RE Divisional News

County Civil Court has jurisdiction over claims up to and including $15,000. A County Civil case is any civil matter that falls within the jurisdiction of County Court. Detail may be found in Chapter 34, Florida Statutes. County Civil Court also handles: Evictions (Landlord and Tenant Action) and Small Claims (Small claims are disputes involving money damages where the amount at issue does not exceed $5,000 excluding costs, interest and attorneys' fees.)

Please review the Division RE Divisional Instructions page prior to scheduling any matters for hearing.

Effective March 19, 2018 please review the County Civil Division PIP Procedures information which can be found on the County Civil page.

Effective June 20, 2017 online scheduling must be used to schedule 8:30am UMC hearings, special set hearings 30 mins or less, and 1:30pm telephonic UMC hearings.

Please Note: Division RE does not accept e-filed orders, e-service of documents or faxes unless specifically requested by Judge Perez. All hearing notices and proposed orders must be submitted via us mail (Except those described in the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Procedure).

Please click the Suspension Calendar link and make note of suspension dates prior to setting any UMC hearings.

Submission of Documents

PLEASE NOTE: Pursuant to the linked Supreme Court Administrative Order SC14-721, effective January 1, 2015 Division RE is unable to accept the documents listed below if they are not in complete compliance with said Administrative Order with regard to margins, page numbering, fonts, recording stamp spaces etc.

  • Verdict
  • Judgment
  • Final Judgment
  • Summary Final Judgment
  • Default Final Judgment
  • Order Vacating Final Judgment
  • Order of Dismissal
  • Order Amending Final Judgment
  • Order of Taking (eminent domain)

Receipt of Documentation

Effective July 17, 2015: due to the clerk office's no longer printing documents for the court file, any complaint, return of service, answer or pleading filed by either party must be brought to court by the parties at the time of hearing and/or pretrial conference.

A courtesy copy of any document, stipulation, notice etc that has been efiled must be mailed directly to the judge at 205 North Dixie Highway West Palm Beach, FL 33401 for her to properly receive notice. Notices of cancellation and/or stips will only be accepted by fax if the hearing is in the next few days otherwise please mail to us and/or file with the clerk.

Cancellations/Settlements

If your case settles or your motion is resolved prior to hearing/trial and you are the party that prepared the Notice of Hearing, please cancel the hearing via the Online Scheduling System (if scheduled online), file your Notice of Cancellation/Settlement and mail or fax 561-355-6255 a copy to the Judge as soon as possible so that the allotted trial time may be reassigned to someone else.

If this matter was set for trial/hearing by the Court, please mail or fax your notice of settlement or voluntary dismissal.  All proposed Orders Approving/Ratifying must be submitted to the Judge via US Mail with sufficient copies and self addressed stamped envelopes for all parties (this DOES NOT apply to matters where a dismissal has been filed).

(DO NOT SUBMIT ANY DOCUMENTATION VIA EMAIL UNLESS REQUESTED)

The mailing address is:

205 North Dixie Highway,
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

Please do not send attachments via email or documents faxed without authorization as they will not be reviewed or considered.

PLEASE NOTE: Please do not call or email to inquire whether the Judge has signed a particular order or has received any document or pleading. We are unable to answer such questions at the present time because of the enormous volume of phone calls and mail received daily.

Further, once an Order is signed by the Judge, the copies are conformed and mailed out to the parties; the original Order is then sent to the Clerk for docketing. We do not keep track of Orders once they leave our office and will not know if/when an Order was signed until it appears on the Clerk's docket. We also have no idea of how long this process will take.

We appreciate your cooperation and patience. You may wish to do the due diligence of checking the docket or contact the Clerk of Courts. If your Order does not appear in the Clerk's system within 14 days of being submitted to our office, you may wish to resubmit the documents.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to their time sensitive nature, hearings on Evictions, Replevin, as well as Claim of Exemption & Objections To, as well as Motions for Rehearing/Reconsideration, are scheduled by the Court in the regular course of business. These matters are typically scheduled for hearing within a week of the Court receiving same from the Clerk.

ATTORNEYS: Please file any and all Notices of Unavailability as well as telephonic appearance requests with the Clerk immediately upon filing your Complaint for Eviction/Answer any motions relating to evictions, Claim of Exemptions and/or Objections or other motions being set on an expedited basis. Also submit any proposed Final Judgments to Judge Perez with self-addressed stamped envelopes for all parties for her consideration and/or scheduling.

Please note: if you are trying to reach Judge Perez's office and receive a response from or voicemail for Audrie Leo, judge Bonavita's ja, there is nothing wrong with the phones. Audrie occasionally provides phone coverage for our office. Leave a detailed message and your call will be returned.

Effective immediately, prior to appearing in Court or filing any document with the Court in any case or proceeding, counsel shall file a Notice of Appearance if that attorney has not filed the first paper or pleading in the case or is not already counsel of record. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.505(e).