APPELLEES

Fla. 2d DCA | 1964-12-16
No. 4700
WHITE, Acting C. J., and McCORD, GUYTE, P. Jr., Associate Judge, concur.
169 So. 2d 859 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1964)

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.

Synopsis

Will Nason, trustee of the Neff Judgment, appealed from a summary final decree directing that proceeds from a sheriff's sale be distributed to multiple judgment creditors in lien priority order. The court reversed, holding that the proceeds should be applied first to costs and taxes, then to satisfy the Bellhouse Judgment under which the levy was made, rather than distributed to senior lienholders.


Holding

The court reversed and held that the proceeds should be applied to clerk's costs, sheriff's costs, reimbursement for delinquent taxes, and the balance applied to satisfaction of the Bellhouse Judgment (under which the levy was made), not distributed to senior lienholders. The senior judgment creditors retain their remedy through their own writs of execution.


Key Quotes

“the sale to be conducted at the time and place therein specified would be of the property of the debtor as described and be subject to all prior liens, if any”

Establishes that the notice of sale clearly informed all parties of prior liens, yet this did not change the entitlement of the levying creditor to proceeds

Previewing 1 of 2 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

The Polo Water Company had multiple judgment liens recorded against it in order: Schmieg Industries, Neff Machinery Company, B.I.F. Industries, Ralph …

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.


Opinion of the Court
ANDREWS, Judge.

ANDREWS, Judge.

This is an appeal from a summary final decree entered on a complaint for a declaratory decree ordering certain funds held in the Registry of the Court, which had been realized from a levy and sheriff’s sale, to be distributed according to senior lien priority rather than to the levying judgment creditor.

The defendant is assignee and trustee of the “Bellhouse Judgment,” and the plaintiff is assignee of the “Neff Judgment.”

Judgments against the Polo Water Company, whose property was sold, were recorded in the following order: Schmieg Industries, Inc., Neff Machinery Company, B.I.F. Industries, Ralph B. Carter and Bellhouse, Inc. Defendant, as assignee of the Bellhouse Judgment, levied on property owned by the judgment debtor, Polo Water Company. The sheriff advertised and conducted the sale subject to all prior liens, *860which brought a high bid of $30,123.00 for the real property, and $110.00 for certain personal property. The deputy sheriff who conducted the sale read the notice of the sale, which had been published and which clearly identified the Bellhouse Judgment by docket number and date. The notice specifically provided that the sale to be conducted at the time and place therein specified would be of the property of the debtor as described and be subject to all prior liens, if any. Prior to the sale the defendant paid the sheriff for costs and also paid the delinquent taxes on the property.

After the sale defendant demanded payment from the sheriff, but the plaintiff also demanded that the money be paid to persons who had liens prior in time to that under which the defendant levied. At the request of the plaintiff the sheriff deposited the money in the Registry of the Court upon assurance that an action would be filed for determination of priority of liens and the manner of disbursement of the funds.

After several hearings the court ordered the proceeds be distributed as follows: To the Clerk’s costs, the Sheriff’s costs, to the satisfaction of the Schmieg Judgment, to the satisfaction of the Neff Judgment, and applied on account of the Bellhouse Judgment.

The defendant argues that by virtue of his levy and sale he alone is entitled to the proceeds, F.S.A. § 55.50, and that the other judgment creditors still have their remedy in a like levy and sale under their writs of execution which are still valid. The plaintiff argues that there is a presumption that the sale was made for the benefit of judgment creditors in the order in which their writs of execution were delivered to the sheriff.

This matter was before this court in an appeal of a stay order in the case of Nason v. Polo Water Company, Fla.App.1964, 166 So.2d 691. The court, in its opinion in said case, reversing the order granting the stay order, set forth very clearly the Florida law regarding execution sales of real and personal property and who is entitled to-the proceeds obtained therefrom.

Accordingly, for the reasons stated in Nason v. Polo Water Company, supra, the judgment is reversed with directions to enter judgment directing that the proceeds of the sale be applied to the clerk’s costs, sheriff’s costs, reimbursement for the payment of delinquent real and personal property taxes, and the balance to be applied to the satisfaction of the Bellhouse Judgment.

Reversed, with directions.

WHITE, Acting C. J., and McCORD, GUYTE, P. Jr., Associate Judge, concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw