JANIES C. MORGAN AND MARY JANE MORGAN, HIS WIFE, FLORIDA UNLIMITED, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, MILDRED J. LEYDA, A SINGLE WOMAN, DONALD F. LEYDA AND KATHLEEN M. LEYDA, HIS WIFE, AND JOSEPH C. HAMILTON AND HELEN E. HAMILTON, HIS WIFE, APPELLANTS,
v.
CANAVERAL PORT AUTHORITY, A QUASI-PUBLIC CORPORATION EXISTING UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, A. A. DUNN, R. A. CUTTER, JOHN Z. D'ALBORA, JR., RODERICK S. MCIVER AND KELLY L. BRINSON, CONSTITUTING AND COMPOSING THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE CANAVERAL PORT AUTHORITY, APPELLEES

Fla. 4th DCA | 1967-10-11
No. 1012
WALDEN, C. J., and CROSS, J., concur.
202 So. 2d 884 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1967) Positive Treatment
Cited by 6 cases

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Synopsis

Appellants who acquired upland property sought to void a deed of submerged lands conveyed by the state's Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund to the Canaveral Port Authority, claiming the conveyance violated a trust for riparian owners' benefit and was procured through fraud. The court affirmed dismissal, holding that riparian owners had no preferential rights to purchase sovereignty lands and that the conveyees were not obligated to disclose their ownership status of the uplands.


Holding

The court held that riparian owners have no preferential privilege or specific rights to purchase sovereignty lands held in trust; the Port Authority was not obligated to disclose whether they owned the uplands; fraudulent conduct cannot be presumed from failure to negate facts the applicant was not required to show; and the conveyance complied with statutory requirements.


Key Quotes

“A riparian owner then had no preferential privilege or specific rights to the purchase of sovereignty lands held in trust by the trustees.”

Establishes that riparian owners have no special right to purchase sovereignty lands, eliminating a basis for appellants' claim.

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Facts & Procedural History

The Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund conveyed submerged lands in the Banana River to the Canaveral Port Authority by deed dated September 29,…

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Opinion of the Court
McCAIN, Judge.

McCAIN, Judge.

The appellants, plaintiffs below, appeal from a dismissal with prejudice of their third amended complaint which sought to void a deed from the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund of the State of Florida to the appellees, defendants below, conveying certain submerged and sovereignty lands in the Banana River. The trustees were not parties to this cause.

The submerged lands in dispute abut the channel of the Banana River on one side and certain uplands on the other side, which uplands are either owned by or under long term lease to the initial appellants, Morgan. The remaining appellants, owners of said uplands under lease, are intervenors.

The essential allegations of the third amended complaint plead that the appellees made written application to the trustees for sale of the submerged lands on December 13, 1948. This was accompanied by a plat or survey portraying the submerged lands, containing thereon a notation that no residences or improvements existed on the uplands. Notice of sale was duly published by the trustees, and, no objections being made, a deed of conveyance was issued to the ap-pellees dated September 29, 1949, recorded on December 28, 1949. No representation of ownership or non-ownership of the uplands was made by the appellees. The appellants acquired their interests in the uplands at a later date and upon learning of the sale of the submerged lands sought relief, unsuccessfully, through administrative processes with the trustees.

Voidance of the deed is sought under allegations that such conveyance violated a trust requiring such lands to be held and protected for the benefit of riparian owners and the public, that such conveyance was prompted through fraud and misrepresentations perpetrated by the appellees’ failure to disclose they were not the owners of the uplands and that such conveyance constituted an inequitable distribution of the submerged lands.

*886To this, the appellees filed their motion to dismiss which was granted by the lower court after announcement that the appellants elected not to further amend their complaint. We can find no error since the allegations are not sufficient upon which to predicate fraud.

The issues herein raised are dispositive under F.S.A. ch. 253 existing at the time of application for sale of the lands and issuance of the deed in question.

F.S.A. § 253.12 placed title to such submerged lands in the trustees of the internal improvement fund. F.S.A. § 253.13 provided that the trustees could convey such submerged lands upon such price and terms as they saw fit, after giving notice by publication in a newspaper published in the county in which such lands were located in.order that any person having objections would have the opportunity to present the same. If no objections were filed the trustees had full authority to consummate the sale.

F.S.A. § 253.14 provided that nothing contained in chapter 253 should be taken to prevent an owner from bringing suit to enjoin such sale on the ground that he would be deprived of his riparian rights; however, such suit was to be commenced within thirty days after the trustees overruled the objections of such owner to the proposed sale.

The instant record discloses that the lands in question were advertised for sale and no objections were made. The record does not disclose why the appellants’ predecessors in title did not object to the sale, or why it took some fifteen years before the sale was questioned.

The appellees were not obligated to disclose whether they, or others, were the owners of the uplands.

A riparian owner then had no preferential privilege or specific rights to the purchase of sovereignty lands held in trust by the trustees. Anderson v. Collins, Fla.App.1959, 111 So.2d 44; Duval Engineering and Contracting Company v. Sales, Fla. 1954, 77 So.2d 431; Holland v. Fort Pierce Financing & Construction Co., 1946, 157 Fla. 649, 27 So.2d 76.

The investigation made by the trustees in this instance is not fully disclosed in the pleadings; however, in respect to a determination of facts it is presumed that public officials did their duty. This is amplified in the opinion rendered in Pembroke v. Peninsular Terminal Co., 1933, 108 Fla. 46, 146 So. 249, stating:

“The presumption is that the trustees, being public officials of the state, complied with their duty under the law, and that they correctly ascertained the facts warranting their action. This presumption is to all intents and purposes a conclusive one when attempted to be put in issue by a collateral attack in a suit between private parties * *

See also East Coast Grocery Company v. Collins, Fla.1957, 96 So.2d 793; Conoley v. Naetzker, Fla.App.1962, 137 So.2d 6.

The appellants rely upon Romine v. Cramer, Cir.Ct.Monroe Co.1958, 15 Fla.Supp. 195 (aff’d Fla.App.1959, 114 So.2d 629; cert. denied, Fla. 1960, 122 So.2d 778, and 364 U.S. 862, 81 S.Ct. 102, 5 L.Ed.2d 85); however, it is easily distinguishable from the case sub judice. First, the Romine case involved the trustees of the internal improvement fund as party plaintiff seeking voidance of a deed based upon overt misrepresentation by the applicant and reliance thereon by the trustees. Second the misrepresentation arose when the applicant represented that he was the owner of the uplands to the submerged lands involved when in fact he wasn’t. Third, the shoreline of the uplands was concave so that the submerged lands involved cut across the submerged lands in front of other owners.

The application by and the conveyance to the appellees of the submerged lands in question was made in compliance with statutory requirements. No question has been raised that the upland owners were de*887nied the opportunity to protest the sale. It does not appear that any upland owner sought to enjoin the sale by appropriate court action. In this case fraudulent conduct cannot be presumed by failure to negate in an application matters and facts which the applicant was not required to show in the first instance. It cannot be assumed that the appellants relied to their detriment upon any act or omission on the part of the appellees. 14 Fla.Jur., Fraud & Deceit, §§ 64, 65, 66 and 68.

It is to be also observed that F.S.A. § 253.12 was amended in 1951, with subsection (2) added, reading in pertinent part as follows :

“(2) All conveyances of sovereignty lands heretofore made by the trustees of the internal improvement trust fund of Florida * * * are hereby ratified, confirmed, and validated in all respects.”

We are of the opinion under the record in this case that no error has been committed by the lower court.

Affirmed.

WALDEN, C. J., and CROSS, J., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Graham v. Edwards, 472 So. 2d 803 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
    …d title in the Board. The Board currently holds title pursuant to section 253.03, Florida Statutes (1983).1 A riparian owner has no specific title of any kind to sovereign lands held in public trust by the Board. Morgan v. Canaveral Port Authority, 202 So. 2d 884 (Fla. [*807] 4th DCA 1967); Anderson v. Collins, 111 So. 2d 44 (Fla. 2d DCA 1959). Our construction of section 403.-813(2)(b), Florida Statutes (1983), on which Mr. Edwards has relied, is determinative of the likelihood of Mr. Edwards’ success on t…
  • Sawyer v. Modrall, 286 So. 2d 610 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973)
    …ch titles to produce evidence of this character to defeat or sustain a deed made by the trustees under the state’s authority.” (Emphasis supplied.) 108 Fla. at 71, 74, 146 So. at 257, 258. See also: Morgan v. Canaveral Port Authority, Fla.App. 1967, 202 So. 2d 884; Conoley v. Naetzker, Fla.App. 1962, 137 So. 2d 6. Assuming for the purposes of this opinion that collateral attack is available to defendant and in the interest of a complete exposition of all the appeal facets, we next deal with the Marketable Re…
  • Humana, Inc. v. Castillo, 728 So. 2d 261 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999)
    …ida law. If Titan is read to dispense with any requirement of reliance, it is contrary to Florida law. Florida law imposes a reliance requirement in an omissions case, which cannot be satisfied by assumptions. See Morgan v. Canaveral Port Authority, 202 So. 2d 884 (Fla. 4th DCA 1967). Florida law also requires a party asserting fraud to establish that but for the alleged misrepresentation or nondisclosure, the party would not have entered the transaction. See Great American Ins. Co. v. Suarez, 92 Fla. 24, 109…

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