Dyck-O'Neal, Inc. v. Heather Lanham
Dyck-O'Neal, Inc. v. Heather Lanham
Opinion
This case is before the Court for review of the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in
Dyck-O'Neal, Inc. v. Lanham
,
BACKGROUND
Heather Lanham's residential property in Gadsden County, Florida, was foreclosed by final judgement. That judgment expressly reserved jurisdiction to rule on any future deficiency claim, although no one sought to adjudicate the claim in that forum. Instead, Dyck-O'Neal, Inc. (O'Neal), which was assigned the mortgage and note, filed a separate action at law seeking a deficiency judgment against Lanham. The trial court granted summary judgment for Lanham on an issue relating to the validity of O'Neal's assignment, and O'Neal appealed. The First District quashed the trial court's decision without reaching the assignment issue based upon its conclusion that the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the suit under section 702.06, Florida Statutes (2014), because the foreclosure court had previously reserved jurisdiction to handle the deficiency claim. In so holding, the First District certified conflict with decisions from all four of the other district courts of appeal, and we accepted discretionary review.
ANALYSIS
The sole issue in this case is governed by section 702.06, Florida Statutes (2014), which every district court of appeal except for the First District has read as permitting a separate action at law for a deficiency judgment unless the foreclosure court has already granted or denied a deficiency claim. Questions of statutory interpretation are reviewed de novo.
See
Borden v. East-European Ins. Co.
,
Section 702.06 reads in relevant part:
In all suits for the foreclosure of mortgages heretofore or hereafter executed the entry of a deficiency decree for any portion of a deficiency, should one exist, shall be within the sound discretion of the court .... The complainant shall also have the right to sue at common law to recover such deficiency, unless the court in the foreclosure action has granted or denied a claim for a deficiency judgment.
§ 702.06, Fla. Stat. (2014) (emphasis added).
"When the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous and conveys a clear and definite meaning, ... the statute must be given its plain and obvious meaning."
Holly v. Auld
,
In reaching a different result below, the First District relied on its prior decision in
Higgins v. Dyck-O'Neal, Inc.
,
CONCLUSION
We quash the decision below in O'Neal , disapprove Higgins , approve Garcia , Hendrick , Gdovin , and McKenna , and hold that section 702.06, Florida Statutes (2014), permits an independent action at law for a deficiency judgment when the foreclosure court has expressly reserved jurisdiction to handle a deficiency claim but has not actually decided the merits of the claim.
It is so ordered.
CANADY, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, POLSTON, and LABARGA, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- DYCK-O'NEAL, INC., Petitioner, v. Heather LANHAM, Respondent.
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published