IVA WUMMER, APPELLANT,
v.
JOHN G. LOWARY, AN INFANT, BY WILLIAM HENRY LOWARY, NEXT FRIEND AND GUARDIAN, APPELLEE
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Beneficial ownership of a vehicle, not mere title, carries liability for damages arising from its negligent operation.
Wummer refinanced a car for an employee, deducting payments from their paycheck, and the employee retained control and possession of the vehicle. Lowa…
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PER CURIAM.
Appeal was taken from the trial court’s order granting Lowary’s and denying Wummer’s summary judgment motion. We reverse.
Wummer refinanced one of her employee’s repossessed Camaro. She deducted the monthly payments from the employee’s paycheck and the employee maintained control over the car. Lowary was injured while a passenger in the Camaro. Suit was filed against Wummer as the owner of the vehicle.
Beneficial ownership carries with it liability for damages which arise from an automobile’s negligent operation. Harrell v. Sellars, 424 So. 2d 881 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); Hicks v. Land, 117 So. 2d 11 (Fla. 1st DCA 1960); and, Cox Motor Co. v. Faber, 113 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 1st DCA 1959). Wum-mer’s employee had sole possession of the auto. Wummer saw it for the first time after the accident occurred. She was not the beneficial owner of the Camaro. Accordingly, we reverse the order granting Lowary’s and denying Wummer⅛ motion for summary judgment.
GLICKSTEIN, HURLEY and WALDEN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Christensen v. Bowen, 140 So. 3d 498 (Fla. 2014)…ts that the district courts have interpreted the beneficial ownership exception to be applicable where exclusive use and possession reside in a person other than the titleholder, we find these cases to be fully distinguishable. See Wummer v. Lowary, 441 So. 2d 1151, 1151-52 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983) (applying beneficial ownership exception where employer refinanced the vehicle for employee and held title as refinancer); see also Carrasquero v. Ethan’s Auto Express, Inc., 949 So. 2d 223, 224 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006) (apply…
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Johnson v. AETNA Life & Cas. Co., 472 So. 2d 859 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)…Fla.Stat. (1981). Second, it is clear that Joyce was the beneficial owner of the vehicle with complete authority to control its use. This beneficial ownership exposed her to liability for the negligent operation of the automobile. Wummer v. Lowary, 441 So. 2d 1151 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983), review denied, 451 So. 2d 849 (Fla.1984); Harrell v. Sellars, 424 So. 2d 881 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). Consequently, it was Joyce, and not Gerald, who had an insurable interest in the risk arising from use of the Toyota.…
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Bowen v. Taylor-Christensen, 98 So. 3d 136 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012)…al ownership of the vehicle. In Plattenburg, as in this case, the failure to execute the title transfer would be a relevant fact on the issue of beneficial ownership, but not dispositive as a matter of law. Similarly, in Wummer v. Lowary by Lowary, 441 So. 2d 1151 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983), the facts established that Wummer refinanced the repossessed Camaro of one of her employees. She then deducted the monthly payments from the employee’s paycheck, and the employee maintained control over the car. Lowary was injur…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Hicks v. Land, 117 So. 2d 11 (Fla. 1st DCA 1960)
- Pearce v. Pearce, 113 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 2d DCA 1959)
- COX Motor Co. v. Faber, 113 So. 2d 771 (Fla. 1st DCA 1959)
- Harrell v. Sellars, 424 So. 2d 881 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)