Another Big Win For A Commercial Landlord On Appeal For Rosenthal Law Group
We are pleased to announce that Rosenthal Law Group has prevailed on appeal before the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal. The Firm handled the appeal on behalf of Design Center of the Americas, LLC. The case arose out of a commercial landlord tenant dispute which resulted in the trial court ordering a tenant being sued for eviction to deposit accruing rent into the Court Registry pursuant to Florida Statute Section 83.232 no later than the first day of each month during the pendency of the lawsuit. When the Tenant failed to deposit the rent on or before April 1, 2017, the Tenant moved for extension of time to make the deposit because April 1, 2017 fell on a weekend. The Tenant argued that the deadline for deposit should fall to the next business day after the weekend.
Rosenthal Law Group opposed the request and filed a Motion for Entry of Judgment of Possession on behalf of the Landlord. The Firm argued that the rules applicable to the calculation of deadlines which provide for the deadline to take action to be extended to the next business day when it falls on a weekend are not applicable to Court Orders imposing a date specific to perform task. Citing to Federal case law interpreting the Federal counterpart to Florida’s rule and similar Florida law, Rosenthal Law Group argued to the Appellate Court that no exceptions exists with respect to the Court Order requiring deposit by a date certain, and that Florida Statute 83.232 required the trial court to evict the tenant when it failed to deposit the rent on or before April 1, 2017, notwithstanding the fact that it fell on a weekend.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed and affirmed the Trial Court’s Final Judgment of Possession and granted the Landlord’s Motion for Appellate Attorneys’ Fees. The case was handled by attorneys Alex Rosenthal and Amanda Jones.
Rosenthal Law Group is available to discuss all matters involving commercial litigation including landlord tenant matters.