Levine v. Wahrburg
Levine v. Wahrburg
Opinion of the Court
Gary Levine executed a $50,000 promissory note to Barnett Bank of South Florida, N.A. Thereafter, the note came in default. The bank credited certain funds in a joint account of the Levines as a partial payment of the note, and certain wire transfers were also credited. Barnett commenced a suit to collect the balance due after a default judgment was entered. A final judgment in the principal sum of $50,769.17 was entered. No appeal of this judgment was taken. During the progress of the case the Le-vines attempted to file an answer and counterclaim,, alleging bank misconduct in connection with the loan and the seizure of funds. This proposed counterclaim was denied and no appeal was taken. Thereafter the Levines instituted an independent action seeking the same relief as alleged in the denied counterclaim. This was met by an answer setting up the defense of res judicata, among others. The trial court denied a motion for summary judgment on the res judicata ground, after a default was entered against the Levines for failure to respond to a counterclaim. Final judgment in all respects was entered in favor of the bank and Wahrburg, its officer. The Le-vines appeal a denial of their motion to set aside the default for failure to respond to the counterclaim under clerk’s file number 87-1345. They appeal under clerk’s file number 87-1057 the final summary judgment as ultimately entered, and the bank cross appeals in this appeal the failure of the trial judge to enter a summary judgment on the res judicata issue.
We affirm in all respects. No appeal was taken from the original final judgment on the note and the bank clearly had the right to offset the accounts and wire trans
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.