Stay Money Judgment Pending Appeal
A money judgment is entered against you, but you are going to appeal. Can the collection of the money judgment be stayed pending appellate review? Yes.
Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.310 provides in material portion:
(a) Application. Except as provided by general law and in subdivision (b) of this rule, a party seeking to stay a final or non-final order pending review shall file a motion in the lower tribunal, which shall have continuing jurisdiction, in its discretion, to grant, modify, or deny such relief. A stay pending review may be conditioned on the posting of a good and sufficient bond, other conditions, or both.
(b) Exceptions.
(1) Money Judgments. If the order is a judgment solely for the payment of money, a party may obtain an automatic stay of execution pending review, without the necessity of a motion or order, by posting a good and sufficient bond equal to the principal amount of the judgment plus twice the statutory rate of interest on judgments on the total amount on which the party has an obligation to pay interest. Multiple parties having common liability may file a single bond satisfying the above criteria.
A recent opinion out of the First District Court of Appeals shed some light on these provisions (even though there is conflicting opinions in other appellate jurisdictions). See Silver Beach Towers Property Owners Association, Inc. v. Silver Beach Investments of Destin, LC, 42 Fla. L. Weekly D442c (Fla. 1st DCA 2017).
The Court explained that the money judgment exception above in Rule 9.310(b)(1) “allows a party in an appeal of a money judgment to obtain a stay from the lower tribunal without following the procedure outlined in rule 9.310(a), which requires the filing of a motion to stay with the lower tribunal.” Silver Beach Towers, supra. In other words, if a party wants an automatic stay, the party can follow the procedure in the money judgment exception and the trial court has no authority to modify the bond amount. Indeed, the party does not need to file a motion.
However, if a party does not want to follow this automatic stay procedure, the party can still file a motion with the trial court under 9.310(a) where the trial court can condition the stay on the posting of a bond amount in the court’s discretion. Thus, 9.310(a) gives the party an alternative option to utilize by filing a motion with the trial court and letting the trial court determine the conditions warranting an appellate stay. For parties appealing a monetary judgment, this case gives them authority to argue under to stay the money judgment for a bond amount that is perhaps less than the automatic stay bond amount found in Rule 9.310(b)(1).
Please contact David Adelstein at [email protected] or (954) 361-4720 if you have questions or would like more information regarding this article. You can follow David Adelstein on Twitter @DavidAdelstein1.
