Michael v. Valley Trucking Co., Inc., 4D01-5065.

• Court: Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
• Writing for the Court: HAZOURI, J.
• Citation: 832 So.2d 213
• Parties: George A. MICHAEL, Appellant, v. VALLEY TRUCKING CO., INC., Appellee.
• Docket Number: No. 4D01-5065.,4D01-5065.
• Decision Date: 04 December 2002

832 So.2d 213

George A. MICHAEL, Appellant,
v.
VALLEY TRUCKING CO., INC., Appellee

No. 4D01-5065.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

December 4, 2002.

832 So.2d 214

Lynne S.K. Ventry of Lynne S.K. Ventry, P.A., Boca Raton, for appellant

Deirdre E. Brett of Cameron, Davis & Gonzalez, P.A., West Palm Beach, for appellee.

HAZOURI, J.

On October 15, 1991, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas entered an Agreed Judgment¹ in favor of Valley Trucking Co., Inc. (Valley Trucking), and against George A. Michael (Michael). In December 1991, Valley Trucking filed a certified copy of the judgment with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. In June 1992, Valley Trucking recorded a certified copy of the judgment in the public records of Palm Beach County, Florida.

In November 2000, Valley Trucking domesticated its judgment by recording a certified copy of that judgment in the public records of Palm Beach County pursuant to the Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act. §§ 55.501-509, Fla. Stat. (2000). In February 2001, Valley Trucking obtained a writ of execution from the clerk of the circuit court, and docketed that writ with the Palm Beach County Sheriff. Valley Trucking then gave notice of levy to the Palm Beach County Sheriff, directing the sheriff to levy on and sell the real property owned by Michael located at 915-917 Lake Avenue, Lake Worth, Florida (the Lake Avenue Property).

On March 15, 2001, Michael filed a motion to dismiss. The trial court denied this motion and permitted Valley Trucking to proceed with the levy on the Lake Avenue Property.

Michael also filed an affidavit of homestead pursuant to section 222.02, Florida Statutes, (2001), claiming that the Lake Avenue Property was exempt from levy

832 So.2d 215

and sale. Valley Trucking filed an objection to Michael's claim of homestead. After an evidentiary hearing, the trial court entered its order denying Michael's claim of homestead

Michael appeals the order denying his motion to dismiss and the order denying his claim of homestead. We affirm.

Michael contends that the Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (the FEFJA) does not apply to Valley Trucking's judgment (a federal judgment from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas) because it was first recorded in Palm Beach County in 1992, prior to when the FEFJA was amended to apply to federal judgments. Since the FEFJA did not apply in 1992, when Valley Trucking first recorded the judgment in Palm Beach County, Michael asserts that Valley Trucking was required to file an action to domesticate the judgment in Florida in order to create a valid lien and execute on the judgment in Florida. Michael argues that Valley Trucking is now barred from doing so by the statute of limitations in section 95.11(2)(a), Florida Statutes (2000), which provides that "an action on a judgment or decree of any court, not of record, of this state or any court of the United States, any other state or territory in the United States, or a foreign country" must be brought within five years. Therefore, Michael contends that since Valley Trucking did not bring an action to domesticate its judgment by October 15, 1996 (five years from the date of judgment), any alleged lien is void. We disagree.

Prior to 1984, when Florida adopted the FEFJA, creditors with foreign judgments had to file an action to domesticate the judgment in Florida and then record the judgment as a Florida judgment in order to create a valid lien. Nat'l Equip. Rental, Ltd. v. Coolidge Bank & Trust Co., 348 So.2d 1236, 1238 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977). Once the FEFJA was adopted, it provided a simplified alternative procedure for domesticating a foreign judgment. A creditor with a foreign judgment only had to record a copy of the judgment with a circuit court in Florida and the judgment would be treated as if it was a Florida judgment. § 55.503, Fla. Stat. (2000). A Florida judgment automatically becomes a lien on real property in a particular county when a certified copy of the judgment is recorded in the public records of that county. Under section 55.10, Florida Statutes, any judgment recorded shall be a lien for a period of seven years from the date of recording. The lien can then be extended by re-recording for up to twenty years from the date of the judgment.

Until 1994, the FEFJA only applied to judgments obtained from other states. In 1994, it was amended to also apply to judgments of the United States District Courts. §...