Real Property, Title Insurance, & Financial Services Update: Week Ending November 28, 2025

Last week, there were a few per curiam affirmances in Florida that reinforce important principles for those litigating in the real property space, as well as some decisions in the landlord-tenant context. Additionally, a Fourth Circuit opinion touched on the purpose of a title insurance policy in determining whether a lender was on the hook for aiding and abetting a fraudulent scheme when it funded a loan.

• Unless an assignee agrees otherwise, an assignment typically involves only an assignee’s acquisition of rights under a contract, not the assignor’s obligations (Festival Fun Parks LLC v. Oceaneering International Inc.)
• Section 83.60(2), Florida Statutes, requires a tenant to pay rent into the court registry, unless the tenant interposes a payment defense (Johnson v. Qiu).
• Under unique circumstances in a commercial landlord-tenant matter, tenant was not excused of complying with an emergency order requiring the deposit of rent into the court registry based on the court’s failure to first conduct an evidentiary hearing (2010 NW 107 Ave LLC v. Delta Bay Investments LLC).
• Florida’s summary procedure statute controlled and set forth a different procedure for post-verdict and post-judgment motions, and tenant’s post-judgment motion was not authorized and timely under that statute (Fisher v. Housing Authority of Key West).
• In a case involving aiding and abetting a fraudulent scheme to fund three loans against a lender, lender acted reasonably when it relied on an independent title insurance company’s issuance of a policy that omitted reference to a lis pendens that the lender knew about (Al Sabah v. World Business Lenders LLC).

Key Takeaways: In commercial eviction cases in Florida, a tenant’s failure to strictly comply with section 83.232 and pay rent into the court registry when required can yield swift and significant results. The landlord is generally entitled to the issuance of a writ of possession as a matter of right.