Saulnier v. Bank of America, N.A.

187 So. 3d 854, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 4274, 2015 WL 1334317
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 25, 2015
DocketNo. 4D13-4815
StatusPublished

This text of 187 So. 3d 854 (Saulnier v. Bank of America, N.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Saulnier v. Bank of America, N.A., 187 So. 3d 854, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 4274, 2015 WL 1334317 (Fla. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

GERBER, J.

The homeowners appeal from the' circuit court’s order directing the clerk of court to disburse the surplus from a foreclosure sale to the subordinate lienholder. The homeowners argue that because the subordinate lienholder untimely filed its claim to the surplus, the court erred in ordering disbursement to the subordinate lienholder. We agree with the. homeowners and reverse for entry of an order directing the clerk to disburse th¿ surplus to the homeowners.

The primary lienholder filed a complaint to foreclose its mortgage on the home. The court entered a default against both [855]*855the homeowners and the subordinate lien-holder.

The court later entered a final judgment of foreclosure in the primary lienholder’s favor. The final judgment set a foreclosure "sale and contained the following statement in conspicuous type as required by section 45.031(l)(a), Florida Statutes (2012):

IF YOU ARE A SUBORDINATE LIENHOLDER CLAIMING A RIGHT TO FUNDS REMAINING AFTER THE SALE, YOU MUST FILE A CLAIM WITH THE CLERK NO LATER THAN 60 DAYS AFTER THE SALE, IF YOU FAIL TO FILE A CLAIM, YOU WILL NOT BE ENTITLED TO ANY REMAINING FUNDS.

§ 45.031(l)(a), Fla. Stat. (2012) (emphasis added). The final judgment facially indicated that a copy was furnished to the subordinate lienholder at the address upon which it was served with process.

After the sale was rescheduled, the clerk published a re-notice of sale containing the following statement in conspicuous type as required by section 45.032(2)(f), Florida Statutes (2012):

ANY PERSON CLAIMING AN INTEREST IN THE SURPLUS FROM THE SALE, IF ANY, OTHER THAN THE PROPERTY OWNER AS OF THE DATE OF THE LIS PENDENS MUST FILE A CLAIM WITHIN 60 DAYS AFTER THE SALE.

§ 45.031(2)(f), Fla. Stat. (2012) (emphasis added).

At the foreclosure sale, a third party purchased the property for an amount which exceeded the final judgment amount. The clerk thereafter posted on its docket a certificate of disbursements stating it had retained the surplus. The certificate of disbursements also contained the following statement as required by section 45.031(7)(b), Florida- Statutes (2012):

If you are a person claiming a right to funds remaining after the sale, you must file a claim with the clerk no later than 60 days after the sale. If you fail to file a claim, you will not'be entitled to any remaining funds. After 60’ days, only the owner of record as of the date of the Lis Pendens may claim the surplus.

§ 45.031(7)(b), Fla. Stat. (2012) (emphasis added).

More than sixty days after the foreclosure sale, the homeowners filed a claim to the surplus. In the claim, the homeowners > alleged in pertinent part: “All lienholders with valid and timely claims for the surplus have been paid. The [homeowners] have priority in the distribution of the surplus pursuant to § 45.032(2), Fla. Stat.” (emphasis added). Section 45.032(2), Florida Statutes (2012), states:

There is established a rebuttable legal presumption that the owner of record on - the date of the filing of a lis pendens is the person entitled to surplus after payment- of subordinate lienholders who have timely filed a claim.

§ 45.032(2), Fla. Stat. (2012) (emphasis added).

Shortly thereafter, the subordinate lien-holder filed its claim to the surplus. In its claim, the subordinate lienholder, in an apparent acknowledgment of section 45.031’s sixty-day filing period, stated: “[N]eithér the Final Judgment nor Certificate of Disbursements ... were provided to [the subordinate lienholder]; therefore, [the subordinate lienholder] never had notice of Fla. Stat. § 45.031 or an opportunity to timely file a claim.” The subordinate lienholder also argued that the homeowners “should not be permitted an inequitable windfall simply because [the subordinate lienholder] missed the 60-day deadline by a few weeks.”

[856]*856In response, the homeowners argued that the subordinate lienholder failed to file a timely claim - under sections 45.031(l)(a) and 45.032(2)(f) as quoted above, and that no extension of time is permitted. The homeowners also argued that the subordinate lienholder’s claim of lack of notice was irrelevant because the recorded final judgment and re-notice of sale provided constructive notice to the subordinate lienholder of its rights and obligation to file a timely claim. The homeowners lastly argued that the subordinate lienholder’s appeal to equity lacked merit because “equity follows the law and cannot be used to eliminate its established rules.” Davis v. Starling, 799 So.2d 373, 378 (Pla. 4th DCA 2001).

After a hearing, the court entered a written order directing the clerk to disburse the remaining surplus to the subordinate lienholder, finding “good cause for [the subordinate lienholder’s] claim filed after the sixty (60) day period.”1

This appeal followed. The homeowners argue that because the subordinate lien-holder untimely filed its claim to the surplus, the court erred in ordering disbursement to the subordinate lienholder. Our review is de novo. See Mathews v. Branch Banking & Trust Co., 139 So.3d 498, 500 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014) (“The interpretation of a statute is a question of law, and it is therefore subject to a de novo review.”) (citation omitted).

We agree with the homeowners’ argument. Section 45.031(l)(a)’s plain language quoted above requires that a subordinate lienholder claiming a right to surplus to file a claim no later than (or within) 60 days after the sale, and warns that if the subordinate lienholder fails to file.a timely claim, then the subordinate lienholder will not be entitled to any surplus. Further, section 45.032(2)’s plain language quoted above establishes a re-buttable legal presumption that the owner is entitled to surplus after payment of subordinate lienholders who have timely filed a claim.

Here, it is undisputed that the subordinate lienholder did not timely file its claim. Thus, according to section 45.031(l)(a)’s and section 45.032(2)’s plain language, the homeowners, and not the subordinate lienholder, are entitled to the surplus. See Dever v. Wells Fargo Bank Nat’l Ass’n, 147 So.3d 1045, 1047-48 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014) (trial court erred in disbursing surplus to subordinate lienholder which failed to file a claim for the surplus within sixty days after the sale); Mathews, 139 So.3d at 500-01 (same).

In its answer brief, the subordinate lien-holder seeks affirmance of the circuit court’s order based on three arguments: (1) sections 45.031 and 45.032 cannot be interpreted as imposing a sixty-day bar for subordinate lienholders’ claims to the surplus, pursuant to DeMario v. Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co., 648 So.2d 210 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); (2) the subordinate lienholder’s untimely claim should be excused because it did not receive a copy of the final judgment or certificate of disbursements; and (3) the homeowners’ claim did not acknowledge that the subordinate lienholder may have a claim to the surplus, and if the homeowners’ claim had acknowledged such a claim, then the court would have held an evidentiary hearing on the entitlement to the surplus. See § 45.032(3)(b), Fla. Stat.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Davis v. Starling
799 So. 2d 373 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2001)
DeMario v. Franklin Mortg. & Inv. Co.
648 So. 2d 210 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1994)
Bakalarz v. Luskin
560 So. 2d 283 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1990)
Dever v. Wells Fargo Bank National Association
147 So. 3d 1045 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2014)
Mathews v. Branch Banking & Trust Co.
139 So. 3d 498 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
187 So. 3d 854, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 4274, 2015 WL 1334317, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/saulnier-v-bank-of-america-na-fladistctapp-2015.