VULAC v. CVAR INTERNATIONAL LLC (2026)

In his challenge to his landlord's eviction action, the Appellant-Tenant waived his defense of lack of personal jurisdiction due to improper service by filing a permissive counterclaim seeking $50,000 for emotional distress and reputational damage. Celebrity Actors Camp, Inc. v. Bredbenner, 394 So. 3d 782, 786 (Fla. 2d DCA 2024) (holding parties that filed an answer and a counterclaim seeking affirmative relief submitted themselves to jurisdiction of the court regardless of defective service).

He was therefore required to pay into the registry of the court the accrued rent because he was interposing defenses not based on his payment of the rent. See § 83.60(2), Fla. Stat. (“In an action by the landlord for possession of a dwelling unit, if the tenant interposes any defense other than payment, including, but not limited to, the defense of a defective 3-day notice, the tenant shall pay into the registry of the court the accrued rent as alleged in the complaint or as determined by the court and the rent that accrues during the pendency of the proceeding, when due. The clerk shall notify the tenant of such requirement in the summons. Failure of the tenant to pay the rent into the registry of the court or to file a motion to determine the amount of rent to be paid into the registry within 5 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after the date of service of process constitutes an absolute waiver of the tenant's defenses other than payment, and the landlord is entitled to an immediate default judgment for removal of the tenant with a writ of possession to issue without further notice or hearing thereon.”).

Once it was established that Appellant failed to pay the rent into the court registry, the trial court was constrained to enter a default judgment of removal of the tenant with a writ of possession. 1560-1568 Drexel Ave., LLC v. Dalton, 320 So. 3d 965, 969 (Fla. 3d DCA 2021) (“Section 83.60(2) is not discretionary; it compels a tenant defending against an eviction to pay into the court registry either (i) the amount of rent alleged to be due, or (ii) the amount of rent determined by the court, plus all rent that accrues during the case's pendency.”).

Affirmed.

PER CURIAM.