ARBELAEZ v. ORTIZ (2022)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

Jorge ARBELAEZ, Appellant, v. Martha ORTIZ, et al., Appellees.

No. 3D20-0841

Decided: February 16, 2022

Before SCALES, GORDO and BOKOR, JJ.

Jorge Arbelaez, in proper person. Gianna Hillis (Pembroke Pines), for appellees.

Pro se appellant, Jorge Arbelaez, contests that he was properly served in the action below, which resulted in a default final judgment entered against him. Arbelaez argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash service. However, the record reflects that, after filing the motion to quash service in the trial court, and before obtaining a ruling on such motion, Arbelaez, through then-retained counsel, moved to dismiss on bases other than jurisdiction and sought to assert a verified counterclaim. The motions, filed before Arbelaez received any decision on the motion to quash, contained no reservation of rights or assertion of the pending motion to quash. See Babcock v. Whatmore, 707 So. 2d 702, 704-05 (Fla. 1998) (holding that a defendant waives a timely challenge to personal jurisdiction by seeking affirmative relief); Eskenazi v. Eskenazi, 283 So. 3d 389, 389 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019) (applying same).

Affirmed.

BOKOR, J.

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