Florida's Unique Lien Treatment of Horses

Both owners of horses and businesses who provide feed, care, and/or stables to horses should become keenly aware of some unique and strange rules regarding liens on horses.  Owners should be especially careful to remain current on all amounts owed because if they fall behind on payments, the stable could sell the horse without notice to the owner to satisfy the debt as soon as one month from the beginning of the debt.

Florida law provides a lien for “all persons feeding or caring for the horse or other animal of another, including all keepers of livery, sale or feed or feed stables, for feeding or taking care of any horse or other animal put in their charge; upon such horse or other animal.”  Fla. Stat. §713.65 (2016).  Where there is privity (a legally recognized relationship) between the parties, such as through a contract, a lienor has the right to execute upon that lien through judicial action requiring sale of the property described by the lien and/or a general action for damages that can be executed upon the property covered by the lien.  Fla. Stat. §85.011 (2016).  

However, there is an additional method for lienors to recover amounts owed for the care and feeding of horses.  Any person with a Claim of Lien for feeding or caring of horse(s) may recover money owed by selling the horse(s) without judicial proceedings.  Fla. Stat. §85.031(2) (2016).  This method is generally preferable for the stable/caregiver because it avoids court costs, attorney’s fees, and the delay and formalities of trial.  

In order to utilize a sale without judicial proceedings, the lienor must “give public notice of the time and place thereof, by notices posted for 10 days in 3 public places in the county, one of which shall be at the courthouse, and another in some conspicuous part of his or her shop or place of business.”  Id.  While there are no specific statutory requirements for the public notices, similar notices for other public sales generally require the time and location of the sale; a detailed description of the animal(s) being sold; and the amount of the debt.  There is no statutory requirement to provide the debtor/owner with personal notice of the sale.  Id.  Once a minimum of three months have passed since the debt began, the owner of the horse may demand possession of the horse from the lienor.  Associates Commercial Corp. v. Ross, 465 So. 2d 663, 664 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1985).  The lienor can still bring judicial action to enforce the lien and force a sale but loses the ability to hold a nonjudicial sale once three months have passed and the owner has demanded possession of the horse.  Id. at 665.  There is a continuing duty for the lienor to mitigate damages while in possession of the horse and the lienor may refuse to provide possession of the horse to the owner for up to three months as leverage for payment of the debt owed.  Id. at 664.

Any amounts received from the sale in excess of the amount claimed under the lien must “be deposited with the clerk of the circuit court for the county, if the owner is absent, where they shall remain subject to the order of the person legally entitled thereto. The clerk shall be entitled to receive 5 percent on the proceeds for the care and disbursement thereof.”  Id.  Thus, a lienor may not profit from the nonjudicial sale.