Jared Freedman v. Pedro J. Garcia, Etc.

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: October 2, 2024
• Docket: 3D2022-2015
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed October 2, 2024. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D22-2015 Lower Tribunal No. 2021-24213-CA-01 ________________

Jared Freedman, Appellant,

vs.

Pedro J. Garcia, etc., et al., Appellees.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Pedro P. Echarte, Jr., Judge.

Nancy A. Hass, P.A., and Nancy A. Hass (Fort Lauderdale), for appellant.

Geraldine Bonzon-Keenan, Miami-Dade County Attorney, and Jorge Martinez-Esteve and Daija Page Lifshitz, Assistant County Attorneys, for appellees.

Before EMAS, SCALES and GORDO, JJ.

PER CURIAM. Affirmed. See Wells v. Haldeos, 48 So. 3d 85, 85-86 (Fla. 2d DCA

2010) (“Florida's homestead exemption derives from Article VII, Section 6(a)

of the Florida Constitution, which provides that a homestead exemption

extends to ‘every person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate

and maintains thereon the permanent residence of the owner, or another

legally or naturally dependent upon the owner.’ However, section 6(b)

directs that ‘not more than one exemption shall be allowed any individual

or family unit or with respect to any residential unit.’” (quoting Art. VII, §

6(a)-(b), Fla. Const.)); Garcia v. Andonie, 101 So. 3d 339, 344 (Fla. 2012)

(“[T]he plain language of the Florida Constitution . . . requires that the

property owner maintain on the property either (1) the permanent residence

of the owner; or (2) the permanent residence of another legally or naturally

dependent upon the owner.”); Grisolia v. Pfeffer, 77 So. 3d 732, 734 (Fla. 3d

DCA 2011) (“The Florida Supreme Court has addressed the issue of

homestead exemption and held that ‘although it is not necessary that the

head of the family reside in the state or intend to make the property in

question his permanent residence, he must establish that he intended to

make this property his [dependent’s] permanent residence.’” (quoting

Cooke v. Uransky, 412 So. 2d 340, 341 (Fla. 1982))); Endsley v. Broward

Cnty., 189 So. 3d 938, 940 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016) (“The law is well-settled that

2 a harmonious family unit . . . cannot claim more than one homestead

exemption in the State of Florida.”) (emphasis added); Brklacic v. Parrish,

149 So. 3d 85, 89 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014) (“We affirm the trial court's judgment

that the Property Appraiser satisfied the criteria for a summary judgment

decision in this case. There are no issues of material fact as to whether

Appellant and his wife constituted one ‘family unit’ as that term has been

construed, and, as such, they were limited to one homestead exemption . . .

Because the undisputed facts are sufficient to establish that Appellant and

his wife maintained an intact marriage during the operative years, they are a

single ‘family unit’ entitled to one homestead tax exemption . . . .”) (footnote

omitted).