CopyCited 1 times | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal
...Appellant failed to assert its claim, take possession of the property,
or pay taxes within four years of the issuance of the tax deed, and
that they have adversely possessed the subject property. Thus,
Appellees argued, the action was time barred pursuant to section
95.191, Florida Statute (2023).
Appellant responded to the motion for summary judgment
arguing, inter alia, that pursuant to section 95.191, Appellees
must show that the property was adversely possessed at the time
of the recording of the tax deed in 2009, which they did not.
Appellant further argued that contrary to Appellees’ assertion, it
did pay taxes on the property...
...finding that the record evidence demonstrated that Appellant took
no action to secure possession of the property during the four years
after the issuance of the tax deed. The court also found that
Appellees were in adverse possession prior to this action being filed
and thus pursuant to section 95.191, Appellant’s claim was barred.
This appeal followed.
In this appeal we first consider whether Appellant’s lawsuit
was time-barred under section 95.191....
...2
recorded. Appellant further argues that Appellees failed to present
sufficient evidence that for the four years after the recording of the
2009 tax deed, the property was adversely possessed and thus the
statute of limitations in section 95.191 did not apply.
Appellees respond that the plain language of section 95.191
does not require that the property be adversely possessed when the
tax deed is recorded....
...However, because
this argument was not raised in the appeal, it is deemed waived.
See Rosier v. State,
276 So. 3d 403, 406 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019)
(holding issues not raised in the initial brief are considered waived
or abandoned).
Nonetheless, we agree with Appellant that the court erred in
applying section
95.191, which provides in relevant part: “When
the real property is adversely possessed by any person, no action
shall be brought by the tax deed holder unless the action is begun
within 4 years from the date of the deed.” (Emphasis supplied)....
