GEORGE W. R. ESBERGER, APPELLANT,
v.
FIRST FLORIDA BUSINESS CONSULTANTS, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court reversed denial of motion to quash service, holding that the complaint failed to adequately allege jurisdictional requirements under Florida's long-arm statute because it did not specify the defendant's residence or that the cause of action arose from in-state business activities.
A complaint must adequately allege that the defendant is a nonresident and that the cause of action arises from business activities conducted in Florida to satisfy jurisdictional requirements under Sections 48.161 and 48.181, Florida Statutes.
[1] A complaint invoking Florida's long-arm statute must adequately allege both that the defendant is a nonresident and that the cause of action arises from business activiti…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellee filed a complaint based on a contract to sell a Florida business and attempted to serve appellant, a California resident, under Florida's lon…
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BOARDMAN, Acting Chief Judge.
Appellee/plaintiff filed a complaint based on a contract to sell a business located in Florida. He attempted to serve appellant/defendant, who was residing in California at that time, under Sections 48.161 and 48.181, Florida Statutes. Appellant filed a motion to quash asserting therein insufficiency of process and insufficiency of service of process and to abate for lack of jurisdiction over the person. After a hearing, the trial court denied said motion. Appellant claims that the court erred in that ruling. We agree.
It is well established that Florida’s long-arm statute is to be strictly construed. Lyster v. Round, 276 So. 2d 186 (Fla. 1st DCA 1973); Wm. E. Strasser Const. Corp. v. Linn, 97 So. 2d 458 (Fla.1957). To perfect service pursuant to Sections 48.161 and 48.-181, Florida Statutes, the complaint must allege the jurisdictional requirements prescribed by the statute. Henschel-Steinau Co. v. Harry Schorr, Inc., 302 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974). The plaintiff is required to allege that the cause of action arises from business activities conducted in the state and that the defendant is either a resident of a foreign state or country, a resident of Florida who subsequently becomes a nonresident, ór a resident of Florida who conceals his whereabouts. See O’Connell v. Loach, 203 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 2d DCA 1967), Section 48.181, Florida Statutes. The complaint filed by appellee is silent as to the residence of appellant and does not adequately allege that the cause of action arose from business activities conducted within this state.
Accordingly, the order on appeal is
REVERSED.
GRIMES and SCHEB, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (23 total)
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Drake v. Scharlau, 353 So. 2d 961 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978)…ess on a defendant, the complaint must allege the jurisdictional requirements prescribed by statute. If it fails to do so, then a motion to quash process and service of process should be granted. Esberger v. First Florida Business Consultants, Inc., 338 So. 2d 561 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976); Henschel-Steinau Company v. Harry Schorr, Inc., 302 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974). Appellees’ original complaint made no allegation concerning the residence of Drake and thus did not contain the jurisdictional allegations neces…
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P. S. R. Assocs. v. Artcraft-Heath, 364 So. 2d 855 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978)…provided in § 48.194. . . . . See, e. g., Drake v. Scharlau, 353 So. 2d 961 (Fla.2d DCA 1978); Hartman Agency, Inc. v. Indiana Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, 353 So. 2d 665 (Fla.2d DCA 1978); Esberger v. First Florida Business Consultants, Inc., 338 So. 2d 561 (Fla.2d DCA 1976). . 48.161 Method of substituted service on nonresident. (1) When authorized by law, substituted service of process on a nonresident ... by serving a public officer designated by law shall be made by leaving a copy of the process…
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Camp Illahee Invs., Inc. v. Blackman, 870 So. 2d 80 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003)…a foreign corporation is de novo. See Execu-Tech Bus. Sys., Inc. v. New Oji Paper Co., 752 So. 2d 582, 584 (Fla.2000). Additionally, we are required to strictly construe Florida’s long-arm statute. See Esberger v. First Fla. Bus. Consultants, Inc., 338 So. 2d 561, 562 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976). The pertinent facts relating to jurisdiction are not in dispute. The determi [*84] nation of whether the trial court has personal jurisdiction over Camp Illahee turns on “whether (1) there are sufficient jurisdictional fact…
Previewing 3 of 23 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- WM. E. Strasser Constr. Corp. v. Linn, 97 So. 2d 458 (Fla. 1957)
- Sturgis C. Lyster v. Thornton E. Round, 276 So. 2d 186 (Fla. 1st DCA 1973)
- State v. Weber, 302 So. 2d 198 (Fla. 1st DCA 1974)
- Pepper v. State, 203 So. 2d 350 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967)