Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Final Judgment Of Garnishment Reversed


UPDATE: The court released a new opinion, HERE, on rehearing.  The new opinion reached the same conclusion and is published at the following cite: GrayRobinson, P.A. v. Fireline Restoration, Inc., 46 So. 3d 170 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010).

In GrayRobinson, P.A., et al v. Fireline Restoration, et al. (4D09-2102 & 4D09-2116), the Fourth District reversed a garnishment judgment against GrayRobinson and the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association and ordered that the writs of garnishment be dissolved.

After obtaining a judgment against Fireline, Works R Us had writs of garnishment issued against FIGA and GrayRobinson. Works R Us argued that money in GrayRobinson’s trust account belonged to FIGA and that it was going to be paid to Fireline. FIGA argued that it did not owe money to Fireline, however, the trial court disagreed and entered a judgment against both FIGA and GrayRobinson requiring that the money in the GrayRobinson trust account be turned over to Works R Us.

After a recitation of the underlying facts, the court noted that “Works R Us has no greater right than Fireline has to recover funds from FIGA or GrayRobinson.” the court stated:
The funds held by GrayRobinson have been paid in accordance with a court order in the Del Mar litigation with specific directions. Fireline and various creditors of Fireline, as well as Del Mar and FIGA itself, were allowed thirty days to file claims against those funds. Any claims filed beyond that time were deemed barred and waived. Any unclaimed funds would be returned to Del Mar. The record on summary judgment in this proceeding does not reveal whether Fireline filed a claim to the deposited funds. If it did not, then according to the judgment, its claim to them would be barred. In that case, owing no debt to Fireline, GrayRobinson would owe no monies to Works R Us.
The court referenced several orders from an unrelated litigation which can be viewed at the links below:
You can read a press release relating to the named appellee Fireline issued by the United States Securities & Exchange Commission HERE and a related complaint filed by the SEC HERE.  News articles can be found at the following links:
*Disclaimer: Jeffrey Kuntz and/or GrayRobinson, P.A. were involved in the above-referenced action.

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