REAL ESTATE: MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE; CIVIL PROCEDURE: SUMMARY JUDGMENT: SUMMARY FINAL JUDGMENT OF MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE REVERSED BECAUSE PLAINTIFF FAILED TO PRODUCE COMPETENT EVIDENCE OF COMPLIANCE WITH NOTICE REQUIREMENTS IN MORTGAGE

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Cross v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., ___ So. 3d ___, 39 Fla. L. Weekly D2281 (Fla. 5th DCA October 31, 2014)

The appellate court reversed final summary judgment of mortgage foreclosure because “[the plaintiff] failed to produce competent evidence of its compliance with the notice requirements set forth [in a particular paragraph] of the mortgage.”… Click To Read Full Case Law Review...

CONTRACTS: ACTION FOR BREACH OF PROMISSORY NOTE; CIVIL PROCEDURE: SUMMARY JUDGMENT: SUMMARY JUDGMENT FOR PLAINTIFF REVERSED BECAUSE OF ABSENCE OF ANY EVIDENCE THAT PLAINTIFF WAS THE HOLDER OF THE NOTE ON THE DATE COMPLAINT WAS FILED: EVEN IF DEFENDANT WAIVED DEFENSE OF LACK OF STANDING ON THE DATE THE COMPLAINT WAS FILED, PLAINTIFF HAD THE BURDEN TO PROVE IT WAS ENTITLED TO ENFORCE THE NOTE ON THE DATE OF THE SUMMARY JUDGMENT HEARING: ABSENCE OF ANY EVIDENCE HOW PLAINTIFF ACQUIRED NOTE PRECLUDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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Lovett v. National Collegiate Student Loan Trust 2004-1, ___ So. 3d ___, 39 Fla. L. Weekly D2281 (Fla. 5th DCA October 31, 2014)

The plaintiff sued the defendant and his father, as guarantor, for breach of a promissory note to pay an educational loan.  The trial court entered summary judgment for the plaintiff, but the appellate court reversed because … Click To Read Full Case Law Review...

CRIMINAL LAW: EVIDENCE: HEARSAY: PAST RECOLLECTION RECORDED: DEPOSITION TESTIMONY: ALTHOUGH TRIAL COURT APPLIED THE WRONG STANDARD FOR DETERMINING WHETHER VICTIM’S DEPOSITION QUALIFIED AS PAST RECOLLECTION RECORDED, THE EVIDENCE AT TRIAL SATISFIED THE CORRECT STANDARD: VICTIM’S TRIAL TESTIMONY THAT HE NO LONGER REMEMBERED EVENTS OF SHOOTING BUT THAT HE DID REMEMBER WHEN HE GAVE HIS DEPOSITION AND THAT HE TESTIFIED TRUTHFULLY ESTABLISHED FOUNDATION FOR PAST RECOLLECTION RECORDED

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Blount v. State, ___ So. 3d ___, 39 Fla. L. Weekly D2283 (Fla. 1st DCA October 31, 2014)

The trial court in a criminal case admitted the victim’s deposition testimony as past recollection recorded.  Although the trial court applied the discredited totality of the circumstances test, the appellate court affirmed because the evidence at trial established that the hearsay … Click To Read Full Case Law Review...

TORTS: VIOLATION OF FLORIDA CONTRABAND FORFEITURE ACT: FRAUD: COMPLAINT STATED CAUSE OF ACTION FOR FRAUD BY ALLEGING THAT DEPUTY SHERIFF INSTRUCTED PLAINTIFF AND HIS MOTHER TO EXECUTE QUITCLAIM DEED TO THEIR HOME BECAUSE IT WAS BEING SEIZED AND WAS SUBJECT TO FORFEITURE, ALTHOUGH NO FORFEITURE PROCEEDINGS WERE EVER INSTITUTED; CIVIL PROCEDURE: STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS: STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR FRAUD BEGINS TO RUN WHEN THE PLAINTIFF KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF THE FACTS GIVING RISE TO THE FRAUD: PLAINTIFFS HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING AT THE TIME THAT THE DEPUTY’S REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE IMMINENT SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF THEIR HOME WERE UNTRUE: RELATION BACK: ADDITION OF MOTHER AS PLAINTIFF RELATED BACK TO FILING OF ORIGINAL COMPLAINT BECAUSE SHE AND HER SON HAD OVERLAPPING INTERESTS IN THE PROPERTY QUITCLAIMED TO THE SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT: DOCTRINE OF RELATION BACK SHOULD BE LIBERALLY CONSTRUED AND APPLIED

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Smith v. Bruster, ___ So. 3d ___, 39 Fla. L. Weekly D2244 (Fla. 1st DCA October 29, 2014)

The plaintiff sued a deputy sheriff for violation of the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act based upon the deputy’s instructions to the plaintiff and his mother to execute quitclaim deeds on their home because it was being seized by the sheriff’s department … Click To Read Full Case Law Review...

FAMILY LAW APPEALS: ORDER DENYING WIFE’S MOTION FOR PSYCHOSEXUAL EVALUATION OF HUSBAND IN TIMESHARING DISPUTE WAS NOT REVIEWABLE BY APPEAL BECAUSE ORDER DID NOT DETERMINE TIMESHARING RIGHTS: ORDER WAS NOT REVIEWABLE BY CERTIORARI BECAUSE IT DID NOT RESULT IN IRREPARABLE HARM AS IT MERELY DENIED A DISCOVERY REQUEST, AND ANY RESULTING HARM COULD BE REMEDIED ON APPEAL

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Goslin v. Preisser, ___ So. 3d ___, 39 Fla. L. Weekly D2252 (Fla. 1st DCA October 29, 2014)

The parents were involved in a timesharing dispute.  When the trial court denied the mother’s motion to compel the husband to undergo independent psychosexual evaluation, the appellate court dismissed the mother’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction “because the order did not … Click To Read Full Case Law Review...