Opinion ID: 1738798
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The UFMJRA

Text: The UFMJRA [4] was adopted in Florida in 1994 to ensure the recognition abroad of judgments rendered in Florida. See Le Credit Lyonnais v. Nadd, 741 So.2d 1165, 1167 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (relying on Fla. H.R. Comm. on Judiciary, HB 51 (1993) Staff Analysis (Nov. 1, 1993)). [5] The Act replaced common law principles of comity relating to the recognition of foreign judgments. See Chabert v. Bacquie, 694 So.2d 805, 810 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). The UFMJRA by its terms applies to foreign judgments that are final, conclusive, and enforceable where they were rendered. See § 55.603, Fla. Stat. [6] If a judgment creditor wishes to enforce a judgment in Florida under the UFMJRA, he must first file the judgment with the clerk of court of the county or counties where enforcement is sought. See § 55.604, Fla. Stat. The judgment is then recorded in that county. See id. Once the registration and recordation are complete, the clerk sends notice to the debtor, who then may file a notice of objection within thirty days of service. See § 55.604(2), Fla. Stat. Whether or not the judgment debtor responds within the thirty-day period, either party may apply for a hearing regarding recognition. See § 55.601(3), Fla. Stat. If no objections are filed within thirty days, the clerk of court files a statement stating that fact. Under such a circumstance, the judgment creditor is entitled to enforcement without a hearing. See Frymer v. Brettschneider, 696 So.2d 1266, 1267, n.4 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997). Despite these apparently comprehensive features, the UFMJRA does not include a statute of limitations provision upon which courts, judgment creditors, or debtors may rely when a judgment creditor seeks to enforce a foreign judgment in Florida. We turn then, as the Fifth District did, to Florida's general statutory provisions to determine a limitations period. In so doing, we seek to reconcile the policy underlying the UFMJRA of adequately affording reciprocal treatment of foreign judgments with our express limitations periods.