CopyCited 16 times | Published | District Court, S.D. Florida | 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12177
...This is an action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The plaintiffs allege that they have been deprived of procedural due process of the law by the defendant landlords' use and application of the Florida Landlord Lien statutes, Florida Statutes §§
713.67,
713.68, and
713.69, F.S.A., and that these statutes are on their face constitutionally defective....
...In each instance, the apartment doors were locked for failure of the particular tenant to pay rent which was due. The apartment doors were padlocked without judicial process and without notice to the tenant. This was done in accord with Florida Statutes §§
713.67,
713.68, and
713.69, F.S.A., Florida's landlord or innkeeper's lien statutes....
...in plaintiffs' position. Thus, plaintiffs' request that this action be designated a class action should be denied. STATUTES IN QUESTION As stated, the issue in the case before this Court is whether the Florida Landlord's Lien statutes, §§
713.67,
713.68, and
713.69, F.S.A., are unconstitutional in that they permit the taking of property without due process of the law....
...d chattels belonging to such guests or tenants in such hotel, apartment house, rooming house or boarding house. . . . Upon the nonpayment of such sums . . . the keeper thereof may instantly eject such guests or tenants therefrom. And Florida Statute § 713.68, F.S.A., provides: Liens for hotels, apartment houses, rooming houses, boarding houses, etc....
...Such lien shall continue and be in full force and effect for the amount payable for such occupancy until the same shall have been fully paid and discharged. Section
713.69, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., makes it unlawful for any person to remove any property which is impressed with a Section
713.68 lien. HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS It should be stated at the outset that this case does not concern Section
509.141, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., nor any provision of §§
713.67,
713.68, and
713.69 as they pertain to hotels....
...-20. LOCK-OUT OR INSTANT EJECTMENT This cause does concern two different aspects of the statutes under consideration. First, the instant ejectment provision found in Section
713.67, and, second, the landlord lien provisions found in Sections
713.67,
713.68, and
713.69....
...No process, much less "due" process in the form of notice, a hearing, or judicial participation of any sort, is required. The tenant is simply ejected or locked out, as in the case before this Court. LIEN PROVISIONS The remainder of §
713.67 and all of §§
713.68 and
713.69 grant the landlord a lien over the personalty of the tenant *186 if and when he becomes delinquent in his rent....
...In fact, under §
85.011(1) the landlord could apparently proceed without ever bringing an action, or he need not bring one for three months. Thus, it is apparent that under this statutory scheme the landlord could use self-help, at least initially, to impress the delinquent tenant's property with a Section
713.67,
713.68 lien and to instantly eject the tenant....
...It can easily be seen that the trend of decisions weighs against self-executing possessory liens and pre-judgment seizures, absent extraordinary circumstances. The landlord's remedies against delinquent tenants are not abrogated by a holding that Florida Statutes §§
713.67,
713.68, and
713.69, F....
...Thereupon, it is Ordered and adjudged that defendants' motion for summary judgment be and the same is hereby denied and plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment be and the same is hereby granted; and that the enforcement, application and use of Florida Statutes §§
713.67,
713.68, and
713.69, F.S.A., is hereby enjoined and the enforcement of these statutes is hereby declared to be an unconstitutional infringement of tenants' rights to procedural due process; and it is further Ordered that the remainder of this cause, i...
...Fulton, as a single District Judge. ORDER This cause came before the Court upon the defendant landlords' motion for clarification of order. Defendants Rader, Multach, Collins, and Nunn are all landlords or landlord's agents. Under the auspices of Florida Statutes §§
713.67,
713.68, and
713.69, F.S.A., the plaintiffs herein were "locked out" of their respective apartments and the defendants impressed the personalty within the apartments with "landlord's liens." The plaintiffs brought this civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to regain their personalty and sought to have these statutes declared unconstitutional and their enforcement enjoined. On June 16, 1972, the Three-Judge panel entered an order declaring Florida Statutes §§
713.67,
713.68, and
713.69, F.S.A., constitutionally invalid and enjoining their enforcement....
CopyCited 6 times | Published | District Court, S.D. Florida | 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16651
...The instant case is not a case for a three-judge court because the injunction sought here is against a hotel operator (as more fully described below), not a state officer for purposes of 28 U.S.C. § 2281. *1139 The laws being challenged are the Florida Innkeeper's Lien statutes, Florida Statutes §§
713.67,
713.68, and
713.69, which provide as follows:
713.67 Liens for board, lodging, etc., at hotels, etc....
...e, including garage and storeroom. Upon the non-payment of such sums in accordance with the rules of such hotels, apartment houses, rooming houses or boarding houses, the keeper thereof may instantly eject such transient guests or tenants therefrom. 713.68 Liens for hotels, apartment houses, rooming houses, boarding houses, etc....
...Such lien shall continue and be in full force and effect for the amount payable for such occupancy until the same shall have been fully paid and discharged.
713.69 Unlawful to remove property upon which lien has accrued It is unlawful for any person to remove any property upon which a lien has accrued under the provisions of §
713.68 from any hotel, apartment house, rooming house, lodging house, boarding house or tenement house without first making full payment to the person operating or conducting the same of all sums due and payable for such occupancy or without first...
...d to assist the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs, through their attorney, made additional requests to the Defendant and his agents for the return of Plaintiffs' possessions, but these requests were also denied. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW Florida Statutes §§
713.67,
713.68 and
713.69 are unconstitutional in that they authorize the taking of property without due process of law, in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution....
