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....
...fs' 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....
...anything of value is to be paid to the person conducting or operating such [establishment]. 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....
...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....
...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, including plaintiffs' claims for damages, is hereby referred to Chief Judge, Charles B....
...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....
