Monthly Archives: April 2022

DON’T ASSUME THE FINAL JUDGMENT IS ENFORCEABLE

A final judgment has been entered.  A timely and authorized motion for rehearing was filed by the opposing party pursuant to Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.530 or Fla. Fam. L. R. P. 12.530 and it is currently pending.   The opposing party is not complying with the final judgment and your client wants you to move to enforce the final judgment.

Don’t assume the final judgment is enforceable. When a motion for rehearing, which is timely and authorized, is pending, it has been recognized by Florida Courts that the enforcement of the final judgment is suspended until the motion is disposed of. See Francois v. Library Square Ass’n, 250 So. 3d 728 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018); 944 CWELT-2007 LLC v. Bank of Am., N.A., 194 So. 3d 470 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2016); Rohret v. Zucco, 2022 Fla. App. Lexis 843 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2022); Diaz v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 239 So. 3d 151 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2018). Moreover, it has been considered error for a trial court to enforce a final judgment during this period. See 944 CWELT-2007 LLC v. Bank of Am., N.A., 194 So. 3d 470 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2016).

Additionally, at least one court has attempted to try to get around this restriction by entering an order denying a motion for rehearing “nunc pro tunc” to a date preceding the enforcement of the judgment.  The Second District Court of Appeals did not agree with this tactic and rather held that it does not rectify the defect.  See Rohret v. Zucco, 2022 Fla. App. Lexis 843 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2022).  Thus, it is probably best to wait until the motion for rehearing is disposed of before you move to enforce the final judgment.