LOUIS J. FERRIS, APPELLANT,
v.
JOSEPH NICHOLS ET AL., APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1971-02-17
No. 69-787
WILLIAMS, ROBERT L., Associate Judge, concurs., WALDEN, J., concurs in conclusion only.
245 So. 2d 660 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1971) Positive Treatment
Cited by 13 cases

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Synopsis

Summary judgment for the plaintiff was affirmed because the defendant's general denial to the complaint, which included a copy of the promissory note, admitted the signature on the note.


Holding

The summary judgment for the plaintiff was proper because the defendant's general denial admitted the signature on the note, and no issue of fact remained.


Headnotes

[1] A general denial in an answer to a complaint for a promissory note admits the execution of the note unless specifically denied.

[2] A party moving for summary judgment may rely on an affidavit previously filed and served in support of an earlier, denied motion for summary judgment.

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Facts & Procedural History

The plaintiff sued the defendant on a promissory note, attaching a copy to the complaint. The defendant filed a general denial. The plaintiff moved fo…

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Opinion of the Court
REED, Judge.

REED, Judge.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff, Joseph Nichols, and against the defendant Louis J. Ferris.

The action was commenced by a complaint filed in the Circuit Court for Orange County, Florida, which alleged in five numbered paragraphs that the defendant on 17 February 1967 executed and delivered to the plaintiff a promissory note; that the note was due; that the defendant had paid nothing on the note and, therefore, was obligated to the plaintiff in the face amount of the note. A copy of the note was attached to the complaint.

The answer of the defendant reads as follows:

“Defendant denies each and every allegation of paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Plaintiff’s Complaint. * * * ”

No affirmative defenses were asserted in the answer.

In our opinion, the answer of the defendant was simply a general denial of the assertions in the complaint. As such it had the legal effect of admitting that the defendant did sign the note and eliminating from the action any issue as to signature. Had the defendant desired to deny that he signed the note, he should have done so by a specific denial addressed to the appropriate allegations in the complaint. This burden is placed on the defendant by the Uniform Commercial Code which provides in F.S.1967, section 673.3-307(1), F.S.A.:

“Unless specifically denied in the pleadings each signature on an instrument is admitted. * * * ”

On 10 September 1969 the plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment. The motion was heard on 6 October 1969. The basis for the summary judgment was an affidavit which had been filed by the plaintiff on 28 August 1969 in connection with an earlier summary judgment which had been denied. This affidavit had been served on 27 August 1969. Following the 6 October hearing on the motion for summary judgment, the trial court allowed the plaintiff to supplement the aforesaid affidavit. Plaintiff then filed and served on 7 October 1969 an affidavit in which the plaintiff states:

* * * * * *

“1. That he is the plaintiff herein.
“2. That on February 17, 1967, Defendant LOUIS J. FERRIS, executed and delivered to Plaintiff a promis*662sory note in the amount of $10,000.-00, which the said Defendant agreed to pay to Plaintiff on or before February 17, 1969.
“3. The Defendant failed to pay said note when due.
“4. There is now due, owing and unpaid from Defendant to the Plaintiff $10,000.00 on said note, with interest since February 17, 1969.”

Following the filing of this affidavit, an order was entered granting the motion for summary judgment. Thereafter on 13 November 1969 a final judgment was rendered for the plaintiff from which this appeal has been taken.

Despite the contention of the appellant, we see no reason why the plaintiff-movant could not have relied on the affidavit filed on 28 August to support his later motion for summary judgment. This affidavit was obviously filed and served a minimum of twenty days in advance of the hearing on the motion. Nor can we see any reason why the trial court at the hearing on the motion could not, in its discretion, have permitted the earlier affidavit to be supplemented. Rule 1.510(e), F.R.C.P., 31 F.S.A., specifically provides:

“ * * * The court may permit affidavits to be supplemented or opposed by * * * further affidavits.”

However, neither the affidavit of 28 August nor the supplemental affidavit or both in combination are sufficient to warrant a summary judgment. Neither of the affidavits complied with that portion of the summary judgment rule which provides :

“ * * * Sworn or certified copies of all papers or parts thereof referred to in an affidavit shall be attached thereto or served therewith.” (Emphasis added. See Rule 1.510(e), F.R.C.P.)

Because of the failure of the plaintiff to comply with this rule neither affidavit sufficiently identifies the note referred to therein as the note on which the action is based.

Furthermore, it does not appear from the record that the original of the note was ever produced before the trial court. Except in the unusual case where the suit is on a lost or destroyed note, the instrument sued on should be produced in order to entitle the holder to recovery. F.S.1967, section 673.3-307(2), F.S.A., provides :

“When signatures are admitted or established, production of the instrument entitles a holder to recover on it unless the defendant establishes a defense.” (Emphasis added.)

Applying this statute in the context of the present case, it appears that the plaintiff would have been entitled to a summary judgment had he produced the note and sufficiently identified it by affidavit as the note sued on inasmuch as the defendant’s signature on the note was in effect admitted by the answer.

For the foregoing reasons, the judgment appealed from is reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings.

Reversed and remanded.

WILLIAMS, ROBERT L., Associate Judge, concurs.

WALDEN, J., concurs in conclusion only.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Tel. Util. Terminal Co., Inc. v. EMC Indus., Inc., 404 So. 2d 183 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981)
    …enter of the Americas v. Chemical Bank, 384 So. 2d 725 (Fla.3d DCA 1980). Thus, “production of the instrument entitles a holder to recover on it unless the defendant establishes a defense.” § 673.307(2), Fla.Stat. (Supp.1980). In Ferris v. Nichols, 245 So. 2d 660, 662 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971), the fourth district stated that; Except in the unusual case where the suit is on a lost or destroyed note, the instrument sued on should be produced in order to entitle the holder to recovery. Requiring production of the…
  • Int'l Ctr. OF THE Americas, Inc. v. Chem. Bank, 384 So. 2d 725 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)
    …Downing v. First National Bank of Lake City, 81 So. 2d 486, 488 (Fla.1955). In such a situation, affidavits may not be used to remedy the fault, for want of attachment of sworn or certified copies of the note referred to therein. Ferris v. Nichols, 245 So. 2d 660 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971); Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.510(e). Since we find that the issue was timely raised below, and that the defense was not waived, as urged by appellee, and since a genuine issue of material fact exists, to wit: The possession of the note or r…
  • Davis v. Timeshare Travel Int'l, Inc., 489 So. 2d 47 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)
    …In order to make an issue of the genuineness of a signature, one must plead a specific denial addressed to the appropriate allegations of the other party. Lipton v. Southeast First National Bank, 343 So. 2d 927 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); Ferris v. Nichols, 245 So. 2d 660 (Fla. 4th DCA 1971). The necessity of having a specific denial is explained in the Uniform Commercial Code Comment to this section which reads in part: The purpose of the requirement of a specific denial in the pleadings is to give the plaintiff no…

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