Salazar Mora v. Venegas

• Court: District Court, S.D. Florida
• Decided: January 8, 2025
• Docket: 1:23-cv-21994
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA Case No. 23-CV-21994-GAYLES/TORRES JUANA TIMOTEA SALAZAR MORA,

Plaintiff, v. MONICA A. VENEGAS

Defendant. ___________________________________________/ ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL FACT INFORMATION SHEET

This cause comes before the Court on Plaintiff, Juana Timotea Salazar Mora’s (“Ms. Mora”) Motion to Compel Defendant, Monica A. Venegas (“Ms. Venegas”), to complete a post-judgment Fact Information Sheet. [D.E. 44]. Ms. Venegas has not filed a response to the Motion, and the time to do so has passed. The Motion, therefore, is ripe for disposition.1 After careful review of the Motion and relevant authorities, and for the reasons set forth below, Ms. Mora’s Motion is GRANTED.

1 On January 6, 2025, the Honorable Darrin P. Gayles referred all post-judgment matters to the Undersigned Magistrate Judge for disposition. [D.E. 63]. I. BACKGROUND Ms. Mora brought this action on May 30, 2023, for several employment related violations. On October 4, 2024, the Court entered a Final Default Judgment in Ms.

Mora’s favor in the amount of $291,000.00. [D.E. 42]. Subsequently, on December 23, 2024, Ms. Mora filed the pending Motion, which seeks to compel Ms. Venegas to complete a form 1.977 Fact Information Sheet pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.560. II. ANALYSIS As a judgment creditor, Plaintiff is entitled to “broad discovery” into

Defendants’ assets, whether held individually or jointly. Rule 69(a) provides, in part, the following: [i]n aid of the judgment or execution, the judgment creditor or a successor in interest when that interest appears of record, may obtain discovery from any person, including the judgment debtor, in the manner provided in these rules or in the manner provided by the practice of the state in which the district court is held. Fed. R. Civ. P. 69(a). Under Rule 69, a court also looks both to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. See Fed. R. Civ. P. (69)(a)(2) (a judgment creditor “may obtain discovery from any person . . . as provided in these rules or by the procedure of the state where the court is located”). Therefore, both the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.560, which allows for discovery from “any person, including the judgment debtor, in the manner provided in these rules,” apply here. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.560(b) states that “the court, at the request of the judgment creditor, shall order the judgment debtor … to complete form 1.977, including all required attachments, within 45 days of the order or such other reasonable time as determined by the court.” Several courts in this District have required judgment debtors to complete a fact information sheet as set forth in Fla. R.

Civ. P. Form 1.977 upon the judgment creditor’s request. See Eddy Leal, P.A. v. Bimini Dev. of Vill. W. Corp., 2018 WL 3672244, at *1 (S.D. Fla. May 7, 2018); TracFone Wireless, Inc. v. Holden Prop. Servs., LLC, 103 F. Supp. 3d 1357, 1359 (S.D. Fla. 2015); Whitwam v. JetCard Plus, Inc., 2014 WL 6433226, at *2 (S.D. Fla. Nov. 13, 2014). The Court, therefore, orders Ms. Venegas to complete and return a form 1.977

Fact Information Sheet, including all required attachments, within forty-five days of the entry of this Order. The Court further orders, at the request of Ms. Mora, that Ms. Venegas complete the form 1.977 under oath. III. CONCLUSION For the reasons set forth above, Ms. Mora’s Motion [D.E. 44] is GRANTED. Judgment debtor, Ms. Venegas, must complete under oath and return a form 1.977 Fact Information Sheet, including all required attachments, within forty-five days of

the entry of this Order. DONE and ORDERED in Chambers at Miami, Florida this 8th day of January, 2025. /s/ Edwin G. Torres EDWIN G. TORRES United States Magistrate Judge