MIAMI – Calling the plaintiff’s allegations that his constitutional rights were violated “frivolous and insubstantial,” Judge Robert Scola of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has dismissed a local man’s lawsuit over the ownership of a property.
In his ruling, Scola said the plaintiff Tommie Lee Milton II El's lawsuit lacks any basic merit.
“The alleged violations of the plaintiff’s constitutional rights have no plausible foundation, and are insubstantial and frivolous,” the judge said in his ruling. “The plaintiff’s references to the alleged constitutional violations are made in shotgun fashion and contain little factual support.”
In his complaint, Lee alleged that on Jan. 24, 2013, he filed Return of Real Property in Attempt to Establish Adverse Possession Without Color of Title with the Florida Department of Revenue for a multimillion dollar property in Fort Lauderdale. The return of property document is a means for an individual to claim a property right in lieu of a properly executed title. In Florida it's seen in many foreclosure and squatter's rights cases.
On Jan. 25, 2013, the plaintiff claimed the individual defendants and others placed a lock on the property in question and hung a no trespassing sign. Lee then alleged that he was arrested for trying to enter the property and defamed by the defendants. Lee claimed that the title to the Fort Lauderdale property was later conveyed in violation of his due process and equal protection rights.
Scola in his ruling dismissed claims because Lee never proved he ever had an actual ownership or financial interest in the property in question. Scola also ruled that Lee’s claim for the return of property failed because he never demonstrated that he lived, owned or maintained the property for a period of at least seven years as required by Florida law.
Scola dismissed the lawsuit and ordered the clerk to close the file and declared all remaining issues moot.