[RPPTL Leasing Committee] Fwd: [RPPTL-realpropertylitigation] Amendments to Florida Rules of Civil Procedure

Thu Jun 6 14:17:38 PDT 2024

Dear Leasing: Please see below  update from Shawn Brown, which impacts
eviction proceedings.

Kristen King Jaiven, Esq.
Kristen King Jaiven, Lawyer, PLLC
Cell: 407-590-9686
www.kkjlawyer.com
Email: Kristen at kkjlawyer.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-n-king-jaiven-esq-/

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Shawn Brown <sbrown at sgbrownlaw.com>
Date: Thu, Jun 6, 2024 at 4:58 PM
Subject: [RPPTL-realpropertylitigation] Amendments to Florida Rules of
Civil Procedure
To: realpropertylitigation at lists.flabarrpptl.org <
realpropertylitigation at lists.flabarrpptl.org>

On behalf of myself and my-co Chair Manny Farach, attached is the decision
from the Florida Supreme Court from earlier today adopting additional
amendments to Florida’s Rules of Civil Procedure.  *These amendments to the
Florida Rules* *take effect on July 1, 2024*, which is 25 days from now.
These amendments were proposed by the Bar’s Civil Procedure Rules
Committee.  Below is a summary of some of the amendments.

Many of the changes are replacing the word “shall” with “must” and other
similar grammatical changes.  However, there are several amendments of
note.  The Court rejected the Committee’s proposed amendment to Rule
1.820(g)(3) on the completion of the arbitration process in the electronic
filing era.  The issue the Court has asked the Committee to revisit is how
to allow for the arbitration order to be served on the parties but not
filed with the court to where the presiding judge could view the order in
violation of s. 44.103(5), Fla. Stat.

For those of you who handle residential evictions, there are three new
forms adopted by the Court.  Two are summons and one is a form answer for
residential evictions.  If you will be filing a residential eviction action
after July 1, 2024, you will need to use these forms.

Rule 1.110 – Paragraph (d) is amended to change the pleading requirements
for affirmative defenses.  Any pleading that sets out an affirmative
defense “must contain a short and plain statement of the ultimate facts
supporting the avoidance or affirmative defense.”

Rule 1.820 – Paragraph (h) is amended clarify that a party must file a
notice of rejection of the arbitration decision and request for trial in
the same document and this must be done with 20 days after service of the
arbitrator’s decision.  No other action or inaction will be deemed a
rejection of the arbitration decision.  Only the filing to the rejection
and request for trial will suffice as a rejection of the arbitrator’s
decision.

Rule 1.923 – This Rule is now form 1.923(a).  The form clarifies what
actions a defendant must take to challenge an eviction.  The Court also
added form 1.923(b) for actions involving back rent and damages.  This form
explains a defendant must serve written defenses to these claims within 20
days after service.

Rule 1.947 – The Rule is amended with the addition of paragraph (b) to add
a new answer form defendants may use to respond to an eviction.  The Court
also relocated the language instructing the defendants that failure to
deposit rent with the clerk may result in the waiver of any defenses.  This
instruction was moved from the beginning of the form to the defenses
section of the form.

The form is substantial an includes a host of defenses a tenant may select,
including failure of the landlord to make repairs, the eviction was filed
as a retaliatory action, the eviction was filed in violation of
Federal/Florida fair housing law, among others.  The form also sets out in
bold that the tenant has a constitutional right to request a trial by jury
(if not waived in the lease agreement).  You may want to review your
client’s lease agreements to make sure right to trial by jury is waived and
that your eviction action does not end up being a jury trial.  Also note
the new form 1.923(a) notifies tenants that form 1.947(b) exists.

Hopefully, this concludes the amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure,
but if the Court issues another opinion amending additional rules, we will
disseminate that opinion on the list serve as we have done with all other
rules amendments.

Have a good evening.

Shawn G. Brown, Esq.,

Florida Bar Certified in Condominium and

Planned Development Law

*SHAWN G. BROWN, P.A.*

*3825 HENDERSON BLVD, 605B*

*TAMPA, FLORIDA 33629*

*P: 813-379-2873 F: 813-379-2874*

*sbrown at sgbrownlaw.com <sbrown at sgbrownlaw.com>*

*THIS IS A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR. THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO
COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE.*

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