Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...as been vested with any estate in land of record for [thirty] years or more, shall have a marketable record title to such estate in said land, which shall be free and clear of all claims except the matters set forth as exceptions to marketability in s. 712.08....

...■ Accordingly, our review is limited to the trial court’s determination of the ownership of the property it described as the “Disputed Parcel.” For their part, the Lehmanns raised several affirmative defenses below, including exceptions to MRTA spelled out in the statute. See § 712.08....

...� chain of title “refer to the canals and rights-of-way as one, not as two separate rights-of-way to each canal.” Id. at 526. The court determined that “[s]ince the easements constitute a unified reservation, use of a part preserves the whole. § 712.08(5), Fla....

...hts-of-way, and terminal facilities. However, nothing herein shall be construed as preserving to the mortgagee or grantee of any such mortgage or deed of trust or any supplement thereto any greater rights than the rights of the mortgagor or grantor. § 712.08(5), Fla....

ORFINGER, J. Appellant, Sand Lake Hills Homeowners Association, Inc., appeals a final judgment awarding attorney’s fees to Jeffrey C. Busch and Susan D. Busch, pursuant to sections 57.105(7) and 712.08, Florida Statutes (2015)....

...ts provisions and that the reciprocal provisions of section 57.105(7), Florida Statutes (2015), entitled the Busches to recover their reasonable fees against Appellant on count II of the ARD case. The court also awarded attorney’s fees pursuant to section 712.08 in the MRTA case, finding that the 2004 MRTA Preservation Notice, which Appellant filed, was a false or fictitious claim....

...under the fee provision of the ARD. Thus, we reverse the order awarding attorney’s fees to the Busches and against Appellant pursuant to the ARD' and section 57.105(7). 2. The MRTA Case ■ The court awarded attorney’s fees pursuant to section' 712.08 in the MRTA case, concluding that the MRTA Preservation Notice was a false or fictitious claim. Appellant argues that this was error because (1) it is not a homeowners’ association within the meaning of chapter 712 and (2) it did not intentionally file a false or fictitious claim within the meaning of section 712.08....

...ord, during the 30-year period immediately following the effective date of the root of title, a written notice .,.. ” Section 712.06, Florida Statutes (2015), sets forth the contents of the notice and must be carefully followed because pursuant to section 712.08, a person who files a false notice is liable to the owner for costs, attorney’s fees, and damages sustained by the owner: Filing false claim.—No person shall use the privilege of filing notices hereunder for the purpose of assertin...

...arty all costs incurred by her or him in such action, including a reasonable attorney’s fee, and in addition thereto may award to the prevailing party all damages that she or he may have sustained as a result of the filing of such notice of claim. § 712.08, Fla. Stat. (2015) (emphasis added). Thus, section 712.08 prohibits false filings by any “person.” It is irrelevant that Appellant was not a homeowners’ association as defined in section 720.301 or a homeowners’ association entitled to enforce use restrictions....

...(2015) (“The word ‘person’ includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations.”). Second, and contrary to Appellant’s argument, section 712.08 does not require the filer to intentionally or knowingly file the false or fictitious claim....

...Rather, the statute’s plain language provides: “[I]f the court shall find that any person has filed a false or fictitious claim, the court may award to the prevailing party all costs incurred by her or him in such action, including a reasonable attorney’s fee ....”§ 712.08, Fla....

...ster Online Dictionary, http://www. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fictitious (last visited Dec. 27, 2016). Since “false” or “fictitious” includes “mistaken ideas,” as well as “not real or genuine” and “not true or real” claims, section 712.08 provides a remedy in the trial court’s discretion when a claim is filed against another’s property and that claim is later determined to be untrue....

...Melissa Scaletta, Marketable Record Title Act & Uniform Title Standards, in Fla. Real Prop. Title Examination & Ins. § 2:13 (Fla. Bar 7th ed., 2012) (“Anyone who files a false claim is liable to the owner for costs, attorneys’ fees, and damages sustained by the owner. F.S. 712.08.”)....

...d a false or fictitious claim, the court may award to the prevailing party all costs incurred by him in such action, including a reasonable attorney’s fee .... ”) (emphasis added). To read the word “intentionally” into the statute would make section 712.08 a penal statute, rather than a remedial statute that provides a remedy to a person who expends attorney’s fees to clear the title of a “false or fictitious claim” on his, her, or its real property....

...Busch. No Appearance for other Appellees. ORFINGER, J. Appellant, Sand Lake Hills Homeowners Association, Inc., appeals a final judgment awarding attorney’s fees to Jeffrey C. Busch and Susan D. Busch, pursuant to sections 57.105(7) and 712.08, Florida Statutes (2015)....

...ter Online Dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fictitious (last visited Dec. 27, 2016). Since “false” or “fictitious” includes “mistaken ideas,” as well as “not real or genuine” and “not true or real” claims, section 712.08 provides a remedy in the trial court’s discretion when a claim is filed against another’s property and that claim is later determined to be untrue....

...Melissa Scaletta, Marketable Record Title Act & Uniform Title Standards, in Fla. Real Prop. Title Examination & Ins. § 2:13 (Fla. Bar 7th ed., 2012) (“Anyone who files a false claim is liable to the owner for costs, attorneys’ fees, and damages sustained by the owner. F.S. 712.08.”)....

...nally registered a false or fictitious claim, the court may award to the prevailing party all costs incurred by him in such action, including 7 The court also awarded attorney’s fees pursuant to section 712.08 in the MRTA case, finding that the 2004 MRTA Preservation Notice, which Appellant filed, was a false or fictitious claim. 1....

...e fee provision of the ARD. Thus, we reverse the order awarding attorney’s fees to the Busches and against Appellant pursuant to the ARD and section 57.105(7). 2. The MRTA Case The court awarded attorney’s fees pursuant to section 712.08 in the MRTA case, concluding that the MRTA Preservation Notice was a false or fictitious claim....

...Appellant 4 argues that this was error because (1) it is not a homeowners’ association within the meaning of chapter 712 and (2) it did not intentionally file a false or fictitious claim within the meaning of section 712.08. A statute that awards attorney’s fees is in derogation of the common law rule that each party pay its own attorney’s fees and must be strictly construed....

...during the 30-year period immediately following the effective date of the root of title, a written notice . . . .” Section 712.06, Florida Statutes (2015), sets forth the contents of the notice and must be carefully followed because pursuant to section 712.08, a person who files a false notice is liable to the owner for costs, attorney’s fees, and damages sustained by the owner: Filing false claim.- No person shall use the privilege of filing notices hereunder for...

...him in such action, including a reasonable attorney’s fee, and in addition thereto may award to the prevailing party all damages that she or he may have sustained as a result of the filing of such notice of claim. § 712.08, Fla. Stat. (2015) (emphasis added). Thus, section 712.08 prohibits false filings by any “person.” It is irrelevant that Appellant was not a homeowners’ association as defined in section 720.301 or a homeowners’ association entitled to enforce use restrictions....

...(2015) (“The word ‘person’ includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations.”). Second, and contrary to Appellant’s argument, section 712.08 does not require the filer to intentionally or knowingly file the false or fictitious claim....

...Rather, the statute’s plain language provides: “[I]f the court shall find that any person has filed a false or fictitious claim, the court may award to the prevailing party all costs incurred by her or him in such action, including a reasonable attorney’s fee . . . .” § 712.08, Fla....

...ter Online Dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fictitious (last visited Dec. 27, 2016). Since “false” or “fictitious” includes “mistaken ideas,” as well as “not real or genuine” and “not true or real” claims, section 712.08 provides a remedy in the trial court’s discretion when a claim is filed against another’s property and that claim is later determined to be untrue....

...Melissa Scaletta, Marketable Record Title Act & Uniform Title Standards, in Fla. Real Prop. Title Examination & Ins. § 2:13 (Fla. Bar 7th ed., 2012) (“Anyone who files a false claim is liable to the owner for costs, attorneys’ fees, and damages sustained by the owner. F.S. 712.08.”)....

...court may award to the prevailing party all costs incurred by him in such action, including 7 a reasonable attorney’s fee . . . .”) (emphasis added). To read the word “intentionally” into the statute would make section 712.08 a penal statute, rather than a remedial statute that provides a remedy to a person who expends attorney’s fees to clear the title of a “false or fictitious claim” on his, her, or its real property....