SAMUEL W. BALLINGER, APPELLANT,
v.
BAY GULF CREDIT UNION, APPELLEE
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Samuel Ballinger appealed a summary judgment in favor of Bay Gulf Credit Union in a vehicle repossession case. The appellate court reversed, holding that Bay Gulf's verified complaint was insufficiently pleaded because the verification was based on "knowledge and belief" rather than personal knowledge, failing to meet the requirements for an affidavit under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510(e).
The court held that a verified complaint based on "knowledge and belief" is insufficient to support summary judgment because the inclusion of the word "belief" indicates it was not based on personal knowledge and therefore fails to meet Rule 1.510(e) requirements. The court reversed the summary judgment and remanded the case.
[1] A verified complaint may serve as an affidavit in support of or opposition to a motion for summary judgment, provided its allegations meet the requirements for affidavits…
[2] Affidavits supporting or opposing summary judgment must be based on personal knowledge and affirmatively show the affiant's competency to testify to the matters stated.
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“A verification which is improperly based on information and belief is insufficient to entitle the verifying party to relief because the verification is qualified in nature.”
Establishes the legal standard that qualified verifications fail to support relief in summary judgment proceedings.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceBay Gulf Credit Union sought to repossess three luxury vehicles financed by Ballinger. Bay Gulf filed a verified complaint in which employee Shannon L…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Verified Complaint As Affidavit cases and more on FLexlaw
Samuel W. Ballinger appeals a final summary judgment entered in favor of Bay Gulf Credit Union. While we find no error in two of the issues raised by Bal-linger, we must reverse because the verified complaint was insufficiently pleaded and, therefore, final summary judgment was improvidently entered.
This case involves Bay Gulfs actions in seeking to repossess three luxury vehicles which Ballinger financed through Bay Gulf. In Bay Gulfs verified complaint, a Bay Gulf employee, Shannon Lenth, stated that Lenth read everything and that the facts stated were “true to the best of my knowledge and belief.” During the course of the proceedings, Bay Gulf sought summary judgment, and although Balling-er attempted to file an affidavit in opposition to Bay Gulfs motion for summary judgment, the trial court refused to accept the affidavit because it had not yet been filed with the trial court at the time of the summary judgment hearing. The court then rejected Ballinger’s argument that the verified complaint — standing alone— was insufficient as a matter of law to support a final summary judgment. In doing so, the court noted that the complaint “says it is verified.”
We acknowledge that “[a] verified complaint may serve the same purpose as an affidavit supporting or opposing a motion for summary judgment.” Boettcher v. IMC Mortg. Co., 871 So.2d 1047, 1049 n. 2 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). “However, in order to be so considered, the allegations of the verified complaint must meet the requirements of the rule governing supporting and opposing affidavits.” Id. (citing Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.510(e)). Rule 1.510(e), in turn, provides that affidavits must be based on personal knowledge and shall “show affirmatively that the affi-ant is competent to testify to the matters stated therein.” A verification which is improperly based on information and belief is insufficient to entitle the verifying party to relief because the verification is qualified in nature. See Muss v. Lennar Fla. Partners I, L.P., 673 So.2d 84, 85 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); Barton v. Circuit Court of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, 659 So.2d 1262, 1263 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Thompson v. Citizens Nat’l Bank of Leesburg, Fla., 433 So.2d 32, 33 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983).
In this case, the verification reflects it was not based on Lenth’s personal knowledge. Bay Gulf asks this court to construe the verification as if it were based on Lenth’s personal knowledge because the verification does not say it was based *530on Lenth’s “information and belief’ but, rather, states it was based on Lenth’s “knowledge and belief.” However, we decline to impose such a construction because the fact that the verification included the word “belief’ indicates it was not based on Lenth’s personal knowledge. And, in fact, it is apparent from the record that Lenth could not state she had personal knowledge of the loan documents in question. The qualified verification here fails to meet the requirements of rule 1.510(e) and, therefore, should not have been considered by the trial court on a motion for summary judgment. See Thompson, 433 So.2d at 33.
Reversed and remanded.
WALLACE and KHOUZAM, JJ., Concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Lane A. Houk v. Pennymac Corp., 210 So. 3d 726 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017)…testify to the matters stated therein.” A verification which is improperly based on information and belief is insufficient to entitle the verifying party to relief because the verification is qualified in nature. Ballinger v. Bay Gulf Credit Union, 51 So. 3d 528, 529 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (citations omitted). In this case, the verification of the complaint in accordance with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.110(b) stated: “Under penalty of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing, and the facts alleg…
-
Cristobal Colon v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA, 162 So. 3d 195 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015)…rified complaint may serve the same purpose as an affidavit for purposes of a summary judgment, the complaint’s allegations must meet the requirements of the rule governing, supporting and opposing affidavits. See Ballinger v. Bay Gulf Credit Union, 51 So. 3d 528, 529 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010). Florida R. Civ. P. 1.510(e) requires that affidavits must be based upon personal knowledge and shall “show affirmatively that the affiant is competent to testify to the matters stated therein.” A complaint based on “informat…
-
Estes v. Rodin, 259 So. 3d 183 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Thompson v. Citizens Nat'l Bank OF Leesburg, 433 So. 2d 32 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983)
- Boettcher v. IMC Mortg. Co., 871 So. 2d 1047 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004)
- Barton v. Cir. Court OF the Nineteenth Jud. Cir., 659 So. 2d 1262 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995)
- Minielli v. State, 673 So. 2d 84 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996)