Martha A. Thomas and Archibald Johns Thomas, III, Esquire v. Cyprex Holdings, LLC, and Turnkey Asset Management & Maintenance, Inc.

── Martha A. Thomas and Archibald Johns Thomas, III, Esquire v. Cyprex Holdings, LLC, and Turnkey Asset Management & Maintenance, Inc. ── Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida Date: May 22, 2026 Category: General FIFTH DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA __________________________________ Case No. 5D2025-2070 LT Case No. 55-2021-CA-1298 __________________________________ MARTHA A. THOMAS and ARCHIBALD JOHN THOMAS, III, ESQUIRE, Appellants, v. CYPRESS HOLDINGS, LLC, and TURNKEY ASSET MANAGEMENT & MAINTENANCE, INC., Appellees. _______________________________ On appeal from the Circuit Court for St. Johns County. Howard Mason Maltz, Judge. Archibald J. Thomas, III, of Archibald J. Thomas, III, P.A., Jacksonville Beach, for Appellants. No Appearance for Appellees. May 22, 2026 PER CURIAM. Martha A. Thomas and Archibald J. Thomas, III (“Appellants”) appeal the trial court’s dismissal of their second amended complaint without prejudice. Appellants contend that the record is insufficient to support the ultimate sanction of dismissal. They argue the trial court erred by failing to evaluate the factors established in Kozel v. Ostendorf, 629 So. 2d 817 (Fla. 1993), to determine if the sanction was justified and, if so, whether a less severe alternative would have been more appropriate. We agree and reverse. I. On November 16, 2021, Appellants initiated an action by filing a complaint against two Defendants, DGG Re Investments, LLC d/b/a Guardian Asset Management (“DGG”) and Cyprex Holdings, LLC (“Cyprex”). The complaint alleged various causes of action against the Defendants for breaking into Appellants’ beach home multiple times without Appellants’ knowledge or consent and otherwise without legal justification. Specifically, Appellants alleged that on various dates beginning on December 11, 2020, employees and agents of Defendants broke into a residence owned by Appellants and either removed or destroyed most of the furniture and personal property located inside the residence. It appears from the pleadings that the Defendants went to Appellants’ home by mistake as they were hired to clean up a bank foreclosed property next door but instead broke into Appellants’ home. On December 30, 2022, Cyprex’s legal counsel withdrew, and on January 25, 2024, a judicial default was entered against Cyprex due to its failure to retain substitute counsel. Subsequently, a Second Amended Complaint was filed by written consent adding Turnkey Asset Management & Maintenance, Inc. (“Turnkey”) as another party. Mediation was conducted in July 2024 between Appellants and DGG; however, Cyprex failed to appear. Turnkey had not yet been served with the Second Amended Complaint at the time of mediation and did not participate in this mediation. Based on the mediation, DGG and Appellants settled and a voluntary dismissal was filed dismissing DGG from the case. The court indicated it would set a case management conference after the window for service on Turnkey expired. Appellants struggled to serve Turnkey as they alleged Turnkey was avoiding service of process. However, after a lengthy process, Turnkey was served with the Second Amended Complaint 2 and added as a party. Six days after service of process on Turnkey, an order was entered scheduling the trial, directing certain pretrial procedures, and setting a docket sounding for June 9, 2025. Appellants’ counsel failed to appear for the docket sounding, but Turnkey’s counsel appeared at the docket sounding. Subsequently, the trial court entered an order dismissing the case for Appellants’ failure to appear at the docket sounding. The order stated the purpose of the docket sounding was to determine the parties’ readiness for trial and to provide a specific time and date for the trial. The order also noted that Appellants’ counsel failed to appear for the docket sounding and was not excused from attendance. The court dismissed the action without prejudice and ordered the case clos