Esberger v. First Florida Business Consultants
Cases that cite this one
26 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.
- City Contract Bus Service, Inc. v. Woody (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1987)
- Pinero v. Yam Margate, L.L.C. (United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida 2011)
- Parker v. Century 21 J. Edwards Real Estate (11th Cir. 2006)
- Greystone Tribeca Acquisition v. Ronstrom (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2004)
- Camp Illahee Investors, Inc. v. Blackman (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003)
- HOMEWAY FURN. CO. OF MOUNT AIRY v. Horne (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2002)
- Homeway Furniture Co. of Mount Airy v. Horne (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2002)
- Newberry v. Rife (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1996)
- PELYCADO ONROEREND v. Ruthenberg (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)
- CommerceBank, N.A. v. Taylor (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)
- Sun State Associates, Ltd. v. Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Co. of Chicago (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1986)
- Nettles v. White (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1983)
- Firestone Steel Products Co. of Canada v. Snell (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1982)
- Bloom v. AH Pond Co., Inc. (United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida 1981)
- NATL LEAGUE FOR NURSING v. Bluestone (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1980)
- George Fischer Ltd. v. Plastiline, Inc. (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1980)
- Local Data Co. v. Innovative Electronic Systems, Inc. (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1980)
- Poller v. First Virginia Mortgage & Real Estate Investment Trust (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1979)
- Connell v. Ott Research & Development, Inc. (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1979)
- Sholomicki v. Izenour (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1979)
- Rollins Nursing Home, Inc. v. M & LC/Stillwell Mortgage Co. (Ark. 1979)
- PSR ASSOC. v. Artcraft-Health (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1978)
- HARTMAN AGCY., INC. v. Indiana Farmers Mut. Ins. Co. (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1978)
- Drake v. Scharlau (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1978)
- Bejar v. Garcia (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1978)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion
George W.R. ESBERGER, Appellant,
v.
FIRST FLORIDA BUSINESS CONSULTANTS, INC., a Florida Corporation, Appellee.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.
*562 Larry B. Roberts and L. Scott Rawnsley, Seminole, for appellant.
Seymour A. Gordon, of Gay & Gordon, St. Petersburg, for appellee.
BOARDMAN, Acting Chief Judge.
Appellee/plaintiff filed a complaint based on a contract to sell a business located in Florida. He attempted to serve appellant/defendant, who was residing in California at that time, under Sections 48.161 and 48.181, Florida Statutes. Appellant filed a motion to quash asserting therein insufficiency of process and insufficiency of service of process and to abate for lack of jurisdiction over the person. After a hearing, the trial court denied said motion. Appellant claims that the court erred in that ruling. We agree.
It is well established that Florida's long-arm statute is to be strictly construed. Lyster v. Round, 276 So.2d 186 (Fla. 1st DCA 1973); Wm. E. Strasser Const. Corp. v. Linn, 97 So.2d 458 (Fla. 1957). To perfect service pursuant to Sections 48.161 and 48.181, Florida Statutes, the complaint must allege the jurisdictional requirements prescribed by the statute. Henschel-Steinau Co. v. Harry Schorr, Inc., 302 So.2d 198 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974). The plaintiff is required to allege that the cause of action arises from business activities conducted in the state and that the defendant is either a resident of a foreign state or country, a resident of Florida who subsequently becomes a nonresident, or a resident of Florida who conceals his whereabouts. See O'Connell v. Loach, 203 So.2d 350 (Fla. 2d DCA 1967), Section 48.181, Florida Statutes. The complaint filed by appellee is silent as to the residence of appellant and does not adequately allege that the cause of action arose from business activities conducted within this state.
Accordingly, the order on appeal is
REVERSED.
GRIMES and SCHEB, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.