ALICIA M. JOERGER AND SHANNON M. MAHON v. LAKE ALFRED PLACE LLC

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: April 26, 2024
• Docket: 2023-2223
• Status: Published

Opinion

SIXTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

Case No. 6D23-2223 Lower Tribunal No. 2023CC-000699-000-WH _____________________________

ALICIA M. JOERGER AND SHANNON M. MAHON,

Appellants, v.

LAKE ALFRED PLACE, LLC,

Appellee. _____________________________

Appeal from the County Court for Polk County. Bob Grode, Judge.

April 26, 2024

TRAVER, C.J.

Alicia M. Joerger and Shannon M. Mahon (collectively, “Tenants”) appeal

the county court’s final default judgment of possession in favor of Lake Alfred Place,

LLC (“Landlord”). We have jurisdiction. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.030(b)(1)(A).

Because the trial court never heard Tenants’ timely and statutorily compliant motion

to determine rent, we reverse.

Landlord and Tenants entered into a lease agreement. Four months later,

Landlord sent a three-day notice to Tenants demanding overdue rent or possession of the property. After Tenants failed to pay or vacate, Landlord sued for eviction.

Tenants answered, admitting that they owed some rent but disputing the amount

owed. Along with their answer, Tenants moved to determine rent, attaching

supporting documentation. See § 83.60(2), Fla. Stat. (2022).

Lender then moved for judicial default because Tenants had failed to pay the

overdue rent into the trial court registry. The next day, without conducting a hearing

on Tenants’ motion to determine rent, the trial court entered default judgment.

Tenants moved for reconsideration, arguing that they were entitled to a hearing on

their motion before the trial court defaulted them. The trial court denied Tenants’

rehearing motion in an unelaborated order and subsequently entered final default

judgment in Landlord’s favor.

Section 83.60(2)’s requirements are at issue, and we review de novo matters

of statutory interpretation. See Stanley v. Quest Int’l Inv., Inc., 50 So. 3d 672, 673

(Fla. 4th DCA 2010) (citing E.A.R. v. State, 4 So. 3d 614, 629 (Fla. 2009)).

Tenants defending an action for possession based on nonpayment of rent may

raise any legal or equitable defense. See § 83.60(1)(a). But if tenants raise any

defense other than payment, they must deposit the accrued rent “as alleged in the

complaint or as determined by the court and the rent that accrues during the

pendency of the proceeding, when due.” § 83.60(2). Failure to make this deposit

into the trial court’s registry or to move to determine rent by the statutory deadline

2 constitutes “an absolute waiver of the [tenants’] defenses other than payment.” Id.

The landlord is then “entitled to an immediate default judgment for removal of the

tenant with a writ of possession to issue without further notice or hearing thereon.”

Id.

Tenants filed a timely and compliant motion to determine the rent due. The

trial court had to conduct a hearing and make a rent determination, and its premature

entry of default final judgment was in error. See, e.g., Kaufman v. High Seas, LLC,

49 Fla. L. Weekly D684, D685 (Fla. 4th DCA Mar. 27, 2024); Axan v. Poah Cutler

Manor, LLC, 323 So. 3d 800, 802 (Fla. 3d DCA 2021). We vacate the final default

judgment of eviction and remand for further proceedings.

REVERSED and REMANDED.

BROWNLEE and GANNAM, JJ., concur.

Alicia M. Joerger and Shannon M. Mahon, Lakeland, pro se.

Christopher Wickersham, Jr., of Law Offices of C.W. Wickersham, Jr., P.A., Jacksonville, for Appellee.

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF TIMELY FILED