HANSARD CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION, a Florida corporation, and Jeffrey A. Burley, Appellants/Cross-Appellees,
v.
RITE AID OF FLORIDA, INC., a Florida corporation, Rite Aid of N.C., Inc., a foreign corporation, Rite Aid Corporation, a foreign corporation, and Barry A. Hansard, Appellees/Cross-Appellants.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.
*308 Ronald P. Gossett of Gossett & Gossett, P.A., Hollywood, for appellants/cross-appellees.
Randall L. Leshin of the Law Offices of Randall L. Leshin, Pompano Beach, for appellees/cross-appellants.
STEVENSON, J.
In this appeal and cross-appeal of a final judgment following a jury trial in a civil action involving a multi-count complaint, a counter-claim and a crossclaim, we affirm and write only to briefly discuss the propriety of the trial court's submission of count III of the counterclaim, a statutory fraudulent transfer action, to the jury.
Questions regarding the right to a jury trial should be resolved in favor of a jury trial, if possible. See King Mountain Condo. Ass'n v. Gundlach,
[I]t is well established that where the right or remedy is equitable in nature there is no right to a jury trial. Hawkins v. Rellim Inv. Co.,92 Fla. 784 ,110 So. 350 (Fla.1926); Hathorne v. Panama Park Co.,44 Fla. 194 ,32 So. 812 (Fla.1902); Hughes v. Hannah,39 Fla. 365 ,22 So. 613 (Fla.1897); Wiggins v. Williams,36 Fla. 637 ,18 So. 859 (Fla. 1896). Thus, actions in equity do not fall within the protection of Article I, Section 22, of the Florida Constitution (1968) guaranteeing the right to a jury trial.
Robbins v. Section 3 Prop. Corp.,
Appellants argue that the trial court erred in submitting count III of the counterclaim to the jury since appellees sought only equitable, statutory remedies under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, chapter 726, Florida Statutes (1999). Contrary to appellees' claim, the record discloses that, in the complaint, appellants sought "any relief available" and, at trial, asked for monetary damages in regard to this claim. Section 726.108(1)(c)(3) provides that a movant may, in addition to the remedies specifically enumerated, be entitled to "[a]ny other relief the circumstances may require." Despite the fact that the other remedies set forth in the Act are equitable in nature, we find this catchall provision sufficiently broad to encompass the monetary judgment sought by appellants. Section 726.112 provides that Florida's Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act "shall be applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform *309 the law with respect to the subject of the law among states enacting it." At least one other jurisdiction which has considered the issue head-on concluded, as we have, that a plaintiff may recover money damages against the transferor under the so-called catchall provision, section 726.108(1)(c)(3), of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act. See Profeta v. Lombardo,
We have considered the other issues raised on appeal and cross-appeal and find no error.
AFFIRMED.
GUNTHER and POLEN, JJ., concur.
NOTES
Notes
[1] The State of Maine also allows for money damages to be awarded against the transferor in an action under its Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act. However, the UFTA, as enacted in Maine, contains a specific provision stating that the creditor may obtain "[d]amages in an amount not to exceed double the value of the property transferred or concealed." 14 M.S.R.A. § 3578(1)(C)(3); see also Handy Boat Serv., Inc. v. Prof'l Servs., Inc.,
[2] Historically, actions to recover fraudulent conveyances were conducted before a jury if money or chattel were involved. See Granfinanciera, S.A. v. Nordberg,
