2010 NW 107 Ave LLC v. Delta Bay Investments LLC

Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed November 26, 2025.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D25-1923
Lower Tribunal No. 25-13457-CA-01
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2010 NW 107 Ave LLC ,
Appellant,
vs.
Delta Bay Investments LLC,
Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Vivianne del
Rio, Judge.
Recalde Law Firm, P.A., and Darcy Currey, and Rafael Recalde, for
appellant.
Barakat + Bossa PLLC, and Angelique Gulla, and Nicholas J. Diego,
for appellee.
Before FERNANDEZ, and MILLER, and GOODEN, JJ.
MILLER, J.

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In this commercial eviction case, appellant, 2010 NW 107 Avenue,
LLC, the tenant, seeks review of a final default judgment in favor of appellee,
Delta Bay Investments, LLC, the landlord. 	On appeal, the tenant contends
it was excused from complying with an emergency order requiring the
deposit of rent into the registry of the court because the trial court failed to
first conduct an evidentiary hearing. 	Under the unique circumstances
presented here, we impute no error and therefore affirm.
I
On July 7, 2025, the landlord served the tenant with a five-day notice
to pay or vacate, stating that $20,230.00 of rent was due and owing. On July
16, 2025, the landlord filed a motion to deposit $20,850.00 in rental payments
received from the tenant following the expiration of the five-day notice into
the registry of the court. The tenant filed an answer, contending the five-day
notice improperly comingled past-due and future rents, and a motion to
determine rent with an evidentiary hearing. 	In the motion, the tenant
contended it was entitled to a $30,000.00 offset for necessary repairs, which
was 	purportedly 	acknowledged 	by 	the 	landlord 	in 	a 	string 	of 	written
communications and authorized by the terms of the lease. The tenant further
argued that the five-day notice was therefore defective, and so it was not in
default.

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The trial court did not set an evidentiary hearing. 	Instead, after a
hearing on the motion to dismiss in mid-September 2025, the court deducted
$30,000.00 from the amount the landlord claimed was due and owing and
ordered the tenant to immediately pay $2,617.50 into the court registry and
deposit future rental payments as due under the lease.
The tenant deposited $2,617.50 in the court registry but did not deposit
the October 2025 rent on the first of the month. 	The landlord moved for
default. 	The tenant argued that the first was a court holiday and it was
excused from compliance because the court failed to first conduct an
evidentiary 	hearing 	on 	the 	rent-determination 	motion. 	But 	the 	tenant
nonetheless deposited a partial payment on October 3, 2025.
II
Aligning ourselves with our sister courts, we have observed that
motions for rent determination are ordinarily disposed of by way of an
evidentiary hearing. 	See e.g., Alfonso v. Maiuri, 405 So. 3d 527, 530 (Fla.
3d DCA 2025); Rowe v. Macaw Holdings I, LLC, 248 So. 3d 1178, 1179 (Fla.
4th DCA 2018) (reversing “a default final judgment of eviction for the failure
of the trial court to hold the evidentiary hearing required by statute where
there is a dispute regarding the amount of rent to be posted in the court
registry in a commercial eviction action”); Hallandale Plaza, LLC v. New

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Tropical Car Wash, LLC, 335 So. 3d 712, 721 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022) (“[T]he
trial court shall make appropriate preliminary findings as to the amount of
rent that the Tenant should pay into the court registry while the eviction action
is pending.”); Ramirez v. Lopez, 357 So. 3d 1281 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023)
(reversing “because the trial court should have set Tenant's motion to
determine rent for an evidentiary hearing to resolve the disputed issue of
how much rent Tenant should have deposited into the court registry”). This
general rule comports with the provisions of section 83.232(2), Florida
Statutes 	(2025), 	which 	authorizes 	the 	trial 	court 	to 	conduct 	a 	limited
evidentiary hearing. 	See § 83.232(2), Fla. Stat. (2025) (“If the tenant
contests the amount of money to be placed into the court registry, any
hearing regarding such dispute shall be limited to only the factual or legal
issues concerning: (a) Whether the tenant has been properly credited by the
landlord with any and all rental payments made; and (b) What properly
constitutes rent under the provisions of the lease.”). And here, the trial court
failed to conduct a rent-determination hearing.
But this case presents a unique factual scenario. The trial court gave
the tenant the benefit of the doubt, operating as though the $30,000.00 rent
credit claimed by the tenant was bona fide. 	The court then deducted the
credit from the accrued rent obligation and ordered the tenant to deposit the

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$2,617.50 remaining balance and all future rent as due and owing under the
lease into the court registry. The tenant did not seek appellate review of the
order.
The tenant tendered the initial deposit but failed to timely remit the
October rent. 	Although the due date fell on a court holiday, the tenant did
not remit payment the next day. Instead, the tenant waited until the third of
the month and then only deposited a partial payment.
Under these circumstances, section 83.232(5) controls. 	The statute
provides that “[f]ailure of the tenant to pay the rent into the court registry
pursuant to court order shall be deemed an absolute waiver of the tenant’s
defenses. 	In such case, the landlord is entitled to an immediate default for
possession without further notice or hearing thereon.” § 83.232(5), Fla. Stat.
(2025); see also § 83.232(1), Fla. Stat. (2025) (“Even though the defense of
payment or satisfaction has been asserted, the court, in its discretion, may
order the tenant to pay into the court registry the rent that accrues during the
pendency of the action, the time of accrual being as set forth in the lease.”).
Because the tenant did not timely comply with the underlying order, the trial
court was divested of any discretion to deny the default. See Poal Wk Taft,
LLC v. Johnson Medical Ctr. Corp., 45 So. 3d 37, 39 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010)
(“Where the tenant has not paid the rent into the registry of the court in

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accordance with court order and the statute, the landlord is entitled to a writ
of possession without further hearing. The trial court exercises no discretion,
and the landlord is entitled to the issuance of the writ of possession as a
matter of right.”). We therefore are constrained to affirm.
Affirmed.