Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed June 23, 2021.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D21-1205
Lower Tribunal No. 21-818 CC
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Brian A. Dupree,
Petitioner,
vs.
Shekina Dellmar, etc.,
Respondent.
A Case of Original Jurisdiction – Prohibition.
Brian A. Dupree, in proper person.
Henrietta Jo Pace, for respondent.
Before EMAS, C.J., and LOGUE and BOKOR, JJ.
BOKOR, J.
Brian A. Dupree petitions this court for a writ of prohibition. 1 Dupree
claims the county court exceeded its authority in adjudicating issues
pertaining to his equitable interest in real property and in continuing to
exercise jurisdiction by failing to dismiss or transfer the action to circuit court.
Based on the clear language of the relevant statutory authority, and
consistent with binding precedent of this court, we agree.
Section 34.011 of the Florida Statutes establishes county court
“jurisdiction concurrent with the circuit court” over landlord tenant claims
within its jurisdictional limits. § 34.011(1), Fla. Stat. (2020). Further, the
county court enjoys “exclusive jurisdiction of proceedings relating to the right
of possession of real property . . . except that the circuit court also has
jurisdiction if the amount in controversy exceeds the jurisdictional limits of
the county court or the circuit court otherwise has jurisdiction as
provided in s. 26.012.” § 34.011(2), Fla. Stat. (2020) (emphasis added).
The county court correctly notes that “[t]he County Court has
jurisdiction to hear matters involving possession and tenancy of real
1
Prohibition “is very narrow in scope and operation and must be employed
with caution and utilized only in emergency cases to prevent an impending
injury where there is no other appropriate and adequate legal remedy."
Mandico v. Taos Constr., Inc., 605 So. 2d 850, 854 (Fla. 1992). Dupree
appropriately seeks prohibition where, as here, further action in excess of
the trial court’s authority would result in impending injury.
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property.” April 8, 2021 Order Denying Defendant’s Motion Challenging
Subject Matter Jurisdiction and Granting Plaintiff’s Motion to Strike.
However, Dupree’s counterclaim or affirmative defense regarding his interest
in the real property requires a more fulsome jurisdictional analysis. Dupree’s
claim of equitable interest in the property triggers “the circuit court[’s]
jurisdiction as provided in s. 26.012.” § 34.011(2), Fla. Stat. (2020). Section
26.012 provides exclusive original jurisdiction to the circuit court:
(a) In all actions at law not cognizable by the county courts;
[...]
(f) In actions of ejectment; and
(g) In all actions involving the title and boundaries of real
property.
§ 26.012, Fla. Stat. (2020). The county court, therefore, erred in adjudicating
any claim regarding Dupree’s interest in the property and in denying the
motion to dismiss lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See Toledo v. Escamilla,
962 So. 2d 1028, 1030 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007) (“We also find that when Ms.
Toledo asserted in her answer that she was not a tenant and that she had
an equitable interest in the property, ejectment, not eviction, was the proper
remedy, and the matter should have been transferred to the circuit court. The
circuit court has ‘exclusive original jurisdiction’ over ejectment actions.”)
(citing § 26.012(2)(f), Fla. Stat. (2004); Mesnikoff v. FQ Backyard Trading,
LLC, 239 So. 3d 765, 770 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018) (explaining that the county
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court lacked jurisdiction over an eviction action where the purported tenant
claimed to have an equitable interest in the property); Ward v. Estate of
Ward, 1 So. 3d 238, 239 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008) (“In their answer to the
complaint for eviction filed in the county court. . .petitioners asserted a claim
to an equitable interest in the property they inhabited, which should have
been resolved by the circuit court.”); see also Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.170(j) (2020)
(“[i]f the demand of any counterclaim . . . exceeds the jurisdiction of the court
in which the action is pending, the action must be transferred immediately to
the court of the same county having jurisdiction of the demand in the
counterclaim.”). Accordingly, the county court exceeded its jurisdiction in
adjudicating issues related to Dupree’s claims of an equitable interest in real
property and in continuing to exercise jurisdiction where none exists.
We grant the petition but withhold issuance of a writ to permit transfer
of the matter to circuit court.
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