Howard Housen, et al. v. Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Case No. CACE20010924

(Fourth District Court of Appeal of Florida, Jan 22, 2025 – Judge Marina Garcia-Wood)(reversing and remanding final judgment for Universal, finding that the circuit court erred when it denied plaintiffs’ motion to vacate the judgment due to excusable neglect, holding that “Under Rule 1.540(b)(1), ‘the court may relieve a party or a party’s legal representative from a final judgment’ for ‘mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect’”; that is, “Excusable neglect is found “where inaction results from clerical or secretarial error, reasonable misunderstanding, a system gone awry or any other of the foibles to which human nature is heir.”) https://supremecourt.flcourts.gov/content/download/2446173/opinion/Opinion_2023-2720.pdf