Airport Centre, Inc. v. Ugarte
Airport Centre, Inc. v. Ugarte
Opinion of the Court
The record demonstrates that none — let alone, as required, all — of the legal prerequisites for the order now under review granting Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b) relief from a default final judgment duly entered against appellees has been satisfied. See Lazcar Int'l Inc. v. Caraballo, 957 So.2d 1191, 1192 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007) (“For a trial court to grant a motion to set aside a default final judgment, the moving party must show three things: (1) the failure to file a responsive pleading was the result of excusable neglect; (2) the moving party has a meritorious defense; and (3) the moving party acted with due diligence in seeking relief from the default.”), review denied, 969 So.2d 1011 (Fla. 2007); Geer v. Jacobsen, 880 So.2d 717, 721 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (A meritorious defense “must be asserted either by a pleading or in an affidavit, and a general denial is insufficient to demonstrate the existence of a meritorious defense.”); Allstate Floridian Ins. Co. v. Ronco Inventions, LLC, 890 So.2d 300 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (finding that a seven-week delay in seeking relief from default judgment was unreasonable); Herrick v. Se. Bank, 512 So.2d 1029 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (holding that excusable neglect cannot arise from negligence of counsel); see also Fischer v. Barnett Bank of S. Fla., 511 So.2d 1087 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (finding that a five week delay in seeking relief from default judgment was “entirely inexcusable”). The order is reversed and the cause is remanded with directions to rein
Reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.