Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...On this issue, we reverse the trial court's order and remand with directions to set aside the 2003 tax deed. As acknowledged by the Association, the Association must repay the Buyers the purchase price with interest. Although the parties have not addressed the issue, apparently section 197.602, Florida Statutes (2003), is applicable....

...e delinquent taxes paid ($4,487.43), the fees incurred ($792), and the amount paid in excess of the delinquent taxes and fees to acquire the property ($64,200.76). While the judgment also requires the former owner to pay interest *182 as required by section 197.602 of the Florida Statutes to Turnberry on the amounts it paid to satisfy the unpaid taxes, it refuses, on due process grounds, to apply this provision to require the former owner to pay interest on the $64,200.76 paid by Turnberry to acquire the tax deed. We reverse this portion of the final judgment because section 197.602 clearly and unambiguously mandates payment of interest on this amount and because we reject the delinquent tax payer's argument, adopted by the trial court, that his due process rights are impinged by such an application....

...Alter, 615 So.2d 661, 663 (Fla.1993) ("Words of common usage, when employed in a statute, should be construed in their plain and ordinary sense."); see also Moonlit Waters Apartments, Inc. v. Cauley, 666 So.2d 898, 900 (Fla.1996). In this case, the controlling provision, section 197.602, needs no interpretation, clearly and unambiguously stating that the purchaser of a tax deed determined to be invalid as of the date of issuance is to be made whole by reimbursement of (1) all expenses incurred to acquire the deed; (2...

...The amount of the expenses and the fair cash value of improvements shall be ascertained and found upon the trial of the action, and the tax deed holder or anyone holding thereunder shall have a prior lien upon the land for the payment of the sums. § 197.602, Fla....

...Under the clear terms of this provision, Turnberry was entitled to an interest *183 award not just on the amount it paid to satisfy the former owner's taxes, but also on the $64,200.76 it paid to acquire the tax deed. See Vill. of Doral Place Ass'n, Inc. v. RU4 Real, Inc., 22 So.3d 627, 631 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009) (citing section 197.602, concluding "[a]s acknowledged by the Association, the Association must repay the Buyers the purchase price with interest.")....

...r notice of the tax deed sale, and the tax deed sale should be set aside." Neither side disputes this determination. What Streatfield argued below, and the position erroneously adopted by the trial court, was that application of the plain wording of section 197.602, i.e., making Streatfield responsible for the interest on "the amount paid for the tax deed," amounted to a violation of Streatfield's due process rights....

...emedy for erroneous deprivation, satisfies due process[,] . . . simply because they are the only remedies the State could be expected to provide.'" (quoting Zinermon v. Burch, 494 U.S. 113, 125-128, 110 S.Ct. 975, 108 L.Ed.2d 100(1990))). [7] But as section 197.602 and longstanding Supreme Court precedent confirm, such vindication does not, for good reason, come at the expense of the tax deed purchaser. Indeed, the very purpose of section 197.602, which has been on the books since at least 1927, is to facilitate the statutory scheme embodied in Chapter 197 to keep government running by assuring a steady flow of tax revenues, a goal accomplished in significant part by allowing governmental entities to collect delinquent taxes via *185 sales of tax certificates and then by sale of those certificates to non-governmental purchasers. To this end, section 197.602 was enacted to assure investors that if they purchased a tax deed—thereby assuring both revenue flow and a limitation on government ownership of land—they would receive either title to land or be made whole by return of their money,...

...interest, as a consideration for becoming a purchaser. San Sebastian Dev. Corp. v. Couch, 103 Fla. 692, 138 So. 61, 64-65 (1931); see generally 52 Fla. Jur. 2d Taxation § 1862 (2010). In short, and as the Florida Supreme Court long ago recognized, section 197.602 is no more than a remedial measure adopted by this and many other states grounded "on the principle that he who seeks equity must do equity" to assure that both the delinquent property owner and the tax deed purchaser are treated equitably when a tax deed is invalidated....

...sue is reversed with this matter remanded for entry of an award of interest on the "the amount paid for the tax deed and all taxes paid upon the land, together with 12-percent interest thereon per year from the date of the issuance of the tax deed." § 197.602, Fla....

...The order on appeal, Final Judgment on Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint to Quiet Title and for Declaratory Judgment and Defendant's Counterclaim for Declaratory Judgment, rendered on December 18, 2002, declares a tax deed void, awards $75,000 spent on the tax deed, but reserves jurisdiction pursuant to section 197.602, Florida Statutes (2002), to determine and award the interest on the refund of taxes paid, legal expenses in obtaining the tax deed, and the fair cash value of improvements made to the property....

...Vandetty, for appellee. Before SUAREZ, LAGOA, and SCALES, JJ. LAGOA, J. ON MOTION FOR APPELLATE ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS  Appellant, Morris A. Ashear (“Ashear”), seeks appellate attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.400 and section 197.602(2), Florida Statutes (2017), in connection with his appeal from a final judgment vacating and setting aside a tax deed in Ashear v....

...sulted from its application of the wrong legal standard”; and (3) whether the trial court erred in failing to require Sklarey to reimburse Ashear the amount paid for the tax deed and interest from the date the tax deed was issued as required by section 197.602....

...2 standard, and reversed in part, finding that Ashear was entitled to reimbursement from Sklarey. See Ashear, 43 Fla. L. Weekly at D181. Ashear now seeks appellate attorney’s fees and costs under the current version of section 197.602(2), which provides that “[i]n an action to challenge the validity of a tax deed, the prevailing party is entitled to all reasonable litigation expenses, including attorney’s fees.”1 We find no entitlement to attorney’s fees 1 Section 197.602, Florida Statutes (2017), states in its entirety: (1) If a party successfully challenges the validity of a tax deed in an action at law or equity, but the taxes for which the tax deed w...

...reimbursed. The tax deed holder or anyone holding under the tax deed has a prior lien on the land for the payment of the expenses that must 3 and costs as the version of section 197.602 in force at the time the tax sale certificate issued did not contain any provision for an entitlement to attorney’s fees to the prevailing party in an action challenging the validity of the tax deed....

...the tax sale or at the time the State transfers the certificates to private purchasers. (emphasis added); see also Holliday v. Wade, 117 F.2d 154, 157 (5th Cir. 1941). Unlike the current version of the statute, the 2010 version of section 197.602 did not provide for an entitlement to attorney’s fees to the prevailing party in an action challenging the validity of the tax deed.2 Subsection (2), providing for entitlement be reimbursed to such persons. 2 In its entirety, the 2010 version of section 197.602 read as follows: If, in an action at law or in equity involving the validity of any tax deed, the court holds that the tax deed was invalid at the time of its issuance and that title to th...

...ad not been paid prior to issuance of the deed, the party in whose favor the judgment or decree in the suit is entered shall pay to the 4 to attorney’s fees, was added to section 197.602 in 2011, and became effective on July 1, 2011. Because the tax deed was issued to Ashear on August 6, 2010, the 2010 version of the applicable statute governs. Accordingly, Ashear is not entitled to an award of attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to section 197.602, effective at the time the tax sale certificate was issued. Moreover, even if the current version of section 197.602(2) were applicable here, Ashear would not be entitled to attorney’s fees as he is not the prevailing party on appeal....

...The amount of the expenses and the fair cash value of improvements shall be ascertained and found upon the trial of the action, and the tax deed holder or anyone holding thereunder shall have a prior lien upon the land for the payment of the sums. § 197.602, Fla....

...As to the issue regarding the enforcement of the parties’ stipulation, we conclude that the stipulation requiring interest payments to Appellant was valid and enforceable. Moreover, absent the stipulation, we believe that Appellant was entitled to interest pursuant to section 197.602, Florida Statutes....

...n it determined that Sklarey was ready, willing, and able to exercise his right of redemption “before the execution and recording of the tax deed.” (emphasis in original) Finally, Ashear argues that the trial court’s order contravenes section 197.602, Florida Statutes (2010). Specifically, Ashear argues that the trial court erred by failing to apply provisions in section 197.602 mandating that Sklarey reimburse him the amount paid for the tax deed together with twelve percent interest from the date the tax deed was issued and for the value of any improvements. We agree. Section 197.602, Florida Statutes (2010), provides: If, in an action at law or in equity involving the validity of any tax deed, the court holds that the tax deed was invalid at the time of its issuance and tha...

...The amount of the expenses and the fair cash value of improvements shall be ascertained and found upon the trial of the action, and the tax deed holder or anyone holding thereunder shall have a prior lien upon the land for the payment of the sums. Section 197.602 clearly and unambiguously requires that a purchaser of a tax deed determined to be invalid at the time of issuance is entitled to be reimbursed all sums paid to acquire the tax deed and to twelve percent interest on that amount....

...Turnberry Invs., Inc. v. Streatfield, 48 So. 3d 180, 182 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010). Upon the trial court’s determination that the tax deed was to be vacated and set aside, Ashear was entitled to an award from Sklarey of the reimbursements provided for in section 197.602....

...Indeed, Sklarey concedes that the funds held in the court registry should be disbursed to Ashear, although he does not acknowledge the statutory requirements concerning interest. 12  Ashear also argues on appeal that he is entitled to an award, pursuant to section 197.602, for the value of improvements to the land....

...d with instructions to the trial court to enter an amended final judgment in favor of Sklarey ordering that the $20,700 in funds held by the Clerk in the court registry be disbursed to Ashear, together with an award of interest in accordance with section 197.602. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. 13 

...ed hearing on Bullock’s motion. The court also denied Houston’s motion for judicial validation of tax deed, but ordered Bullock to deposit $28,900 with the Clerk of the Court within thirty days “as preliminary costs mandated by Florida Statute § 197.602 for invalidation of a Tax Deed.” The court ordered that [i]f Defendant, SHARON BULLOCK fails to put such amounts into the registry of the Clerk of the Court, within such time, this Court without further hearing or notice, shall issue an...

...assert her interest in the property. Bullock’s second point of contention is that the trial court erred in requiring that she deposit the tax arrearage ($28,-900.00) in the court registry before an adjudication as to the validity of the tax deeds. Section 197.602, Florida Statutes (1998), entitled Party recovering land must refund taxes paid and Interest, provides as follows: If, in an action at law or in equity involving the validity of any tax deed, the court holds that the tax deed was inva...