Title: , SC14-1266 Lewis Brooke Bartram v. U.S. Bank National Association, etc., et al. and the Plantation at Ponte Vedra v. U.S. Bank National Association, etc., et al. and Gideon M.G. Gratsiani v. U.S. Bank National Association, etc., et al. – Corrected Opinion
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: SC14-1265, SC14-1266, SC14-1305
State: Florida
Issuer: Florida Supreme Court
Date: March 16, 2017

Supreme Court of Florida 
____________ 
 
No. SC14-1265 
____________ 
 
 
 
LEWIS BROOKE BARTRAM,  
Petitioner, 
 
vs. 
 
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, etc., et al., 
Respondents. 
____________ 
 
No. SC14-1266 
____________ 
 
THE PLANTATION AT PONTE VEDRA,  
Petitioner, 
 
vs. 
 
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, etc., et al., 
Respondents.  
____________ 
 
No. SC14-1305 
____________ 
 
GIDEON M.G. GRATSIANI,  
Petitioner, 
 
vs. 
 
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, etc., et al., 
Respondents. 
[November 3, 2016] 
CORRECTED OPINION 
 
 
- 2 - 
 
PARIENTE, J. 
 
The issue before the Court involves the application of the five-year statute of 
limitations to “[a]n action to foreclose a mortgage” pursuant to section 95.11(2)(c), 
Florida Statutes (2012).1  The Fifth District Court of Appeal relied on this Court’s 
reasoning in Singleton v. Greymar Associates, 882 So. 2d 1004 (Fla. 2004), 
rejecting that the statute of limitations had expired.  Because of the importance of 
this issue to both lenders and borrowers, the Fifth District certified to this Court a 
question of great public importance, which we have rephrased to acknowledge that 
the note in this case is a standard residential mortgage, which included a 
contractual right to reinstate:  
DOES ACCELERATION OF PAYMENTS DUE UNDER A 
RESIDENTIAL NOTE AND MORTGAGE WITH A 
REINSTATEMENT PROVISION IN A FORECLOSURE ACTION 
THAT WAS DISMISSED PURSUANT TO RULE 1.420(B), 
FLORIDA RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, TRIGGER 
APPLICATION OF THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS TO 
PREVENT A SUBSEQUENT FORECLOSURE ACTION BY THE 
MORTGAGEE BASED ON PAYMENT DEFAULTS OCCURRING 
SUBSEQUENT TO DISMISSAL OF THE FIRST FORECLOSURE 
SUIT?  
                                          
 
 
1.  In addition to the briefs of the parties, we have also reviewed briefs 
submitted on behalf of the parties by the following amici curiae: the U.S. Financial 
Network, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the American Legal and Financial 
Network on behalf of Respondent and Bradford and Cheri Langworthy and the 
Titcktin Law Group, P.A., Baywinds Community Association, Upside Property 
Investment, LLC, the Florida Alliance for Consumer Protection, the Community 
Associations Institute, and the National Association of Consumer Advocates on 
behalf of Bartram.    
 
 
- 3 - 
 
We have jurisdiction.  See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const.     
In this case, it is uncontroverted that the borrower, Lewis Brooke Bartram, 
also referred to as the mortgagor, stopped making payments on his $650,000 
mortgage and note, both before and after the foreclosure action was brought and 
subsequently dismissed.  For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we answer the 
rephrased certified question in the negative and hold, consistent with our reasoning 
in Singleton, that the mortgagee, also referred to as the lender, was not precluded 
by the statute of limitations from filing a subsequent foreclosure action based on 
payment defaults occurring subsequent to the dismissal of the first foreclosure 
action, as long as the alleged subsequent default occurred within five years of the 
subsequent foreclosure action.  When a mortgage foreclosure action is 
involuntarily dismissed pursuant to Rule 1.420(b), either with or without prejudice, 
the effect of the involuntary dismissal is revocation of the acceleration, which then 
reinstates the mortgagor’s right to continue to make payments on the note and the 
right of the mortgagee, to seek acceleration and foreclosure based on the 
mortgagor’s subsequent defaults.  Accordingly, the statute of limitations does not 
continue to run on the amount due under the note and mortgage. 2     
                                          
 
 
2.  Our holding is consistent with the views of the excellent amici briefs 
submitted by the Real Property Probate & Law Section of The Florida Bar, The 
Business Law Section of The Florida Bar, and the Federal National Mortgage 
Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation at the request of 
the Third District in Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas v. Beauvais, 188 So. 3d 
 
 
- 4 - 
Absent a contrary provision in the residential note and mortgage, dismissal 
of the foreclosure action against the mortgagor has the effect of returning the 
parties to their pre-foreclosure complaint status, where the mortgage remains an 
installment loan and the mortgagor has the right to continue to make installment 
payments without being obligated to pay the entire amount due under the note and 
mortgage.  Accordingly, we approve the Fifth District’s opinion in U.S. Bank 
National Association v. Bartram, 140 So. 3d 1007 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014), and 
answer the rephrased certified question in the negative.  
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 
On November 14, 2002, Petitioners Lewis Bartram (“Bartram”) and his 
then-wife Patricia Bartram3 (“Patricia”), purchased real property in St. Johns 
County, Florida (the “Property”).  Less than a year later, Patricia filed for 
dissolution of the couple’s marriage, which was officially dissolved on November 
5, 2004.  Pursuant to a prenuptial agreement the Bartrams had previously executed, 
the divorce court ordered Bartram to purchase Patricia’s interest in the Property.   
                                          
 
938 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016).  These amici briefs addressed the same issue presented 
by the rephrased certified question and limited their discussion to the terms of the 
standard form mortgage that is the subject of this case.  
 
3.  Gideon Gratsiani was substituted as a party by order of this Court after 
Gratsiani purchased Patricia Bartram’s mortgage.     
 
 
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In order to comply with the divorce court’s order, on February 16, 2005, 
Bartram obtained a $650,000 loan through Finance America, LLC, secured by a 
mortgage on the Property in favor of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, 
Inc., in its capacity as nominee for Finance America (the “Mortgage”).  Finance 
America subsequently assigned the Mortgage to Respondent, U.S. Bank National 
Association (the “Bank”), as trustee and assignee.  A day later, on February 17, 
2005, Bartram executed a second mortgage (the “Second Mortgage”) to Patricia as 
security for a second mortgage note of $120,000.   
 
The Mortgage was a standard residential form mortgage and required the 
lender to give the borrower notice of any default and an opportunity to cure before 
the mortgagee could proceed against the secured property in a judicial foreclosure 
action.  Specifically, paragraph 22 of the Mortgage was an optional acceleration 
clause and provided that the lender was required to give the borrower notice that 
failure to cure the default “may result in acceleration of the sums secured” by the 
mortgagee and foreclosure of the property: 
Acceleration; Remedies.  Lender shall give notice to Borrower prior 
to acceleration following Borrower’s breach of any covenant or 
agreement in this Security Instrument (but not prior to acceleration 
under Section 18 unless Applicable Law provides otherwise).  The 
notice shall specify: (a) the default; (b) the action required to cure the 
default; (c) a date, not less than 30 days from the date the notice is 
given to Borrower, by which the default must be cured; and (d) that 
failure to cure the default on or before the date specified in the notice 
may result in acceleration of the sums secured by this Security 
Instrument, foreclosure by judicial proceeding and sale of the 
Property.  The notice shall further inform Borrower of the right to 
 
 
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reinstate after acceleration and the right to assert in the foreclosure 
proceeding the non-existence of a default or any other defense of 
Borrower to acceleration and foreclosure.  If the default is not cured 
on or before the date specified in the notice, Lender at its option may 
require immediate payment in full of all sums secured by this Security 
Instrument without further demand and may foreclose this Security 
Instrument by judicial proceeding.  Lender shall be entitled to collect 
all expenses incurred in pursuing the remedies provided in this 
Section 22, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees 
and costs of title evidence.  
 
(Emphasis added). 
In addition to providing optional acceleration and foreclosure as a remedy 
for default, paragraph 19 of the Mortgage also granted the borrower a right to 
reinstate the note and Mortgage after acceleration if certain conditions were met, 
including paying the mortgagee all past defaults and other related expenses that 
would be due “as if no acceleration had occurred”:  
Borrower’s Right to Reinstate After Acceleration.  If Borrower meets 
certain conditions, Borrower shall have the right to have enforcement 
of this Security Instrument discontinued at any time prior to the 
earliest of: (a) five days before sale of the Property pursuant to any 
power of sale contained in this Security Instrument; (b) such other 
period as Applicable Law might specify for the termination of 
Borrower’s right to reinstate; or (c) entry of a judgment enforcing this 
Security Instrument.  Those conditions are that Borrower: (a) pays 
Lender all sums which then would be due under this Security 
Instrument and the Note as if no acceleration had occurred; (b) cures 
any default of any other covenants or agreements; (c) pays all 
expenses incurred in enforcing this Security Instrument, including, but 
not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees, property inspection and 
valuation fees, and other fees incurred for the purpose of protecting 
Lender’s interest in the Property and rights under this Security 
Instrument; and (d) takes such action as Lender may reasonably 
require to assure that Lender’s interest in the Property and rights 
under this Security Instrument, and Borrower’s obligation to pay the 
 
 
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sums secured by this Security Instrument, shall continue unchanged.  
Lender may require that Borrower pay such reinstatement and 
expenses in one or more of the following forms, as selected by 
Lender: (a) cash; (b) money order; (c) certified check, bank check, 
treasurer’s check or cashier’s check, provided any such check is 
drawn upon an institution whose deposits are insured by a federal 
agency, instrumentality or entity; or (d) Electronic Funds Transfer.  
Upon reinstatement by Borrower, this Security Instrument and 
obligations secured hereby shall remain fully effective as if no 
acceleration had occurred.  However, this right to reinstate shall not 
apply in the case of acceleration under Section 18.4   
 
(Emphasis added).  The designated maturity date of the note was March 1, 2035.  
 
On January 1, 2006, Bartram stopped making payments on the Mortgage, 
and never made payments on the Second Mortgage.  Around the same time, 
Bartram also stopped paying homeowners’ association assessments to the 
Plantation at Ponte Vedra, Inc. (the “HOA”), the homeowners’ association of the 
development where the Property was located.  The HOA subsequently placed a 
lien on the Property for nonpayment of the HOA assessments.   
On May 16, 2006, the Bank filed a complaint to foreclose the Mortgage 
based on Bartram’s failure to make payments due from January of that year to the 
date of the complaint.  The foreclosure complaint stated that all conditions 
precedent to the acceleration of the Mortgage and to the foreclosure of the 
Mortgage had been fulfilled or had occurred, and declared the full amount payable 
                                          
 
 
4.  Paragraph 18 concerned the transfer of the mortgaged property in a real 
estate sale without the Lender’s “prior written consent,” and required “immediate 
payment in full of of all sums secured by this Security Instrument” if breached.  
 
 
- 8 - 
under the note and Mortgage to be due.  Nearly five years later, on May 5, 2011, 
the foreclosure action was involuntarily dismissed after the Bank failed to appear 
at a case management conference.5  The Bank did not appeal the dismissal.   
Following the dismissal of the foreclosure action, Bartram filed a motion to 
cancel the promissory note and release the lien on the mortgage.  The trial court 
denied the motion in an order dated August 29, 2011, citing to its lack of 
jurisdiction in the matter since the May 5, 2011, involuntary dismissal under Rule 
1.420(b) “was an adjudication on the merits and the case has been closed.”  
Approximately a year later, after the dismissal of the foreclosure action and 
almost six years after the Bank filed its foreclosure complaint, Bartram filed a 
crossclaim against the Bank in a separate foreclosure action Patricia had brought 
against Bartram, the Bank, and the HOA.  Bartram’s crossclaim sought a 
declaratory judgment to cancel the Mortgage and to quiet title to the Property, 
asserting that the statute of limitations barred the Bank from bringing another 
foreclosure action.6  
                                          
 
 
5.  The Record does not indicate what action occurred, if any, in the first 
foreclosure action from the date the complaint was filed in 2006 until it was 
dismissed in 2011. 
 
6.  On May 24, 2012, Bartram filed a motion for default against the Bank for 
failure to respond to his crossclaim, but the trial court never ruled on this motion. 
 
 
- 9 - 
 Bartram then moved for summary judgment on his crossclaim.  The trial 
court found no genuine issue as to any material fact, granted summary judgment, 
quieted title in Bartram, found the Bank had no further ability to enforce its rights 
under the note and Mortgage that were the subject matter of the Bank’s dismissed 
foreclosure action, and cancelled the note and Mortgage.  In doing so, the trial 
court released the Bank’s lien on the Property.  The Bank subsequently filed a 
motion for rehearing, and after the trial court denied the Bank’s motion, appealed 
to the Fifth District.  
Before the Fifth District, the Bank relied on this Court’s decision in 
Singleton for its position that the trial court’s dismissal “nullified [the Bank’s] 
acceleration of future payments; accordingly, the cause of action on the accelerated 
payments did not accrue and the statute of limitations did not begin to run on those 
payments, at least until default occurred on each installment.”  Bartram, 140 So. 3d 
at 1009-10.  The Bank acknowledged, however, that it could not seek to foreclose 
the Mortgage based on Bartram’s defaults prior to the first foreclosure action, but 
could seek foreclosure based on defaults occurring subsequent to the dismissal of 
the first foreclosure action.  Id. at 1009.  Bartram contended on appeal, joined by 
Patricia and the HOA, “that the cause of action for default of future installment 
payments accrued upon acceleration, thus triggering the statute of limitations clock 
to run, and because the Bank did not revoke its acceleration at any time after the 
dismissal, the five-year statute of limitations period eventually expired, barring the 
 
 
- 10 - 
Bank from bringing another suit [to foreclose the Mortgage].”  Id. at 1010 
(citations omitted).   
The Fifth District agreed with the Bank and held that if a “new and 
independent right to accelerate” exists in a res judicata analysis under Singleton, 
882 So. 2d at 1008, then “there is no reason it would not also exist vis-à-vis a 
statute of limitations issue.”  Id. at 1013.  The Fifth District reasoned that a “new 
and independent right to accelerate” would mean that each new default would 
present new causes of action, regardless of whether the payment due dates had 
been accelerated in the first foreclosure action.  Id. at 1013-14.  Based on 
Singleton, the Fifth District explained, “a default occurring after a failed 
foreclosure attempt creates a new cause of action for statute of limitations 
purposes, even where acceleration had been triggered and the first case was 
dismissed on its merits.”  Id. at 1014.  The Fifth District accordingly reversed the 
trial court’s judgment, remanded the case to the trial court, and certified the 
question of great public importance we now address.  
ANALYSIS 
The rephrased certified question involves a pure question of law.  Therefore, 
the standard of review is de novo.  See Christensen v. Bowen, 140 So. 3d 498, 501 
(Fla. 2014).  In answering the rephrased certified question, we begin by reviewing 
this Court’s decision in Singleton, which the Fifth District and most courts 
throughout the state have held to be determinative of the rephrased certified 
 
 
- 11 - 
question.  We then discuss the cases, both state and federal, that concern 
successive mortgage foreclosure actions in a statute of limitations context decided 
after Singleton.  In doing so, we examine whether our analysis in Singleton, which 
was decided on res judicata grounds, extends to the statute of limitations context 
present in this case.  We then discuss the significance to our analysis, if any, of the 
involuntary dismissal of the foreclosure action pursuant to Rule 1.420(b) and the 
effect of the Mortgage’s reinstatement provision.  Based on this analysis, we 
conclude by answering the rephrased certified question in the negative and 
approving the Fifth District’s decision in Bartram. 
I.  Singleton v. Greymar Associates 
In Singleton, a mortgagee brought two consecutive foreclosure actions 
against a mortgagor.  882 So. 2d at 1005.  The first foreclosure action was based on 
the mortgagor’s failure to make mortgage payments from September 1999 to 
February 2000 and “sought to accelerate the entire indebtedness against” the 
mortgagor.  Id. & n.1.  The first foreclosure action was dismissed with prejudice by 
the trial court after the mortgagee failed to appear at a case management 
conference.  Id.  After this involuntary dismissal, the mortgagee filed a second 
foreclosure action based on a separate default that occurred when the mortgagor 
failed to make mortgage payments starting in April 2000.  Id. at 1005.  The 
mortgagor contended that the dismissal of the first foreclosure action barred relief 
 
 
- 12 - 
in the second foreclosure action, but the trial court rejected this argument and 
entered a summary final judgment of foreclosure for the mortgagee.  Id. 
The mortgagor appealed, and “the Fourth District affirmed the circuit court’s 
decision, finding that ‘[e]ven though an earlier foreclosure action filed by appellee 
was dismissed with prejudice, the application of res judicata does not bar this 
lawsuit.  The second action involved a new and different breach.’ ”  Id. (citing 
Singleton v. Greymar Assocs., 840 So. 2d 356, 356 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003)).  
Singleton petitioned this Court for jurisdiction, citing an express and direct conflict 
with Stadler v. Cherry Hill Developers, Inc., 150 So. 2d 468 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963).  
Id. 
Stadler also involved two successive foreclosure actions where the first 
foreclosure action had been dismissed with prejudice.  150 So. 2d at 469.  The 
mortgagee brought a second foreclosure action that was identical except for 
alleging a different period of default.  That action was successful, and the 
mortgagor appealed.  The Second District reversed the judgment of foreclosure 
entered on the basis of res judicata and concluded that the “election to accelerate 
put the entire balance, including future installments at issue.”  Id. at 472.  
Therefore, even though different periods of default were asserted, the “entire 
amount due” was the same and thus the “actions are identical.”  Id.  Accordingly, 
the Second District concluded that res judicata barred the second foreclosure 
action.  Id. at 473.   
 
 
- 13 - 
After analyzing the position of the two appellate courts, this Court agreed 
with the Fourth District that “when a second and separate action for foreclosure is 
sought for a default that involves a separate period of default from the one alleged 
in the first action, the case is not necessarily barred by res judicata.”  Singleton, 
882 So. 2d at 1006-07.  In support, we cited with approval the Fourth District’s 
reasoning in Capital Bank v. Needle, 596 So. 2d 1134 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992): 
Our reading of the case law set out above leads us to conclude 
that a final adjudication in a foreclosure action that also prays for a 
deficiency judgment on the underlying debt may, but does not 
necessarily, bar a subsequent action on the debt.  For instance, if the 
plaintiff in a foreclosure action goes to trial and loses on the merits, 
we do not believe such plaintiff would be barred from filing a 
subsequent foreclosure action based upon a subsequent default.  The 
adjudication merely bars a second action relitigating the same alleged 
default.  A dismissal with prejudice of the foreclosure action is 
tantamount to a judgment against the mortgagee.  That judgment 
means that the mortgagee is not entitled to foreclose the mortgage.  
Such a ruling moots any prayer for a deficiency, since a necessary 
predicate for a deficiency is an adjudication of foreclosure.  There was 
no separate count in the Capital Bank complaint seeking a separate 
recovery on the promissory note alone.   
Accordingly, we do not believe the dismissal of the foreclosure 
action in this case barred the subsequent action on the balance due on 
the note.    
Singleton, 882 So. 2d at 1007 (quoting Capital Bank, 596 So. 2d at 1138) 
(emphasis added). 
 
Our holding in Singleton was based on the conclusion that an “acceleration 
and foreclosure predicated upon subsequent and different defaults present a 
separate and distinct issue” than a foreclosure action and acceleration based on the 
 
 
- 14 - 
same default at issue in the first foreclosure action.  Id.  Indeed, we cited with 
approval another decision of the Fourth District, Olympia Mortgage Corp. v. Pugh, 
774 So. 2d 863, 866 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000), which held—contrary to the Second 
District’s conclusion in Stadler—that an acceleration of debt in a mortgage 
foreclosure action did not place future installments at issue.  As we explained, the 
unique nature of a mortgage compelled this result: 
This seeming variance from the traditional law of res judicata rests 
upon a recognition of the unique nature of the mortgage obligation 
and the continuing obligations of the parties in that relationship.  For 
example, we can envision many instances in which the application of 
the Stadler decision would result in unjust enrichment or other 
inequitable results.  If res judicata prevented a mortgagee from acting 
on a subsequent default even after an earlier claimed default could not 
be established, the mortgagor would have no incentive to make future 
timely payments on the note.  The adjudication of the earlier default 
would essentially insulate her from future foreclosure actions on the 
note—merely because she prevailed in the first action.  Clearly, 
justice would not be served if the mortgagee was barred from 
challenging the subsequent default payment solely because he failed 
to prove the earlier alleged default. 
 
Singleton, 882 So. 2d at 1007-08 (emphasis added).   
 
 
Our recognition in Singleton that each new default presented a separate 
cause of action was based upon the acknowledgement that because foreclosure is 
an equitable remedy, “[t]he ends of justice require that the doctrine of res judicata 
not be applied so strictly so as to prevent mortgagees from being able to challenge 
multiple defaults on a mortgage.”  Id. at 1008.  Thus, the failure of a mortgagee to 
foreclose the mortgage based on an alleged default did not mean the mortgagor had 
 
 
- 15 - 
automatically and successfully defeated his or her obligation to make continuing 
payments on the note.   
II.  Mortgage Foreclosure Cases Post-Singleton: Application to Statute of 
Limitations Context 
 
 
In cases concerning mortgage foreclosure actions, since our decision in 
Singleton, both federal and state courts have applied our reasoning in Singleton in 
the statute of limitations context and have concluded that because of “the unique 
nature of the mortgage obligation and the continuing obligations of the parties in 
that relationship,” an “adjudication denying acceleration and foreclosure” does not 
bar subsequent foreclosure actions based on separate and distinct defaults.  See id. 
at 1007.  As the Fourth District explained, under Singleton, a “new default, based 
on a different act or date of default not alleged in the dismissed action, creates a 
new cause of action.”  Star Funding Sols., LLC v. Krondes, 101 So. 3d 403 (Fla. 
4th DCA 2012).  That is because, as the First District has also explained, this 
Court’s “analysis in Singleton recognizes that a note securing a mortgage creates 
liability for a total amount of principal and interest, and that the lender’s 
acceptance of payments in installments does not eliminate the borrower’s ongoing 
liability for the entire amount of the indebtedness.”  Nationstar Mortg., LLC v. 
Brown, 175 So. 3d 833, 834 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015). 
Other district courts of appeal have similarly applied our reasoning in 
Singleton to determine that the five-year statute of limitations did not bar a 
 
 
- 16 - 
subsequent foreclosure action when the mortgagee had brought an initial 
foreclosure action that accelerated all sums due under the mortgage and note, on 
that same mortgage outside the statute of limitations window.  For instance, in 
Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas v. Beauvais, 188 So. 3d 938, 947 (Fla. 3d DCA 
2016), the Third District concluded that because the subject mortgage’s 
reinstatement provision granted the mortgagor the right to avoid foreclosure by 
paying only the past due defaults, that “despite acceleration of the balance due and 
the filing of an action to foreclose, the installment nature of a loan secured by such 
a mortgage continue[d] until a final judgment of foreclosure [was] entered and no 
action [was] necessary to reinstate it via a notice of ‘deceleration’ or otherwise.”   
With reasoning similar to Beauvais, in Evergrene Partners, Inc. v. Citibank, 
N.A., 143 So. 3d 954, 955 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014), a mortgagor challenged, on statute 
of limitations grounds, a second foreclosure action brought by the mortgagee when 
the mortgagee had voluntarily dismissed a prior foreclosure action based on a 
separate default.  The Fourth District held that the mortgage was still enforceable 
because “the statute of limitations ha[d] not run on all of the payments due 
pursuant to the note,” specifically those payments missed after the initial alleged 
default.  Id.  In reaching this conclusion, the Fourth District relied on Singleton, 
and emphasized that “[w]hile a foreclosure action with an acceleration of the debt 
may bar a subsequent foreclosure action based on the same event of default, it does 
not bar subsequent actions and acceleration based upon different events of 
 
 
- 17 - 
default.”  Id.  Similarly, in PNC Bank, N.A. v. Neal, 147 So. 3d 32, 32 (Fla. 1st 
DCA 2013), the First District held that an initial foreclosure action that sought 
acceleration and was dismissed with prejudice did not bar the mortgagee from 
“instituting a new foreclosure action based on a different act or a new date of 
default not alleged in the dismissed action.”   
Federal district courts in the state have also applied Singleton to dismiss 
claims seeking cancellation of a mortgage and note that are premised on the 
expiration of the statute of limitations after an initial foreclosure action that sought 
acceleration was dismissed.  In Dorta v. Wilmington Trust National Ass’n, No. 
5:13-cv-185-Oc-10PRL, 2014 WL 1152917 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 24, 2014), the 
mortgagor brought an action seeking cancellation of the mortgage based on the 
expiration of the statute of limitations where the mortgagee previously accelerated 
payments and brought a foreclosure action that was ultimately dismissed without 
prejudice more than five years prior.  Id. at *1-2.  In dismissing the mortgagor’s 
complaint, the federal district court held that even when the initial foreclosure 
action is dismissed without prejudice, “where a mortgagee initiates a foreclosure 
action and invokes its right of acceleration, if the mortgagee’s foreclosure action is 
unsuccessful for whatever reason, the mortgagee still has the right to file later 
foreclosure actions . . . so long as they are based on separate defaults.”  Id. at *6.    
Similarly, in Torres v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., No. 14-20759-CIV, 
2014 WL 3742141, at *1 (S.D. Fla. July 29, 2014), the federal district court 
 
 
- 18 - 
dismissed a complaint that sought a declaration that the statute of limitations 
barred foreclosing on a mortgage after a prior foreclosure action where the 
mortgagee had sought acceleration of the note that had been dismissed.  Relying on 
Singleton, the court noted that “each payment default that is less than five years old 
creates a basis for a subsequent foreclosure or acceleration action.”  Id. at *4; see 
also Romero v. SunTrust Mortg., Inc., 15 F. Supp. 3d 1279 (S.D. Fla. 2014) 
(holding that the installment nature of the note remained in effect after dismissal of 
a foreclosure action where the mortgagee had sought acceleration); Kaan v. Wells 
Fargo Bank, N.A., 981 F. Supp. 2d 1271 (S.D. Fla. 2013) (same). 
We agree with the reasoning of both our appellate courts and the federal 
district courts that our analysis in Singleton equally applies to the statute of 
limitations context present in this case.  As the Fifth District concluded, “[i]f a 
‘new and independent right to accelerate’ exists in a res judicata analysis, there is 
no reason it would not also exist vis-à-vis a statute of limitations issue.”  Bartram, 
140 So. 3d at 1013.  This conclusion follows from our prior reasoning that a 
“subsequent and separate alleged default created a new and independent right in 
the mortgagee to accelerate payment on the note in a subsequent foreclosure 
action.”  Singleton, 882 So. 2d at 1008.  Therefore, with each subsequent default, 
the statute of limitations runs from the date of each new default providing the 
mortgagee the right, but not the obligation, to accelerate all sums then due under 
the note and mortgage.  
 
 
- 19 - 
Consistent with the reasoning of Singleton, the statute of limitations on the 
balance under the note and mortgage would not continue to run after an 
involuntary dismissal, and thus the mortgagee would not be barred by the statute of 
limitations from filing a successive foreclosure action premised on a “separate and 
distinct” default.  Rather, after the dismissal, the parties are simply placed back in 
the same contractual relationship as before, where the residential mortgage 
remained an installment loan, and the acceleration of the residential mortgage 
declared in the unsuccessful foreclosure action is revoked.   
III.  Significance of an Involuntary Dismissal and Reinstatement Provision  
 
Having reaffirmed our prior holding in Singleton and the application of its 
reasoning to a statute of limitations context, we finally consider whether the type 
of dismissal of a foreclosure action has any bearing on our analysis and the effect 
of the Mortgage’s reinstatement provision.  In this case, the first foreclosure action 
was dismissed pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.420, which provides 
for involuntary dismissals, and is the rule upon which the rephrased certified 
question is premised.  Involuntary dismissal of a legal action by a court under Rule 
1.420(b) terminates a court’s jurisdiction over that action and may be with or 
without prejudice.  A dismissal under Rule 1.420(b) operates as an adjudication on 
the merits as long as the dismissal was not for “lack of jurisdiction or for improper 
venue or for lack of an indispensable party,” neither of which were a basis for the 
trial court’s dismissal of the Bank’s foreclosure action in this case. 
 
 
- 20 - 
The Fifth District determined that the involuntary dismissal was with 
prejudice but concluded that “the distinction is not material for purposes” of the 
statute of limitations analysis.  See Bartram, 140 So. 3d at 1013 n.1.  We agree.  
While a dismissal without prejudice would allow a mortgagee to bring another 
foreclosure action premised on the same default as long as the action was brought 
within five years of the default per section 95.11(2)(c), critical to our analysis is 
whether the foreclosure action was premised on a default occurring subsequent to 
the dismissal of the first foreclosure action.  As the federal district court in Dorta 
reasoned, “if the mortgagee’s foreclosure action is unsuccessful for whatever 
reason, the mortgagee still has the right to file subsequent foreclosure actions—and 
to seek acceleration of the entire debt—so long as they are based on separate 
defaults.”  2014 WL 1152917 at *6 (emphasis added).  Accord Espinoza v. 
Countrywide Home Loans Servicing, L.P., No. 14-20756-CIV, 2014 WL 3845795, 
at *4 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 5, 2014) (finding the issue of whether the initial foreclosure 
action was dismissed with or without prejudice a distinction that was “irrelevant” 
to its analysis of whether acceleration of a mortgage note barred a subsequent 
foreclosure action brought outside the statute of limitations period). 
Whether the dismissal of the initial foreclosure action by the court was with 
or without prejudice may be relevant to the mortgagee’s ability to collect on past 
defaults.  However, it is entirely consistent with, and follows from, our reasoning 
in Singleton that each subsequent default accruing after the dismissal of an earlier 
 
 
- 21 - 
foreclosure action creates a new cause of action, regardless of whether that 
dismissal was entered with or without prejudice.    
Our conclusion is buttressed by the reinstatement provision of the 
Residential Mortgage that by its express terms granted the mortgagor, even after 
acceleration, the continuing right to reinstate the Mortgage and note by paying only 
the amounts past due as if no acceleration had occurred.  Specifically, the 
reinstatement provision in paragraph 19 of Bartram’s form residential mortgage 
gave Bartram “the right to have enforcement of this Security Instrument 
discontinued at any time prior to the earliest of . . . (c) entry of a judgment 
enforcing this Security Instrument,” as long as Bartram “(a) pa[id] the Lender all 
sums which then would be due under this Security Instrument and Note as if no 
acceleration had occurred.”  
Under the reinstatement provision of paragraph 19, then, even after the 
optional acceleration provision was exercised through the filing of a foreclosure 
action—as it was in this case—the mortgagor was not obligated to pay the 
accelerated sums due under the note until final judgment was entered and needed 
only to bring the loan current and meet other conditions—such as paying expenses 
related to the enforcement of the security interest and meeting other requirements 
established by the mortgagee-lender to ensure the mortgagee-lender’s interest in 
the property would remain unchanged—to avoid foreclosure.  “Stated another way, 
despite acceleration of the balance due and the filing of an action to foreclosure, 
 
 
- 22 - 
the installment nature of a loan secured by such a mortgage continues until a final 
judgment of foreclosure is entered and no action is necessary to reinstate it via a 
notice of ‘deceleration’ or otherwise.”  Beauvais, 188 So. 3d at 947.  Or, as the 
Real Property Law Section of the Florida Bar has explained, “[t]he lender’s right to 
accelerate is subject to the borrower’s continuing right to cure.”  Brief for The Real 
Property Probate & Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar at 8, Beauvais, 188 So. 
3d 938 (Fla. 3d DCA 2016), 2015 WL 6406768, at *8.  In the absence of a final 
judgment in favor of the mortgagee, the mortgagor still had the right under 
paragraph 19 of the Mortgage, the reinstatement provision, to cure the default and 
to continue making monthly installment payments.   
Accepting Bartram’s argument that the installment nature of his contract 
terminated once the mortgagee attempted to exercise the mortgage contract’s 
optional acceleration clause—ignoring the existence of the mortgage’s 
reinstatement provision—would permit the mortgagee only one opportunity to 
enforce the mortgage despite the occurrence of any future defaults.  As we 
cautioned in Singleton, “justice would not be served if the mortgagee was barred 
from challenging the subsequent default payment solely because he failed to prove 
the earlier alleged default.”  882 So. 2d at 1008.  Following to its logical 
conclusion Bartram’s argument that acceleration of the loan was effective before 
final judgment in favor of the mortgagee-lender in a foreclosure action would 
mean that the mortgagor-borrower would owe the accelerated amount after the 
 
 
- 23 - 
dismissal, effectively rendering the reinstatement provision a nullity, and—in most 
cases—leading to an unavoidable default.   
IV.  This Case 
Here, the Bank’s first foreclosure action was involuntarily dismissed, and 
therefore there was no judicial determination that a default actually occurred.  
Thus, even if the note had been accelerated through the Bank’s foreclosure 
complaint, the dismissal of the foreclosure action had the effect of revoking the 
acceleration.  By the express terms of the reinstatement provision, if, in the month 
after the dismissal of the foreclosure action, Bartram began to make monthly 
payments on the note, the Bank could not have subsequently accelerated the entire 
note until there were future defaults.  Once there were future defaults, however, the 
Bank had the right to file a subsequent foreclosure action—and to seek 
acceleration of all sums due under the note—so long as the foreclosure action was 
based on a subsequent default, and the statute of limitations had not run on that 
particular default. 
There have been many claims of unfair and predatory practices by banks and 
mortgage holders in the aftermath of the financial crisis that shook the country, and 
in particular, Florida.  See, e.g., Pino v. Bank of N.Y., 121 So. 3d 23, 27 (Fla. 
2013) (discussing allegations of fraudulent backdating of mortgage assignments); 
see also In re Amends. to Fla. Rules of Civ. Pro.—Form 1.996, 51 So. 3d 1140 
(Fla. 2010) (noting the necessity for verification of ownership of the note or right 
 
 
- 24 - 
to enforce the note in a foreclosure action because of “recent reports of alleged 
document fraud and forgery in mortgage foreclosure cases”).  Some of these claims 
have included allegations that mortgage holders have precipitously sought 
foreclosure even though the mortgagor missed only one or two payments and 
attempted to cure their defaults.  In this case, quite the opposite is true.  Bartram 
raised no defense as to the terms of the Mortgage and note itself.  His sole claim is 
that the Bank lost the right to seek foreclosure of the Mortgage based on distinct 
defaults that occurred subsequent to the dismissal of the initial foreclosure 
complaint.   
After Bartram defaulted on the Mortgage, the Bank, in accordance with the 
terms of the mortgage contract, notified Bartram that failure to cure his past 
defaults would result in acceleration of the sums due under the mortgage and 
judicial foreclosure.  When Bartram failed to cure the past defaults, the Bank filed 
its foreclosure complaint and exercised the optional acceleration clause.  Yet, the 
reinstatement provision of the Mortgage afforded Bartram the opportunity to 
continue the installment nature of the loan by curing the past defaults.  Until final 
judgment was entered in favor of the Bank, Bartram was not obligated to pay the 
accelerated loan amount.  Dismissal of the foreclosure action therefore returned the 
parties to their pre-foreclosure complaint status.  In considering the law, the facts, 
and equity, Bartram’s position simply has no validity.  
CONCLUSION 
 
 
- 25 - 
The Fifth District properly extended our reasoning in Singleton to the statute 
of limitations context in a mortgage foreclosure action.  Here, the Bank’s initial 
foreclosure action was involuntarily dismissed.  Therefore, as we previously 
explained in Singleton, the dismissal returned the parties back to “the same 
contractual relationship with the same continuing obligations.”  882 So. 2d at 1007.  
Bartram and the Bank’s prior contractual relationship gave Bartram the 
opportunity to continue making his mortgage payments, and gave the Bank the 
right to exercise its remedy of acceleration through a foreclosure action if Bartram 
subsequently defaulted on a payment separate from the default upon which the 
Bank predicated its first foreclosure action.  Therefore, the Bank’s attempted prior 
acceleration in a foreclosure action that was involuntarily dismissed did not trigger 
the statute of limitations to bar future foreclosure actions based on separate 
defaults.   
Accordingly, we approve the Fifth District’s decision in Bartram and answer 
the rephrased certified question in the negative.  
 
It is so ordered.  
 
LABARGA, C.J., and QUINCE, CANADY, and PERRY, JJ., concur. 
POLSTON, J., concurs in result. 
LEWIS, J., concurs in result only with an opinion. 
 
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION, AND 
IF FILED, DETERMINED. 
 
 
 
 
- 26 - 
LEWIS, J., concurring in result only. 
I am troubled by the expansion of Singleton v. Greymar Associates, 882 So. 
2d 1004 (Fla. 2004), to potentially any case involving successive foreclosure 
actions.  Other courts in this State have already broadly applied Singleton—a 
decision involving res judicata and dismissal with prejudice—to cases that were 
either dismissed for lack of prosecution or voluntarily dismissed by the note-
holder, as well as to cases that concern the statute of limitations, without careful 
consideration of the procedural distinctions of each case.  E.g., In re Anthony, 550 
B.R. 577 (M.D. Fla. 2016); Dorta v. Wilmington Tr. Nat’l Ass’n, 2014 WL 
1152917 (M.D. Fla. 2014); Romero v. Suntrust Mortg., Inc., 15 F. Supp. 3d 1279 
(S.D. Fla. 2014); Kaan v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 981 F. Supp. 2d 1271 (S.D. Fla. 
2013); Evergrene Partners, Inc. v. Citibank, N.A., 143 So. 3d 954 (Fla. 4th DCA 
2014); see also In re Rogers Townsend & Thomas, PC, 773 S.E.2d 101, 105-06 
(N.C. Ct. App. 2015) (relying on Singleton in a case involving previous voluntary 
dismissals and the statute of limitations).  Today’s decision will only continue that 
expansion, which I fear will come at the cost of established Florida law and 
Floridians who may struggle with both the costs of owning a home and uncertain 
behavior by lenders.  I therefore respectfully concur in result only. 
At its narrowest, Singleton simply held that “when a second and separate 
action for foreclosure is sought for a default that involves a separate period of 
default from the one alleged in the first action, the case is not necessarily barred by 
 
 
- 27 - 
res judicata.”  882 So. 2d at 1006-07 (emphasis supplied).  However, as has been 
noted elsewhere, Singleton left several matters unanswered: 
[T]he Supreme Court omitted explanation of 1) what constitutes 
a valid new default after the initial round of default, acceleration, 
foreclosure filing, and dismissal; 2) how the fact-finder below 
determines that a valid new default has occurred; and 3) what 
conditions constitute valid new default, including whether the lender 
must reinstate the original note and mortgage terms in the interim or 
serve a second notice of intent to accelerate.  Moreover, the court in 
no way addressed the effect of the involuntary dismissal on the statute 
of limitations. 
 
Andrew J. Bernhard, Deceleration: Restarting the Expired Statute of Limitations in 
Mortgage Foreclosures, Fla. B.J., Sept.-Oct. 2014, at 30, 32.  Given the procedural 
posture of this matter and the relatively sparse record before this Court, the 
decision today fails to address evidentiary concerns regarding how to determine the 
manner in which a mortgage may be reinstated following the dismissal of a 
foreclosure action, as well as whether a valid “subsequent and separate” default 
occurred to give rise to a new cause of action.  See Singleton, 882 So. 2d at 1008.  
Instead of addressing these concerns, the Court flatly holds that the dismissal 
itself—for any reason—“decelerates” the mortgage and restores the parties to their 
positions prior to the acceleration without authority for support.  Majority op. at 3. 
In this case, there is no evidence contained in the record before this Court to 
show whether the parties tacitly agreed to a “de facto reinstatement” following the 
 
 
- 28 - 
dismissal of the previous foreclosure action.7  Further, despite the assumption of 
the majority of the Court to the contrary, the mortgage itself did not create a right 
to reinstatement following acceleration and the dismissal of a foreclosure action.  
The contractual right to reinstatement under the terms of this mortgage existed 
only under specific conditions,8 which do not appear to have been satisfied in the 
                                          
 
 
7.  Moreover, the precise nature of the dismissal in this case is even more 
uncertain than the mortgage in Beauvais, which was dismissed without prejudice.  
See Deutsche Bank Tr. Co. Americas v. Beauvais, 188 So. 3d 938, 964 (Fla. 3d 
DCA 2016) (Scales, J., dissenting).  The trial court below dismissed the first 
foreclosure action after indicating that it had informed the parties that “[f]ailure of 
the parties . . . to appear in person [at the case management conference] may result 
in the case being dismissed without prejudice.”  Order of Dismissal, U.S. Bank 
Nat’l Ass’n v. Bartram, No. CA06-428 (Fla. 7th Cir. Ct. May 5, 2011) (emphasis 
added).  However, the trial court’s order did not explicitly state whether this 
dismissal was with or without prejudice.  Id. (“The Complaint to Foreclose 
Mortgage . . . is hereby dismissed.”).  Further complicating the matter, the Fifth 
District below stated that this dismissal was with prejudice, but summarily 
determined “that the distinction is not material for purposes of the issue at hand.”  
U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Bartram, 140 So. 3d 1007, 1013 n.1 (Fla. 5th DCA 
2014).  
 
8.  The mortgage note provides the following right to reinstatement:  
Borrower’s Right to Reinstate After Acceleration.  If Borrower meets 
certain conditions, Borrower shall have the right to have enforcement 
of this Security Instrument discontinued at any time prior to the 
earliest of: (a) five days before sale of the Property pursuant to any 
power of sale contained in this Security Instrument; (b) such other 
period as Applicable Law might specify for the termination of 
Borrower’s right to reinstate; or (c) entry of a judgment enforcing this 
Security Instrument.  Those conditions are that Borrower: (a) pays 
Lender all sums which then would be due under this Security 
Instrument and the Note as if no acceleration had occurred; (b) cures 
any default of any other covenants or agreements; (c) pays all 
expenses incurred in enforcing this Security Instrument, including, but 
 
 
- 29 - 
record before this Court.  Parties, particularly those as sophisticated as the banks 
and other lenders that routinely engage in such litigation, should be required to 
present evidence that the mortgage was actually decelerated and reinstated, rather 
than require our courts to fill in the blank and assume that deceleration 
automatically occurred upon dismissal of a previous foreclosure action. 
Instead, I find myself more closely aligned with the dissenting opinion of 
Judge Scales in Beauvais, 188 So. 3d at 954 (Scales, J., dissenting).  A majority of 
the en banc Third District Court of Appeal reached the same conclusion as the 
majority of this Court does today regarding very similar facts.  By contrast, Judge 
Scales, joined by three of his colleagues, raised several concerns that arise from the 
                                          
 
not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees, property inspection and 
valuation fees, and other fees incurred for the purpose of protecting 
Lender’s interest in the Property and rights under this Security 
Instrument; and (d) takes such action as Lender may reasonably 
require to assure that Lender’s interest in the Property and rights 
under this Security Instrument, and Borrower’s obligation to pay the 
sums secured by this Security Instrument, shall continue unchanged.  
Lender may require that Borrower pay such reinstatement and 
expenses in one or more of the following forms, as selected by 
Lender: (a) cash; (b) money order; (c) certified check, bank check, 
treasurer’s check or cashier’s check, provided any such check is 
drawn upon an institution whose deposits are insured by a federal 
agency, instrumentality or entity; or (d) Electronic Funds Transfer.  
Upon reinstatement by Borrower, this Security Instrument and 
obligations secured hereby shall remain fully effective as if no 
acceleration had occurred.  However, this right to reinstate shall not 
apply in the case of acceleration under Section 18. 
See majority op. at 6-7. 
 
 
- 30 - 
conclusion that a mortgage is automatically decelerated and reinstated following 
the dismissal of a foreclosure action for any reason.  
First, Judge Scales pointed out that the mortgage in Beauvais, like the 
mortgage in this case, created the borrower’s right to reinstatement only under 
specific conditions, which did not include dismissal of a prior foreclosure action.  
Id. at 956-57 (“Neither the note nor the mortgage contain any provision reinstating 
the installment nature of the note if, after acceleration, a lender foreclosure action 
is dismissed.”).  Further reviewing the clear terms of the mortgage, Judge Scales 
explained that the mortgage ceased to be an installment contract upon the exercise 
of the lender’s right to acceleration.  Id. at 961-62.  Thus, the conclusion that a 
court’s dismissal of a foreclosure action itself can end acceleration and reinstate 
the mortgage ignores basic principles of Florida contract law: 
The majority opinion rewrites the parties’ note and mortgage to 
create a reinstatement provision—i.e., reinstating the installment 
nature of the note, as if acceleration never occurred, upon any 
dismissal of any lawsuit—that the parties did not include when 
drafting their documents.  Singleton does not say this; the parties’ 
contract documents certainly do not say this; and Florida law is 
repugnant to the majority’s insertion of a provision into the parties’ 
private contract that the parties themselves most assuredly omitted.  
[FN. 23] 
 
[FN. 23]:  Brooks v. Green, 993 So. 2d 58, 61 (Fla. 1st 
DCA 2008) (holding that a court is without authority to 
rewrite a clear and unambiguous contract between 
parties). 
 
Id. at 963. 
 
 
- 31 - 
 
Moreover, Judge Scales cogently explained that the overbroad construction 
of Singleton will undermine its limited holding.  Singleton indicated that “an 
adjudication denying acceleration and foreclosure” should not bar a successive 
foreclosure predicated upon a “subsequent and separate alleged default.”  882 So. 
2d at 1007, 1008.  Yet, under the majority decisions of the Third District and this 
Court, any dismissal of a foreclosure action can support a successive foreclosure 
action.  See Beauvais, 188 So. 3d at 963-64 (Scales, J., dissenting).  The form 
dismissal in Beauvais should not constitute an “adjudication denying acceleration 
and foreclosure,” which could, at least according to Singleton, restore the parties to 
their respective pre-acceleration positions.  Id. at 964 (quoting Singleton, 882 So. 
2d at 1007).  In light of the even more vague dismissal at issue in this case, I agree 
with Judge Scales’ warning that “[w]e should be reluctant to hold that a trial 
court’s form dismissal order visits upon the borrower and lender a host of critical, 
yet unarticulated, adjudications that fundamentally change the parties’ contractual 
relationship and are entirely unsupported by the existing law or by the record 
below.”  Id. at 965. 
 
Finally, the expansion of Singleton’s holding that res judicata “does not 
necessarily” bar the filing of successive foreclosure actions to the statute of 
limitations ignores critical distinctions between these two doctrines, at a serious 
cost to the statute of limitations and the separation of powers.  As long recognized 
in this State, res judicata is a doctrine of equity not to “be invoked where it would 
 
 
- 32 - 
defeat the ends of justice.”  Id. at 967 n.31 (citing State v. McBride, 848 So. 2d 
287, 291 (Fla. 2003); Aeacus Real Estate Ltd. P’ship. v. 5th Ave. Real Estate Dev., 
Inc., 948 So. 2d 834 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)); see also Singleton, 882 So. 2d at 1008 
(citing deCancino v. E. Airlines, Inc., 283 So. 2d 97, 98 (Fla. 1973)).  However, 
“equity follows the law”; therefore, equitable principles are subordinate to statutes 
enacted by the Legislature, including the statute of limitations.  May v. Holley, 59 
So. 2d 636 (Fla. 1952); Beauvais, 188 So. 3d at 967-68 (Scales, J., dissenting) 
(citing Dobbs v. Sea Isle Hotel, 56 So. 2d 341, 342 (Fla. 1952); Cragin v. Ocean & 
Lake Realty Co., 133 So. 569, 573-74 (Fla. 1931)).  This untenable extension of an 
equitable, judicial doctrine into an area of law expressly governed by legislative 
action veers perilously close to violating the separation of powers.  Nonetheless, 
the majority opinion of this Court fails to recognize these concerns and justifies the 
imposition of Singleton’s equitable focus onto the statute of limitations by simply 
reviewing the decisions of federal and Florida courts that have reached this same 
conclusion without acknowledging the critical distinctions between res judicata 
and the statute of limitations.   
I recognize the concern raised by this Court and others regarding the need to 
avoid encouraging delinquent borrowers from abusing the lending process by 
remaining in default after an initial foreclosure action is dismissed.  See Singleton, 
882 So. 2d at 1008; see also Fairbank’s Capital Corp. v. Milligan, 234 Fed. Appx. 
21, 24 (3d Cir. 2007) (relying on Singleton and seeking to avoid “encourag[ing] a 
 
 
- 33 - 
delinquent mortgagor to come to a settlement with a mortgagee on a default in 
order to later insulate the mortgagor from the consequences of a subsequent 
default”).  Nonetheless, these legitimate policy concerns should not outweigh the 
established law of this State.  In light of the narrow holding of Singleton, I fear that 
its expansion today to a case involving a previous dismissal (presumably) without 
prejudice and no clear reinstatement of the mortgage terms in either the note or the 
facts of this limited record will lead to inequitable results.  Just as the courts should 
not encourage mortgage delinquency, so too should they avoid encouraging lenders 
from abusing Florida law and Floridians by “retroactively reinstating” mortgages 
after many of those lenders initially slept on their own rights to seek foreclosures.  
See Bernhard, supra, at 27.  Therefore, I concur in result only. 
Application for Review of the Decision of the District Court of Appeal – Certified 
Great Public Importance  
 
 
Fifth District - Case No. 5D12-3823 
 
 
(St. Johns County) 
 
Kendall B. Coffey, Jeffrey B. Crockett, and Daniel Frederick Blonsky of Coffey 
Burlington, P.L., Miami, Florida; Dineen Pashoukos Wasylik of Dineen Pashoukos 
Wasylik, P.A., Tampa, Florida; Thomas R. Pycraft, Jr. of Pycraft Legal Services, 
LLC, Saint Augustine, Florida; and Michael Alex Wasylik of Ricardo & Wasylik, 
PL, Dade City, Florida, 
 
 
for Petitioner Lewis Brooke Bartram 
 
Matthew Estevez of Matthew Estevez, P.A., Miami, Florida; and Jason Bravo and 
Paul Alexander Bravo of P.A. Bravo, P.A., Coral Gables, Florida, 
 
 
for Petitioner Gideon M.G. Gratsiani 
 
 
- 34 - 
 
Joel Stephen Perwin of Joel S. Perwin, P.A., Miami, Florida, 
 
 
for Petitioner The Plantation at Ponte Vedra, Inc. 
 
Michael Darren Starks and Kelly Overstreet Johnson of Baker, Donelson, 
Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, Orlando, Florida; William Power 
McCaughan, Stephanie N. Moot and Karen Poy Finesilver of K&L Gates LLP, 
Miami, Florida; and David R. Fine of K&L Gates LLP, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,  
 
 
for Respondent U.S. Bank National Association 
 
Lynn Drysdale of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida; Thomas 
A. Cox of The National Consumer Law Center, Portland, Maine; J.L. Pottenger, Jr. 
of Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, New Haven, Connecticut; and 
James C. Sturdevant of The Sturdevant Law Firm, San Francisco, California, 
 
for Amici Curiae National Association of Consumer Advocates, The 
National Consumer Law Center, and The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services 
Organization 
 
Steven Michael Siegfried, Nicholas David Siegfried, and Nicole Reid Kurtz of 
Siegfried, Rivera, Hyman, Lerner, De La Torre, Mars & Sobel, P.A., Coral Gables, 
Florida; and Todd L. Wallen of The Wallen Law Firm, P.A., Coral Gables, Florida, 
 
 
for Amicus Curiae Community Associations Institute 
 
John Granville Crabtree, George Richard Baise, Jr., and Brian Carson Tackenberg 
of Crabtree & Associates, P.A., Key Biscayne, Florida; Alice Maria Vickers of 
Florida Alliance for Consumer Protection, Tallahassee, Florida; Kimberly Laura 
Sanchez of Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, Orlando, Florida; Sarah 
Elizabeth Mattern of Brevard County Legal Aid, Inc, Rockledge, Florida; and 
Peter P. Sleasman of Florida Legal Services Inc., Newberry, Florida, 
 
 
for Amici Curiae Florida Alliance for Consumer Protection, Brevard 
County Legal Aid, and Consumer Umbrella Group of Florida Legal Services 
 
Andrew David Manko and John Stewart Mills of The Mills Firm, P.A., 
Tallahassee, Florida, 
 
 
for Amici Curiae Upside Property Investment, LLC, Signature Land, Inc.,  
 
 
- 35 - 
Upside Property Enterprises, Inc., and The Lynne B. Preminger Living Trust 
 
Major Best Harding and John R. Beranek of Ausley McMullen, Tallahassee, 
Florida; and John Russell Hargrove of Hargrove Pierson & Brown P.A., Boca 
Raton, Florida, 
 
 
for Amicus Curiae Baywinds Community Association, Inc. 
 
Peter David Ticktin, Timothy Richard Quinones, and Kendrick Almaguer of The 
Ticktin Law Group, P.A., Deerfield Beach, Florida, 
 
for Amici Curiae Bradford and Cheri Langworthy, and The Ticktin Law 
Group, P.A. 
 
Robert Rex Edwards and Jessica Pierce Quiggle of Robertson, Anschutz & 
Schneid, PL, Boca Raton, Florida; Melissa A. Giasi and Richard Slaughter McIver 
of Kass Shuler, P.A., Tampa, Florida; Shaib Yariel Rios and Curtis James Herbert 
of Brock and Scott PLLC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Andrea Rachael Tromberg of 
Gladstone Law Group, P.A., Boca Raton, Florida; Elizabeth Redchuk Wellborn of 
Elizabeth R. Wellborn, P.A., Deerfield Beach, Florida; Michelle Garcia Gilbert 
and Jennifer Lima-Smith of Gilbert Garcia Group, P.A., Tampa, Florida, 
 
 
for Amicus Curiae American Legal and Financial Network 
 
Robert Mark Brochin, Joshua Charles Prever, and Brian Michael Ercole of 
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Miami, Florida, 
 
 
for Amicus Curiae Mortgage Bankers Association 
 
David William Rodstein of Padula Hodkin, PLLC, Boca Raton, Florida; and Jane 
E. Bond and Robyn Katz of McCalla Raymer Pierce, LLC, Orlando, Florida, 
 
for Amicus Curiae US Financial Network