Patrick v. Hess

• Decision Date: 16 February 2017
• Docket Number: No. SC15–1147,SC15–1147
• Citation: 212 So.3d 1039
• Parties: John PATRICK, Petitioner, v. Richard HESS, et al., Respondents.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

212 So.3d 1039

John PATRICK, Petitioner,

v.Richard HESS, et al., Respondents.

No. SC15–1147

Supreme Court of Florida.

February 16, 2017

Robert L. Donald of Law Office of Robert L. Donald, Fort Myers, Florida, for Petitioner

Elisa Stehl Worthington of Elisa S. Worthington, P.A., Pineland, Florida, for Respondents

PER CURIAM.

John Patrick seeks review of the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal in Hess v. Patrick , 164 So.3d 19 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015), on the ground that it expressly and directly conflicts with Haigh v. Planning Board , 940 So.2d 1230 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006), and New York State Commissioner of Taxation & Finance v. Friona , 902 So.2d 864 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const. For the reasons provided below, we hold that the twenty-year statute of limitations found in section 95.11(1), Florida Statutes (2012), is applicable to the enforcement of a foreign judgment after it is recorded under the Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (FEFJA). We therefore approve the decision of the Second District in Hess and disapprove the conflict cases to the extent they are inconsistent with this opinion.

FACTS

In December 2003, Richard Hess, Meredith Hess, and Lucre, Inc., (collectively the Hesses) obtained an amended judgment against John T. Patrick (hereinafter Patrick ) from a federal district court in Arizona in the amount of $1,600,000. Hess , 164 So.3d at 19. On April 26, 2006, the Hesses registered the Arizona judgment in Florida under FEFJA. Id. at 20. Because the Hesses failed to renew the judgment prior to the expiration of Arizona's five-year statute of limitations, the judgment became unenforceable in Arizona in 2008. Id. On September 12, 2012, the Hesses obtained a writ of execution in Florida, and Patrick filed a motion to quash the writ. Id. The trial court determined that the Arizona judgment was not enforceable in either Arizona or Florida because Arizona's five-year statute of limitations continued to control after domestication of the Arizona judgment in Florida under the Act. Id. Accordingly, the trial court granted Patrick's motion and quashed the writ with prejudice. Id. The Hesses appealed the trial court's order.

On appeal, the Second District held that "by domesticating the Arizona judgment under FEFJA, Florida's twenty-year statute of limitations [contained in section 95.11(1) ] applie[d] and beg[an] to run from the date of the Arizona judgment ." Id. at 22. In reaching this conclusion, the Second District reasoned that "a domesticated foreign judgment is to be treated like a Florida judgment" under section 55.503(1), Florida Statutes (2012). Id. The Second District further found that a domesticated judgment is not subject to the five-year statute of limitations in section 95.11(2)(a) because "recording a foreign judgment and seeking to enforce it under FEFJA is not an action on a foreign judgment" and "as worded, section 55.502(4) applies to Florida's five-year statute of limitations applicable to actions to enforce a foreign judgment referenced in subsection (2) of the same section, not the varied statutes of limitation in states around the country." Id. at 20, 22. The district court reversed the trial court order and remanded the case so that the Hesses could proceed with the writ of execution against Patrick. Id. at 22.

DISCUSSION

The question under review involves a determination of the applicable statute of limitations for the enforcement of a foreign judgment after it is recorded under FEFJA.¹ This Court reviews the interpretation of a statute de novo. See Polite v. State , 973 So.2d 1107, 1111 (Fla. 2007). The goal of this statutory interpretation "is to determine legislative intent." Crews v. State , 183 So.3d 329, 332 (Fla. 2015). To do so, we first consult the plain meaning of the text of the statute. W. Fla. Reg'l Med. Ctr., Inc. v. See , 79 So.3d 1, 9 (Fla. 2012). "When the statute is clear and unambiguous," we look no further than the statute's plain language to determine the Legislature's intent and to avoid rules of statutory construction. Daniels v. Fla. Dep't of Health , 898 So.2d 61, 64 (Fla. 2005).

Where the statutory "language is unclear or ambiguous," we apply rules of statutory construction to determine legislative intent. Polite , 973 So.2d at 1111. One such rule is "[t]he doctrine of in pari materia ... [which] requires that statutes relating to the same subject or object be construed together to harmonize the statutes and to give effect to the Legislature's intent." Larimore v. State , 2 So.3d 101, 106 (Fla. 2008) (quoting Fla. Dep't of State v. Martin , 916 So.2d 763, 768 (Fla. 2005) ). In following this rule, we endeavor to give each clause of the statute effect and to accord harmony among all the statute's parts. Jones v. ETS of New Orleans, Inc. , 793 So.2d 912, 914–15 (Fla. 2001) (quoting Acosta v. Richter , 671 So.2d 149, 153–54 (Fla. 1996) ).

Florida enacted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, or Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act (FEFJA), in 1984. In re Goodwin , 325 B.R. 328, 330 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2005) ; see §§ 55.501–.509, Fla. Stat. (2012). The Act creates an alternative simplified procedure for domesticating foreign judgments. N.Y. State Comm'r of Taxation & Fin. v. Hayward , 902 So.2d 309, 310 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005). FEFJA gives Florida courts a procedure by which "out-of-state foreign judgments will be given full faith and credit." Hess , 164 So.3d at 20 ; see § 55.502(1) Fla. Stat. ("As used in ss. 55.501 –55.509, the term ‘foreign judgment’ means any judgment, decree, or order of a court of any other state or of the United States if such judgment, decree, or order is entitled to full faith and credit in this state.").

FEFJA was intended to provide an efficient method of enforcing foreign judgments without undue cost and difficulty associated with filing a new, separate action to domesticate a foreign judgement. Pratt v. Equity Bank, N.A. , 124 So.3d 313, 315–16 (Fla. 5th DCA 2013) (quoting Archbold Health Services, Inc. v. Future Tech Bus. Sys., Inc. , 659 So.2d 1204, 1206 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995) ). Before Florida's adoption of FEFJA in 1984, creditors seeking creation of a valid lien had to file an action to domesticate the judgment and record the judgment in Florida. Michael v. Valley Trucking Co. , 832 So.2d 213, 215 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). A foreign judgment domesticated under FEFJA has the same effect as a Florida judgment and is subject to the same legal and equitable defenses and rules of procedure. Desert Palace, Inc. v. Wiley , 145 So.3d 946, 947 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014).

FEFJA provides the following:

55.501 Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act; short title. —Sections 55.501 –55.509 may be cited as the "Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act."

55.502 Construction of act. —

(1) As used in ss. 55.501 –55.509, the term "foreign judgment" means any judgment, decree, or order of a court of any other state or of the United States if such judgment, decree, or order is entitled to full faith and credit in this state.

(2) This act shall not be construed to impair the right of a judgment creditor to bring an action to enforce his or her judgment instead of proceeding under this act.

(3) This act shall be interpreted and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this act among states enacting it.

(4) Nothing contained in this act shall be construed to alter, modify, or extend the limitation period applicable for the enforcement of foreign judgments .

55.503 Recording and status of foreign judgments; fees. —

(1) A copy of any foreign judgment certified in accordance with the laws of the United States or of this state may be recorded in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of any county. The clerk shall file, record, and index the foreign judgment in the same manner as a judgment of a circuit or county court of this state. A judgment so recorded shall have the same effect and shall be subject to the same rules of civil procedure, legal and equitable defenses, and proceedings for reopening, vacating, or staying judgments, and it may be enforced, released, or satisfied, as a judgment of a circuit or county court of this state .

§§ 55.501 –55.503(1), Fla. Stat. (emphasis added). Section 55.502(4) is a nonuniform provision added by the Florida Legislature, and no other state's version of the Act contains this provision. This Court has only discussed FEFJA in one case, where we briefly acknowledged both section 55.503(1) and section 55.502(4). See Nadd v. Le Credit Lyonnais, S.A. , 804 So.2d 1226, 1229 n.7 (Fla. 2001).

Patrick argues that the limitations period applicable to the enforcement of a foreign judgment recorded under FEFJA is the limitations period applicable in the state where the judgment was originally rendered under section 55.502(4). We cannot agree. With respect to the statute of limitations question here, FEFJA does not contain its own statute of limitations. We conclude, as did the Second District, that "as worded, section 55.502(4) applies to Florida's five-year statute of limitations applicable to actions to enforce a foreign judgment referenced in subsection (2) of the same section, not the varied statutes of limitation in states around the country." Hess , 164 So.3d at 22. Accordingly, we turn to Florida's general statutory provisions to determine a limitations period.

Section 95.11, Florida Statutes (2012), provides the following statute of limitations:

Actions other than for recovery of real property shall be commenced as follows:

(1) WITHIN TWENTY YEARS.—An action on a judgment or decree of a court of record in this state.

(2) WITHIN FIVE YEARS.—

(a) 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.

Enforcement of judgments within the state must be conducted within "the time...