VALIANT AIR COMMAND, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
FRANK K. COLLINS & ASSOCIATES AND FRANK H. COLLINS, INDIVIDUALLY, APPELLEES
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Valiant Air Command appealed a denial of its motion to abate or transfer a breach of contract suit from Volusia County to Brevard County. The court held that venue was proper in Volusia County because the employee performed the contract there and the alleged breach (failure to pay) occurred at the employee's office of performance in that county.
Venue is proper in Volusia County because the cause of action accrued there. The contract performance occurred in Volusia County at the employee's temporary office, and under the presumption that payments are due at the creditor's office of business, Valiant's alleged breach occurred in Volusia County.
[1] Venue for breach of contract claims accrues in the county where the creditor's office is located, absent a contractual provision specifying otherwise.
[2] A debtor must seek the creditor to make payment when a contract does not specify a place of payment.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“the presumption m such cases is that the debtor (Valiant) must seek the creditor (Collins), and the money is due at the creditor's office where it transacts its business.”
Establishes the fundamental rule for determining where payment is due under a contract lacking payment location specification.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceValiant Air Command, a Florida corporation based in Brevard County, hired Frank Collins, a Maryland resident, as a professional fund raiser under a 25…
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SHARP, Judge.
Valiant Air Command, Inc. appeals from a non-final order1 denying its motion to abate or to transfer the litigation of the suit from Volusia County to Brevard County. Valiant is a Florida corporation with its business office in Brevard County, Florida. Collins is a resident of Maryland who was employed by Valiant to work in Dayto-na Beach, in Volusia County, Florida. We affirm.
The record in this case establishes that Valiant entered into a contract with Collins and his sole proprietorship as a professional fund raiser for a term of twenty-five weeks. Collins was given a temporary office in Daytona Beach and was expected to solicit funds throughout Florida from that location. The contract provided Collins would be paid $6,000.00 on January 2, 1985 and additional similar sums at approximately each four week interval thereafter. If Valiant terminated the contract prematurely, it nevertheless guaranteed Collins payment of the full amount of the contract ($37,500.00).
Collins alleged he received the first payment on January 2, 1984, and he began work in Daytona under the contract. However, he was allegedly wrongfully discharged on January 12th and he received no further payments. This suit was filed in Volusia County to recover the other sums due under the contract.
The contract does not specify where the funds earned under the contract are to be paid. However, the presumption m such cases is that the debtor (Valiant) must seek the creditor (Collins), and the money is due at the creditor’s office where it transacts its business. Carter Realty Co. v. Roper Brothers Land Co., 461 So. 2d 1029 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). Failure to pay under the contract constitutes a breach, and establishes venue for purposes of accrual of the cause of action in the county where the creditor’s office is located.2
Here, the temporary nature of Collins’ office in Daytona is not a material distinction because he was performing the contract which is the subject matter of this suit in Volusia County, and his office for performance of the contract was in Volu-sia. Presumably, the payments under this contract were due at Collins’ office in Volu-sia. Therefore Valiant’s alleged breach due to the failure to pay them occurred in Volusia.3
AFFIRMED.
UPCHURCH, C.J., and COBB, J., concur. . Fla.R.App.P. 9.130(a)(3)(A).
. Cf. Carter Realty Co. v. Roper Brothers Land Co., 461 So. 2d 1029 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985); § 47.051, Fla.Stat. (1985).
. We think Okeechobee Co. v. Rambo, 138 So. 716 (Fla.1931) is distinguishable. In that case the court ruled venue improper in the county where a domestic corporation had its temporary office rather than the county where it maintained its principal place of business. Venue in that case turned on the statutory provision allowing suit where a domestic corporation "shall have or usually keep an office for the transaction of its customary business...." In this case, venue turns on "where the cause of action accrued." § 47.051, Fla.Stat. (1985).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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Magic WOK Int'l, Inc. v. LI, 706 So. 2d 372 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)…contract and for tort to recover unliquidated damages and not a suit on a promise to pay a certain sum of money owed. Venue thus improper in county of residence of creditor/owner). Compare Valiant Air Command, Inc. v. Frank K. Collins & Associates, 500 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986) (suit to recover other fixed sums due and owed under contract). In the instant case,' the money claimed under Count I of the complaint, breach of contract, was clearly unliquidated and subject to proof. This means that the gener…
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Sagaz Indus., Inc. v. Martin, 706 So. 2d 374 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)…to Martin in Lake County. Further, the venue for a cause of action for failure to pay money due under a contract is deemed payable at the creditor’s residence, in this case Lake County. See Valiant Air Command, Inc. v. Frank K. Collins & Associates, 500 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Carter Realty Co. v. Roper Bros. Land Co., Inc., 461 So. 2d 1029 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985). AFFIRMED. THOMPSON, J., concurs. DAUKSCH, J., concurs in conclusion only. . A denial of a motion to dismiss relating to venue is a non fin…
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Sundor Brands, Inc. v. Groves Co., Inc., 604 So. 2d 901 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992)…nce, and on default of payment, is where the cause of action accrues. Windsor v. Migliaccio, 399 So. 2d 65 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). See also Schecter v. Fishman, 525 So. 2d 502 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988); Valiant Air Command, Inc. v. Frank K. Collins & Assoc., 500 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); Carter Realty Co. v. Roper Bros. Land Co., Inc., 461 So. 2d 1029 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985); Excel Ins. Co. v. Brown, 406 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981); James A. Knowles, Inc. v. Imperial Lumber Co., 238 So. 2d 487 (Fla. 2d DCA 1970).…
Authorities Cited
- Carter Realty Co. v. Roper Bros. Land Co., Inc., 461 So. 2d 1029 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985)