In Stuart-Findlay v. Bank of America, N.A., 2010CA014370, 41 Fla. L. Weekly D207a (Fla. 4th DCA 2014), Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal held that a clerk's default entered in error should have been set aside, regardless of the defendant's alleged failure to demonstrate excusable neglect, meritorious defenses, or due diligence. The facts of the case were not in dispute. At the time the clerk's default was entered, the defendant had served various papers in the action. As a result, pursuant to Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.500 the Court, and not the Clerk, was the proper party to enter a ...
The UCC was supposed to make enforcing negotiable instruments a simpler, more streamlined process. It has proven anything but in Florida. Continuing a trend that now stretches back years, mortgage lenders have had an increasingly tough time proving standing to the satisfaction of Florida's District Courts of Appeal in the last few months. Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal has long been the most vocal on the standing issue. See e.g. McLean v. JP Morgan Chase Bank Nat. Ass'n, 79 So. 3d 170 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). The last few months have been no different. One opinion of particular ...