W. R. Lovett v. J. M. Lee, as State Comptroller, and Rex Sweat, as Sheriff of Duval County; B. & B. Holding Company…

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida reversed the Circuit Court's decree, holding that a landlord's lien for unpaid rent on personal property kept on the leased premises is superior to the Chain Store tax lien created by filing and docketing the Comptroller's warrant. The Court reasoned that the statutory language limits the tax lien's priority to mortgages or other liens filed or recorded after the warrant's docketing, and that landlord liens, which do not require filing, vest earlier. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with this interpretation.