# Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida
Opinion filed April 21, 2021

. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________ No. 3D20

- 0978 Lower Tribunal No. 17

- 29188

________________ 

### Fabrizio Pucci & Franca Felli , Appellant s ,
vs. 

### May - Wong Chou, Esq., et al. , Appellee s

.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami

- Dade County, Peter R. Lopez , Judge. Krinzman Huss Lubetsky Feldman & Hotte, and Lauren Kain Whaley, and Mason A. Pertnoy , for appellant s

. Jose Guzman, in proper person

.
Before LOGUE, LINDSEY, and GORDO , JJ. LINDSEY, J

.2 Appellants Fabrizio Pucci and Franca Felli, Plaintiffs below, appeal from an order denying their “Motion for Assignment of Chose of Action,”
which we treat as a motion for proceedings supplementary. Appellants were awarded a final judgment in the amount of $396,603.64 against pro se Appellee Jose G uzman, Defendant below. Guzman was a non

- lawyer employed by a law firm insured by AIX Specialty Insurance Company. In their motion, Appellants claim Guzman has a potential breach of contract action against AIX for failure to provide coverage or a defense to Guzman in the underlying action. Appellants contend they are entitled to an assignment of Guzman’s chose in action 1 against AIX. Appellants’ motion was not supported by an affidavit , and Appellants failed to list AIX as a third party to be impleaded . The trial court ultimately denied Appellants’ motion, a nd this appeal followed. Section 56.29, Florida Statutes (2020), governs proceedings supplementary. Section 56.29(1) sets forth statutory prerequisites for the commencement of proceedings suppleme ntary. “ What is required for a

1 “A ‘chose in action’ is a ‘personal right not reduced into possession, but recoverable by a suit at law . . . . A right to receive or recover a debt, demand, or damages on a cause of action ex contractu or for a tort or omission of a duty. ’” MYD Marine D istrib., Inc. v. Int ’ l Paint Ltd. , 201 So. 3d 843, 845 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016) (omission in original) ( quoting Puzzo v. Ray , 386 So. 2d 49, 5 0 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980) )

.3 judgment creditor to initiate proceedings supplementary to execution is to file a motion and an affidavit averring specific information about the judgment or judgment lien and the existence of an unsatisfied execution. § 56 .29(1), Fla. Stat. The same applies when third parties are impleaded, Regent Bank v. Woodcox , 636 So. 2d [885, 886 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)] , in which case, the affidavit should also list the parties to be impleaded. ” Biel Reo, LLC v. Barefoot Cottages Dev. C o., LLC , 156 So. 3d 506, 509 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (citing Mejia v. Ruiz , 985 So. 2d 1109, 1112 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (setting forth the jurisdictional prerequisites for proceedings supplementary under a prior version of the statute )). After the judgment creditor files the motion and affidavit , “the court shall issue a Notice to Appear” as set forth in section 56.29(2). Because Appellants did not comply with the statutory prerequisites for initiating proceedings s upplementary, we affirm the trial court’s denial of their motion without prejudice to Appellants seeking relief in accordance with the
statute. We express n o opinion on the merits of Appellants’ claim that they are entitled to an assignment of Guzman’s chose in action. Affirmed without prejudice.