Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...arbitration awards and the judgments entered thereon constitute valid liens on certain real estate Jones owns in Levy County by virtue of their having been filed and recorded there under the Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, §§ 55.501-55.509, Florida Statutes (1989)....

...One final argument by appellees needs to be addressed. They contend that when the California judgments were recorded in the Levy County public records Jones did not attack the validity of the foreign judgments within 30 days as required, they argue, by section 55.509, Florida Statutes (1989)....

...Section 55.505(3) of the Act provides that no execution or other process for enforcement of a foreign judgment shall issue until thirty days after the mailing of the notice. Section 55.507 of the Act provides that the foreign judgment shall not operate as a lien until thirty days after the mailing of the notice. Section 55.509 provides that if the judgment debtor collaterally attacks the foreign judgment within thirty days of the recording of the foreign judgment, the court shall stay enforcement of the foreign judgment and the judgment lien upon the filing of the action....

...On April 5, 1991, the former wife filed a petition for writ of execution, alleging that the former husband failed to contest the jurisdiction of the court that entered the foreign judgment within thirty (30) days of the date of recording the judgment, pursuant to section 55.509....

...At that time he filed a "motion to set aside default, if any," [1] an answer responding to the recording of the foreign judgment, a motion to stay execution against his homestead property, and a petition to contest the validity of the foreign judgment pursuant to section 55.509(1)....

...not considered to be in default at this time. The Former Husband shall have the right to file a responsive pleading within 10 days of the date of the entry of this order." Further, the court determined that "the matters contained in Florida Statute 55.509(2) which may require the posting of a bond is (sic) not appropriate in this circumstance and as such the court does not require the posting of any security as a result of this order." The former wife's points on appeal present two issues: 1) T...

...Id. at 263. Section 55.503(3) provides in pertinent part that "[n]o execution or other process for enforcement of a foreign judgment recorded hereunder shall issue until 30 days after the mailing of notice by the clerk [to the judgment debtor]," and section 55.509 provides for an action to challenge the validity of the foreign judgment....

...matic stay period, does not have the effect of staying enforcement of the judgment. Nor does it appear from the record that the former husband has shown the circuit court "any ground upon which enforcement of [the] judgment ... would be stayed... ." § 55.509(2). Therefore enforcement of the foreign judgment is not stayed, and the question of whether the former husband is required to post a bond pursuant to section 55.509(2), Florida Statutes (1989), is not implicated unless and until he seeks and is granted a stay of the enforcement proceedings....

...Thus, Whipple did not litigate the issue of the validity of the service of process either in person or otherwise. JSZ's second argument in support of waiver is that Whipple failed to object to the foreign judgment within thirty days after it was recorded in Florida; therefore, pursuant to section 55.509, Florida Statutes (1995), the issue has been waived. Section 55.509, "Stay of enforcement of foreign judgment," states: (1) If, within 30 days after the date the foreign judgment is recorded, the judgment debtor files an action contesting the jurisdiction of the court which entered the foreign judgment...

...ment of any circuit or county court of this state would be stayed, the court shall stay enforcement of the foreign judgment for an appropriate period, upon requiring the same security for satisfaction of the judgment which is required in this state. § 55.509, Fla....

...This court has expressly held that the thirty-day time period applies only to the issuance of a stay of enforcement of the judgment and does not require that a collateral attack be instituted within thirty days or be forever barred. See Nichols v. Nichols, 613 So.2d 137, 138 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993)(section 55.509, Florida Statutes, means only that if the debtor does not collaterally attack the foreign judgment within thirty days, it operates as a lien and the judgment creditor may proceed to enforce it)....

...this foreign judgment in Sarasota County, Florida, pursuant to section 55.501. Mr. Zitani was provided with notice of the recording. He did not file an action within thirty days contesting the enforcement of this judgment in Florida as authorized by section 55.509....

...ial conference and failed to comply with a discovery order. [1] Petitioner then recorded the New Jersey judgments in Palm Beach county under section 55.503, Florida Statutes (1989), whereupon respondents filed actions in the circuit court here under section 55.509, Florida Statutes (1989), contesting the validity of the New Jersey judgments under the United States Constitution. These actions were accompanied by the notices of lis pendens required by section 55.509(1). Respondents then moved to stay the enforcement of the New Jersey judgments in Florida, and any judgment liens resulting from the recordation here, without the security of bonds. They argued that section 55.509(1) entitled them to a stay without bond because they had furnished the notices of lis pendens. Petitioner in turn moved to require appropriate bonds as a condition of any stay. It contended that mere notices of lis pendens did not constitute compliance with section 48.23(3), Florida Statutes (1989), and subsection (2) of section 55.509 which, it argued, controlled the issue....

...The central question to certiorari review is whether the judgment creditor can have effective review of the issue after a final judgment or order is entered in the proceeding and plenary review is taken. In this case, we do not see how the creditor could have meaningful review of an order denying a bond in a proceeding under section 55.509 if consideration had to await the final judgment. Under the statutory scheme here, the debtor gets a stay merely by filing the section 55.509 contest of the foreign judgment and notice of lis pendens but, without a bond, is free meanwhile to dispose of Florida assets....

...t here in the first place. It thus seems to us that certiorari is indispensable in this situation. Turning now to the real issue dividing the parties, we see it as one of statutory construction. Hence we first look at the text of the statute itself: 55.509 Stay of enforcement of foreign judgment....

...y enforcement of the foreign judgment for an appropriate period, upon requiring the same security for satisfaction of the judgment which is required in this state. As we see it, this case is concerned with the interplay of these two subsections. [2] Section 55.509 was first adopted in 1984....

...n on all real property of the judgment debtor located in the county. See § 55.10(1), Fla. Stat. (1989). Section 55.505(3), however, immediately stops the judgment creditor from initiating foreclosure of that judgment lien, when the debtor files the section 55.509 contest action....

...ndering state, or where other legal or equitable grounds exist. Hence the legislature and drafters of the uniform act each included stay provisions. The fact that the stay provision in the uniform act expressly deals with stays pending appeal, while section 55.509 fails to mention the subject, does not yield the conclusion that the Florida legislature intended as a routine matter to allow stays without bond when the foreign judgment is recorded here. Rather, we think that subsection (2) of section 55.509 is broad enough to deal with the "pending appeal" situation of section 4(a) of the uniform act, as well as the "other ground" for stay of section 4(b). The words "any ground upon which enforcement of a judgment of any circuit or county court of this state would be stayed" in section 55.509(2) as we see it encompass supersedeas or stays pending review under rule 9.310, Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, as well as any other recognized legal or equitable basis for suspending the effectiveness of a final judgment. In short, section 4(a) and (b) of the uniform act have been compressed by our legislature into section 55.509(2)....

...Correspondingly, it gives the judgment creditor less. We are unable to square that result with the constitutional command of full faith and credit, or with the statutory purpose of speedy and economical enforcement. We therefore reverse the trial judge's denial of a bond as a condition of the section 55.509 stay and remand this cause to him for the entry of orders requiring bonds in the appropriate amounts....

...sey court stay execution, at least without posting a bond, on those judgments. [2] As will become apparent, we do not see section 48.23(3), Florida Statutes (1989), as the controlling statute here. Instead we conclude that the specific provisions of section 55.509 control the bond issue, as well as the duration of the stay....

...The developer, appellant, appealed the Alabama trial court's decision but did not obtain a supersedeas bond. The buyers filed suit in Florida, seeking to make their Alabama judgment a Florida judgment and to execute on it. N & C filed a petition to stay enforcement of the foreign judgment, pursuant to section 55.509, Florida Statutes....

...On the contrary, the judgment creditor must simply record the foreign judgment in the clerk's office, at which point the clerk sends notice of the recording to the judgment debtor. §§ 55.503(1), .505(2), Fla. Stat. (2005). Then, the judgment debtor may file suit contesting enforcement. § 55.509(1), Fla....

...judgments. Under the Act, a judgment creditor may record the foreign judgment without filing an action to enforce it. The judgment debtor may then file an action to challenge jurisdiction of the foreign court or the validity of the foreign judgment. § 55.509(1), Fla....

...On August 8, 1990, pursuant to section 55.505, Florida Statutes (1989), the circuit court clerk mailed the required *64 notice of recording, and that notice was received by the Soltesizes on August 11, 1990. Attempting to utilize the provisions of section 55.509(1), Florida Statutes (1989), the Soltesizes, on September 4, 1990, filed a "countercomplaint" seeking declaratory and injunctive relief....

...re closing on their mortgage loan on August 15, 1990. During January 1992, the Soltesizes contracted to sell their Sarasota condominium and requested Dollar to release its foreign judgment lien. Dollar refused. The Soltesizes, in their still-pending section 55.509 declaratory judgment action, then filed an emergency motion to determine lien priority....

...nett secured by a second mortgage on their Sarasota condominium. The Soltesizes sought a determination that the Ohio judgment was inferior to the Barnett second mortgage because that mortgage was recorded while the Ohio judgment was under an alleged section 55.509(1) challenge....

...e are required to interpret those provisions to reach a logical result and one that will facilitate what we determine to be the intent of the legislature in its enactments. In doing so, we interpret sections 55.10, 55.502, 55.503, 55.505, 55.507 and 55.509 (§§ 55.501-55.509 are referred to as the "Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act") in a manner that establishes the priority of the lien of a judgment recorded thereunder at the moment of recording. The enforcement of that lien must await the expiration of the thirty-day period established in sections 55.507 and 55.509 or the culmination of any action filed pursuant to section 55.509....

...However, the body of section 55.507 does not use the term "effective" but substitutes the term "operate" when it provides that "a foreign judgment does not operate as a lien until 30 days after the mailing of the notice by the clerk. When an action authorized in s. 55.509(1) is filed, it acts as an automatic stay of the effect of this section." (Emphasis supplied.) It is significant to us that section 55.507 does not state that the recorded foreign judgment shall not be a lien until thirty days after the mailing of the notice....

...from the immediately preceding section 55.505(3), which states: "No execution or other process for enforcement of a foreign judgment recorded hereunder shall issue until 30 days after the mailing of notice by the clerk. When an action authorized in s. 55.509(1) is filed, it acts as an automatic stay of the effect of this section." (Emphasis supplied.) We conclude that the "automatic stay of the effect of this section" provided in both sections 55.505(3) and 55.507 is a further stay (or extension) of the thirty-day hiatus for enforcement until the culmination of the 55.509 action. Strangely enough, section 55.509, in speaking to an action filed thereunder, provides that "the Court shall stay enforcement of the foreign judgment and the judgment lien upon the filing of the action by the judgment debtor." (Emphasis supplied.) It seems to add to the confusing nature of the various statutory provisions to provide for a courtordered stay in section 55.509 when an automatic stay, based upon the same events, has been provided for in sections 55.505(3) and *66 55.507. Perhaps the legislative intent that there be a lien of a foreign judgment upon its recording pursuant to chapter 55 that is not enforceable until later is best evidenced by section 55.509(2), which provides: (2) If the judgment debtor shows the circuit or county court any ground upon which enforcement of a judgment of any circuit or county court of this state would be stayed, the court shall stay enforcement of the fore...

...judgment which is required in this state. (Emphasis supplied.) If there was no intent that a recorded foreign judgment should be or become a lien upon recording, there would have been no need to provide for the substitute security as is provided in section 55.509(2)....

...r sections of chapter 55 to "enforcement" as the term of art. An interpretation that a recorded foreign judgment did not become a lien for the purpose of determining its priority until after the thirty-day notice period or after the culmination of a 55.509 action filed by the judgment debtor would enable the judgment debtor to determine priorities among creditors by choosing or not to file such an action....

...r county court of this state.” Id. § 55.503(1). Upon recordation, the judgment debtor has thirty days to file an action contesting either the validity of the foreign judgment or the jurisdiction of the court that entered the foreign judgment. Id. § 55.509(1)....

...ign judgment or the validity of the foreign judgment and records a lis pendens directed toward the foreign judgment, the court shall stay enforcement of the foreign judgment and the judgment lien upon the filing of the action by the judgment debtor. § 55.509(1), Fla....

...Cola, 401 So.2d 871 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). The court failed to consider the personal representative's need to object to the judgment itself. There are many legitimate reasons why a personal representative might reasonably choose to object to a claim based on a judgment. Cf. § 55.509, Fla....

...Within 30 days of recordation, Expedia filed an action in circuit court for Duval County contesting the validity of McKenney's foreign judgment, along with a notice of lis pendens directed at the foreign judgment. The action, which was brought pursuant to section 55.509(1), Florida Statutes (1991), effectively stayed the enforcement of McKenney's foreign judgment. McKenney's denied the material allegations of Expedia's complaint, and filed a motion to require that Expedia post a bond to secure the foreign judgment. After a hearing on McKenney's motion, "and after considering section 55.509(2), Florida Statutes," the trial court ordered Expedia to post a security bond within ten days....

...Twenty *99 days later, when Expedia still had not filed the security bond, the trial court dissolved the notice of lis pendens and dismissed Expedia's complaint. This appeal followed. On appeal, the parties' arguments confirm that the issue involves the proper interpretation of section 55.509 and, specifically, whether and to what extent the two subsections of the statute are interrelated. Thus, Expedia argues that it was entitled to a stay of enforcement upon filing its action under section 55.509(1), which stay was mandatory and without the condition that the judgment debtor post a security bond. Expedia concedes that section 55.509 may require security for stays of enforcement described in subsection (2), but it maintains that no such requirement applies to stays obtainable under subsection (1), which is the only subsection relevant to the instant case....

...(1). In support of its position, McKenney's cites SCG Travel, Inc. v. Westminster Financial Corp., 583 So.2d 723 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991), which case Expedia attempts to distinguish. The statute which we are called upon to interpret, provides as follows: 55.509 Stay of enforcement of foreign judgment....

...ment of any circuit or county court of this state would be stayed, the court shall stay enforcement of the foreign judgment for an appropriate period, upon requiring the same security for satisfaction of the judgment which is required in this state. § 55.509, Fla....

...There the judgment creditor had obtained default judgments in New Jersey which it subsequently caused to be recorded in Palm Beach county. Although the judgment debtor perfected an appeal in New Jersey, it was unable to obtain a stay from the New Jersey court. Resorting to section 55.509(1), the judgment debtor filed an action in Palm Beach county contesting the validity of the judgments. Thereafter, the parties took positions identical to those espoused in the instant case — the judgment debtor seeking a stay without bond based upon section 55.509(1), and the judgment creditor responding that subsection (2) of the statute required security....

...We refer to those six Florida plaintiffs in the other lawsuits, defendants here, collectively as the “Estates,” and they are the appellees in the present case. 2 The Estates did not contest the validity of the Maryland order in the recognition case as permitted by section 55.509, Florida Statutes (2009)....

...This cause is before us on certiorari review of the trial court's order denying Petitioner's "Motion to Quash [Respondent's] Foreign Judgment." The trial court ruled that Petitioner's motion was premature because he had not yet posted bond in accord with section 55.509, Florida Statutes. The trial court did not depart from the essential requirements of law in denying Petitioner's motion. See Adelman Steel Corp. v. Winter, 610 So.2d 494, 496 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). Section 55.509, Florida Statutes, provides Stay of enforcement of foreign judgment....

...court of this state would be stayed, the court shall stay enforcement of the foreign judgment for an appropriate period, upon requiring the same security for satisfaction of the judgment which is required in this state. Section 55.505(3), Florida Statutes, provides that "[w]hen an action authorized in s. 55.509(1) is filed, it acts as an automatic stay...." Subsection (3), therefore, "immediately stops the judgment creditor from initiating foreclosure of judgment lien, when the debtor files a section 55.509 contest action." SCG Travel, Inc....

...and Trust Co. v. Soltesiz, 636 So.2d 63, 65 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994) ("We conclude that the `automatic stay ...' provided in both sections 55.505(3) and 55.507 is a further stay (or extension) of the thirty-day hiatus for enforcement until the culmination of the 55.509 action."). This court held that a stay granted under either section 55.509(1) or subsection (2) requires a bond. Expedia, Inc. v. McKenney's, Inc., 611 So.2d 98, 100 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992) (this court stating that "the instant case, like SCG Travel, `concern[s]... the interplay of [sections 55.509(1) and (2) ]' 583 So.2d at 725, and that a feature of this interplay includes the furnishing of security as described in subsection (2) for stays of enforcement obtainable upon the filing of a validity challenge under subsection (1)."). Here, Petitioner responded to Respondent's foreign judgment recordation by filing an "action" within 30 days "pursuant to § 55.509," claiming that the judgment was invalid, and by simultaneously filing a lis pendens. Petitioner's filing of the action under section 55.509 would have automatically stayed Respondent's attempt to foreclose, but for Petitioner's failure to post bond. Because Petitioner failed to post bond, his section 55.509 action is ineffective and subject to dismissal....

PER CURIAM. Because the provisions of neither section 55.509(1) nor (2), Florida Statutes (1987) were complied with, there was no basis for enjoining the enforcement of a duly registered foreign judgment....

PER CURIAM. This is an appeal from an order denying appellant, Emilio Cruz’s motion to reinstate the statutory period prescribed in section 55.509(1), Florida Statutes (1997), to oppose the domestication of a foreign *307 judgment due to his lack of notice....

...to Cruz pursuant to section 55.505(2), Florida Statutes (1997). 2 Within thirty days of such notice, Cruz would have an opportunity to challenge the validity of the recording of the foreign judgment in an action for a stay of enforcement pursuant to section 55.509....

...We thus reverse the order under review with directions that the appellant be granted a thirty day time period within which to interpose any challenge to the recorded foreign judgment that it deems appropriate. 4 Reversed and remanded with directions. . Section 55.509 provides: (1) If, within 30 days after the date the foreign judgment is recorded, the judgment debtor filed an action contesting the jurisdiction of the court which entered the foreign judgment or the validity of the foreign judgment a...

...recorded. .Section 55.505(3) provides in pertinent part that: No execution or other process for enforcement of a foreign judgment recorded hereunder shall issue until 30 days after the mailing of notice by the clerk ... When an action authorized in s. 55.509(1) is filed, it acts as an automatic stay of the effect of this section....

...ved notice from the Clerk. See § 55.505, Fla. Stat. (2002). The judgment debtor may file an action- contesting the validity of the foreign judgment if the action is filed within thirty days after the date on which the foreign judgment was recorded. § 55.509, Fla....

...If a judgment debtor wishes to challenge such a judgment, it may file “an action contesting the jurisdiction of the court which entered the foreign judgment or the validity of the foreign judgment” and record “a lis pendens directed toward the foreign judgment.” § 55.509(1)....

...A procedure that resulted in a recorded final judgment as suggested by Trawiek would have been helpful. When a judgment debtor files a timely action challenging the foreign judgment and records a lis pendens, the enforceability of the foreign judgment does not commence at the expiration of the thirty-day period. ' See § 55.509(1)....

...d the lis pendens is not intended to last indefinitely, but normally lasts at least until the circuit court conducts a hearing to determine if grounds exist to stay enforcement and to decide what security may be appropriate to maintain the stay. See § 55.509(2); Expedia, Inc. v. McKenney’s, Inc., 611 So.2d 98 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); SCG Travel, Inc. v. Westminster Fin. Corp., 583 So.2d 723 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991). The hearings conducted in this case were not held pursuant to section 55.509(2) to modify the stay created by the lis pen-dens....

...However, where a petition is made to register and enforce a foreign judgment pursuant to section 55.501, Florida law only permits the judgment debtor to contest the jurisdiction of the foreign court. The registering court is not entitled to retry the foreign court’s findings of fact. See § 55.509, Fla....

PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See section 55.509(1), Florida Statutes (1985); Dusesoi v....

...6 Notice of the recordation was given to the Jays by the Clerk of Court. II. FLORIDA LITIGATION After Cadle commenced domestication and enforcement proceedings in Florida, the Jays moved to quash the notice of recording foreign judgment pursuant to *637 section 55.509(1), Florida Statutes....

...IV, § 1; Nichols v. Nichols, 613 So.2d 137, 139 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993). Such judgments may be collaterally attacked for either lack of jurisdiction or extrinsic fraud. Id. at 139 ; Hinchee v. Golden Oak Bank, 540 So.2d 262 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989); see also § 55.509(1), Fla....

...Former Wife filed an Amended Petition for Domestication and Enforcement of Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage on May 13, 2008. 2. To date, service of said Petition has not yet occurred. 3. Counsel for Former Wife has indicated that she has registered a foreign judgment pursuant to Florida Statutes § 55.501- § 55.509....

...Appellee argues that appellants were not denied due process of law because the factual allegations of the complaint to stay enforcement do not challenge either the jurisdiction of the court entering the foreign judgment or the validity of the foreign judgment, as required by Section 55.509, Florida Statutes....

...For this reason, the trial court properly found that the complaint “fails to allege that the Court issuing the Judgment was without jurisdiction or that the Judgment was not valid.” This explanation would be wholly sufficient but for the fact that it views Section 55.509(1), Florida Statutes, in isolation. Section 55.509(1) provides that a complainant may seek a stay of enforcement of a final judgment by challenging the jurisdiction of the rendering court or the validity of the final judgment. Section 55.509(2), however, provides: (2) If the judgment debtor shows the circuit or county court any ground upon which enforcement of a judgment of any circuit or county court of this state would be stayed, the court shall stay enforcement of the f...

...rtial satisfaction admitted by the creditor. Noetzel v. Glasgow, Inc., 338 Pa.Super. 458 , 487 A.2d 1372 (1984), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1109 , 106 S.Ct. 1517 , 89 L.Ed.2d 915 (1986). Indeed, one Florida district court has found the stay provision of Section 55.509(2), Florida Statutes, broad enough to include “any ... legal or equitable basis for suspending the effectiveness of a final judgment.” SCG Travel, Inc. v. Westminster Financial Corp., 583 So.2d 723 (Fla. *477 4th DCA 1991) (requiring supersedeas bond for actions pursuant to Section 55.509(1) as well as Section 55.509(2)); see also Expedia, Inc....

contesting the New Jersey court’s jurisdiction, § 55.509, Fla.Stat. (1993), the process server testified

...Avery Dennison Corporation, having obtained a judgment in Ohio against System One Southeast, Inc. in the amount of $21,-288.54, plus interest, recorded the judgment in the circuit court of Hillsborough County. Avery Dennison filed an affidavit of jurisdiction with the judgment. System One then filed an action pursuant to section 55.509(1), Florida Statutes challenging Ohio’s jurisdiction....

...ere, the Iowa judgment was entered against appellant by default. He did not appear, answer or contest jurisdiction. He is, therefore, entitled to now raise the issue of whether the Iowa court had personal jurisdiction over him." [c.o.] Id.; see also § 55.509(1), Fla....

...t with process. Ultimately, a default judgment was entered against appel-lee by the Michigan court. Appellant then brought the judgment to Florida and recorded it. To head off the inevitable execution on its assets, appellee filed a proceeding under section 55.509(1), Florida Statutes (1991), claiming that the service of process was invalid....