June 1, 2016

A homeowner in the UK who owns a property in Florida has prevailed on an appeal of the trial court’s order which vacated a final judgment of foreclosure which had been entered against the homeowner. The homeowner is represented by Jeff Barnes, Esq. of W. J. Barnes, P.A., who obtained the Order from the trial court vacating the judgment and who successfully defended the appeal.

The plaintiff claimed that it had obtained service of the foreclosure Complaint as to the Florida property by “serving” a tenant of a separate property in the UK owned by the homeowner. Mr. Barnes filed a Motion to Vacate the judgment, supported by affidavits of the homeowner and the tenant, as to the alleged “service”, which service was only of certain post-judgment papers (and not the foreclosure Complaint or summons).

The lower court proceedings and the appeal involved questions of both fact and law related to the Hague Convention rules as to service of process upon foreign nationals. The lower court agreed with Mr. Barnes’ position that the alleged service did not comply with the principles and rules established by Article 15 of the Hague Convention, and thus did not satisfy constitutional due process. The court of appeals agreed, affirming the Order vacating the Final Judgment per curiam (unanimously).

Jeff Barnes, Esq., www.ForeclosureDefenseNationwide.com