The Appeal Door

Not later than 15 days after the verdict is returned (jury) or the judgment is filed (nonjury). The motion states its basis with particularity; the court may deny it summarily or set a hearing.

SCF-2: a party seeking a judgment taxing costs or attorneys' fees serves the motion no later than 30 days after the judgment is filed (a judgment of dismissal counts) or a notice of voluntary dismissal is served. The rule's own carve-out: after a default judgment, no further motion is needed if costs or fees were sought in the statement of claim.

SCF-2: review of small-claims judgments proceeds under the appellate rules (Rule 7.230), and appellate jurisdiction is invoked by filing the notice with the clerk of the lower tribunal within 30 days of RENDITION of the order — the appellate rules' own defined trigger (Rule 9.020), and per that rule's commentary a motion postpones rendition only if it is timely, authorized, and one of those listed. A business entity cannot appear through a non-attorney in appellate proceedings; when any post-judgment motion is in play, a licensed appellate reader is the right reader.

SCF-2: an appellee may cross-appeal by serving a notice within 15 days of service of the appellant's timely notice of appeal — or within the time prescribed for the original notice of appeal, whichever is LATER (this clock computes the 15-day arm; the later-of alternative is the rule's own). Filing follows service in the same manner as a notice of appeal.

The motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and for the reasons underlying subdivisions (b)(1), (b)(2), and (b)(3) not more than 1 year after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken. A motion under this subdivision does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation.

The rule's primary command is a reasonable time; the one-year wall binds reasons (1)–(3) only — and the rule's own honesty is that the motion neither undoes finality nor suspends the judgment's operation.

A motion for new trial shall be filed not later than 15 days after return of verdict in a jury action or the date of filing of the judgment in a nonjury action.

The motion must state its basis with particularity; the court may deny it summarily or set a hearing.

The motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and for the reasons underlying subdivisions (b)(1), (b)(2), and (b)(3) not more than 1 year after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken. A motion under this subdivision does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation.

SCF-2: the rule's five grounds are mistake/inadvertence/surprise/excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, fraud or other misconduct of an adverse party, a void judgment, and a judgment satisfied or no longer equitable. Reasonable time governs all five; the one-year outer wall binds the first three only — and the rule's own honesty is that filing the motion neither undoes finality nor suspends the judgment's operation.

No execution or other final process shall issue until the judgment on which it is based has been rendered or within the time for serving a motion for new trial and, if a motion for new trial is timely served, until it is determined; provided the court may order issuance of execution or other final process at any time after judgment.

SCF-2: execution issues during the life of the judgment on the winning party's ORAL request — no written demand needed. The hold is the rule's own: final process waits out the new-trial window, and a timely new-trial motion holds it until decided — though the court may order issuance at any time after judgment.

When judgment is to be entered against a party, the judge may inquire and permit inquiry about the earnings and financial status of the party and has discretionary power to stay an entry of judgment or, if entered, to stay execution or levy on such terms as are just and in consideration of a stipulation on the part of the judgment debtor to make such payments as will ensure a periodic reduction of the judgment until it is satisfied.

SCF-2: the judge can stay judgment or execution on just terms against a payment stipulation — noted in the file or written into the judgment. Both sides' stakes are the rule's own: the debtor gets the installment path, and if installments stop, the creditor may have execution for the unpaid amount on an affidavit, without further notice.

Review of orders and judgments of the courts governed by these rules shall be prosecuted in accordance with the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure. A non-attorney may not represent a business entity in appellate proceedings.

The small-claims informality ends at the notice of appeal — appellate practice runs on its own rules, its own clocks, and (for business entities) attorneys only. The unrecorded-trial warning from the pretrial order matters here.