Case Title: Charles H. Deeb, Inc. v. Kestner

Citation: 59 So. 2d 514

Docket Number: 

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1952-06-13T00:00:00Z

Document:
59 So. 2d 514 (1952)
CHARLES H. DEEB, Inc.
v.
KESTNER et al.

Supreme Court of Florida, en Banc.
June 13, 1952.
*515 Ausley, Collins & Truett, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Caldwell, Parker, Foster & Wigginton, John T. Wigginton and Moore & Henderson, Tallahassee, for appellees.
MATHEWS, Justice.
Appellant (plaintiff below) filed his complaint for a declaratory decree in the Circuit Court of Leon County under statutory warranties of a deed which he received from the appellees in 1947. The complaint alleges that the deed covered two adjoining lots in a subdivision according to a plat recorded in the public records of Leon County, Florida, in Plat Book 1, Page 27. This plat was on record long prior to the time he received the deed. The recorded plat showed each of the two lots as being 50 feet in width and 200 feet in depth. A long time prior to the time appellant received his deed, a roadway had been open and paved adjoining the South boundary of the said lots. The road is known as Magnolia Drive. When the road was opened and paved it encroached upon the more Southerly portion of the lots by about 15 feet and appellant alleged that the amount of land called for in his deed was not available to him and he could not take possession of that part of the lot covered by the roadway and ditches. The complaint also shows that there were certain restrictive covenants imposed upon the lots under a deed filed for record on February 11, 1929. Among the restrictive covenants in the deed which was recorded was the following:
The appellees (defendants below) filed answers and motion to dismiss. At a pre-trial conference, regularly had, and on arguments on the motion to dismiss, it developed that Magnolia Drive, with its ditch bank encroachments, was open and constructed in 1934 and was paved in 1946, and had been used by the public continuously since being opened as a public way and the ditch maintained as an appurtenance to it. The encroachment was without color of title but was open and notorious. After the pre-trial conference, the able Circuit Judge entered a final decree which contained a clear discussion and opinion of the questions of law involved. Among other things, the final decree contained the following:
The quoted part of the final decree and opinion of the Circuit Judge was without error.
The appellant raised two additional questions which were not specifically covered or mentioned by the final decree. They are: (1) "Can encroachments lay a predicate for alteration of restrictive covenants?", and (2) "Does a conveyance of two subdivision lots in one deed tie such lots together as a unit so that only one dwelling can be constructed on the unit, where the deed imposes the covenants on `said land' rather than `each of said lots'?".
It would be error for the lower court to adjudicate these matters when no proper parties were before the Court.
None of the parties to the suit except the appellant here alleged to be owners of any of the lots of the subdivision in question. No decree binding these parties or affecting their rights could properly have been entered unless they were parties to *517 the suit. See Lovett v. Lovett, 93 Fla. 611, 112 So. 768; Heisler v. Florida Mortgage Title & Bonding Co., 105 Fla. 657, 142 So. 242; Gray v. Standard Dredging Co., 111 Fla. 149, 149 So. 733; Allen v. Avondale Co., 135 Fla. 6, 185 So. 137.
Affirmed.
SEBRING, C.J., and TERRELL and CHAPMAN, JJ., concur.
THOMAS and HOBSON, JJ., dissent.
ROBERTS, J., not participating.