HOMERO MERUELO AND BELINDA MERUELO, APPELLANTS,
v.
THE HONORABLE STEVEN D. ROBINSON, VITO CAGGIANO AND TOM GIBBONS, APPELLEES
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Administrative Order 79-9 creating county court districts is a venue designation, not jurisdictional, so a landlord's petition for writ of prohibition to stop a landlord-tenant action filed in the wrong county court cannot succeed; the tenants as prevailing parties are entitled to attorney's fees under Fla. Stat. § 83.48.
An administrative order designating county court districts is a venue provision subject to waiver, not a jurisdictional requirement, and therefore a petition for writ of prohibition cannot be used to discontinue a landlord-tenant action filed in the wrong county court.
[1] An administrative order designating separate county court districts within geographical boundaries is a venue provision subject to waiver, not a jurisdictional requiremen…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Jurisdiction, the inherent power of the county court to decide a landlord and tenant case, is fixed by statute. Section 34.011, Fla.Stat. (1981). The administrative order in question merely assigns the place where a county court may determine the case, and, so, is a designation of venue, which can be waived, as by a failure to make a timely objection.”
Court distinguishing between jurisdictional requirements and venue designations in the context of county court administrative orders.
A landlord commenced a landlord-tenant action to enforce a rental agreement containing an attorney's fees provision in what it claimed was the wrong c…
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PER CURIAM.
Dade County Circuit Court Administrative Order 79-9 which creates seven county court districts within separate geographical boundaries is not jurisdictional in nature, and a Petition for Writ of Prohibition by the landlord will not lie to discontinue the trial of a landlord-tenant action which was commenced by the landlord in the wrong county court. Jurisdiction, the inherent power of the county court to decide a landlord and tenant case, is fixed by statute. Section 34.011, Fla.Stat. (1981). The administrative order in question merely assigns the place where a county court may determine the case, and, so, is a designation of venue, which can be waived, as by a failure to make a timely objection. Tucker v. State, 417 So. 2d 1006 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982).
The prohibition proceeding arose out of an action to enforce the rental agreement, which agreement contains a provision allowing attorney’s fees to the landlord. Because the tenants/appellees are the prevailing parties, they are entitled to a reasonable attorney’s fee, Section 83.48, Florida Statutes (1981), the amount of which is to be determined by the Appellate Division of the Circuit Court — the court having original jurisdiction over the Petition for Writ of Prohibition.
Affirmed and remanded for further consistent proceedings.