Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC v. 1.81 Acres of Land in Marion County Florida et al

Filing 40

ORDER granting 35 Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Default. Signed by Magistrate Judge Philip R. Lammens on 8/3/2016. (CAB)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
OCALA DIVISION
SABAL TRAIL TRANSMISSION, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 5:16-cv-209-Oc-30PRL

1.81 ACRES OF LAND IN MARION
COUNTY FLORIDA, GERALD C.
BRISSON, CAPITAL CITY BANK and
UNKNOWN OWNERS
Defendants.

ORDER
Before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for entry of clerk’s default as to Defendant, Capital
City Bank. (Doc. 35). The Court ordered Plaintiff to show cause why the motion for clerk’s
default should not be denied for failure to establish that service was effected on Capital City Bank,
a Florida corporation. (Doc. 37). Plaintiff then filed an amended proof of service, in which it
represents that it served Capital City Bank through its registered agent, Kimbrough Davis. (Doc.
38). Based on this new service, Plaintiff renews its motion for clerk’s default. (Doc. 39).
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 55(a), “[w]hen a party against whom a
judgment for affirmative relief is sought has failed to plead or otherwise defend, and that failure is
shown by affidavit or otherwise, the clerk must enter the party’s default.” Before a clerk’s default
can be entered, however, the serving party must establish that the defaulting party was properly
served. Laing v. Cordi, III, No. 2:11cv-566-FtM- 29SPC, 2012 WL 4828312 at *1 (M.D. Fla.
Oct. 10, 2012); Manheim Automotive Fin., Servs., Inc. v. Information Matrix Tech., Inc., No. 2:12cv-360-FtM-29-SPC, 2012 WL 3947207 at *1 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 10, 2012).

A corporation within a judicial district of the United States may be served by (1) delivering
a copy of the summons and copy of the complaint to an agent authorized by appointment or (2)
“the manner prescribed by Rule 4(e)(1) for serving an individual.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(h)(1)(A–B).
An individual may be served by following the law of the state in which the district court is located
or where service is made. Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(e)(1). Finally, under Florida law, “process may be
served on the agent designated by the corporation” and “[a] person attempting to serve process
pursuant to this paragraph may serve the process on any employee of the registered agent during
the first attempt at service even if the registered agent is temporarily absent from his or her office.”
Fla. Stat. § 48.081(3)(a).
Here, the amended proof of service states that an employee of the registered agent was
served at the registered agent’s office. (Doc. 38). Such service was valid. See, e.g., Kalb v. Sail
Condo. Ass’n, Inc., 112 So. 3d 674, 675 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2013) (finding that service was proper
under Fla. Stat. § 48.081(3)(a) where the “process server served an employee of the [defendant’s]
registered agent at the office of the registered agent”).
Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion (Doc. 35) is GRANTED. The Clerk is DIRECTED to
enter default against Defendant Capital City Bank.
DONE and ORDERED in Ocala, Florida on August 3, 2016.

Copies furnished to:
Counsel of Record
Unrepresented Parties

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