Amerant Bank, N.A. v. D.R. Horton, Inc.

── Amerant Bank, N.A. v. D.R. Horton, Inc. ── Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida Date: April 20, 2026 Category: General Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida Opinion filed April 20, 2026. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing. ________________ No. 3D23-0420 Lower Tribunal No. 21-6169-CA-01 ________________ Amerant Bank N.A., Appellant, vs. D.R. Horton, Inc., et al., Appellees. An Appeal from a non-final order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Lourdes Simon, Judge. Law Offices of Victor K. Rones, P.A., and Victor K. Rones and Jeremy Rones, for appellant. Koeller, Nebeker, Carlson & Haluck, LLP, and Ian P. Gillan and Justin M. Leise (Orlando), for appellees. Before SCALES, C.J., and LOGUE and BOKOR, JJ. BOKOR, J.  Amerant Bank N.A. filed and served an amended complaint against D.R. Horton, Inc. D.R. Horton failed to respond. Amerant Bank then obtained a clerk’s default and default final judgment. D.R. Horton moved for relief under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b)(1). D.R. Horton explained in its verified motion for relief that its failure to respond to the complaint resulted from clerical and calendaring errors. Those errors, combined with in-house counsel’s earlier-than-planned maternity leave, prevented the matter from being timely assigned to outside counsel for handling. The trial court granted relief; Amerant Bank appeals. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting relief from judgment because D.R. Horton established excusable neglect, demonstrated the existence of meritorious defenses to the action, and acted with due diligence. We therefore affirm. I. Background In 2021, Amerant Bank filed suit against a prior owner of a property located at 9560 SW 107 Avenue, Unit 107, Miami, Florida. Amerant Bank alleged that its predecessor entity (Mercantil Bank) issued a $77,000 standby letter of credit in 2009 and sought relief in quantum meruit and an equitable lien. Amerant Bank subsequently amended the complaint to add D.R. Horton, the current property owner since 2020 (and fifth record owner of the property since the letter of credit was issued) as a defendant. The 2 amended complaint was served on D.R. Horton’s registered agent on April 20, 2021, but D.R. Horton failed to calendar the deadline to respond or refer the matter to outside counsel. A clerk’s default was entered against D.R. Horton on May 14, 2021. In late June 2021, a title search on the property revealed the original complaint against one of the prior property owners, which complaint did not include D.R. Horton as a defendant. D.R. Horton’s in-house counsel, Cammy Kennedy, began investigating the lawsuit on June 24, 2021. 1 She didn’t get very far, as that same day she was admitted to the hospital on an emergency basis to give birth. Kennedy was on maternity leave from June 24, 2021 to September 2021. Amerant Bank moved for a default final judgment, first noticed for hearing on July 15, 2021 and then re-noticed for August 17, 2021. Both the notice and re-notice of hearing on the motion for default final judgment contain a certificate of service certifying that a copy was served on D.R. Horton’s registered agent. 2 The trial court entered a default final judgment on August 20, 2021. The default final judgment contains a notice 1 Kennedy provided an uncontested affidavit in support of the motion for relief from judgment. 2 The notices also indicate that the hearing will be conducted “via zoom video conference (link to be provided).” There is no record that the Zoom links were provided. 3 of electronic service on