## Facts

- Lawrence Fishbein acquired a Palm Beach house subject to an existing mortgage and later executed additional mortgages; Deborah Fishbein joined in at least one later mortgage acknowledging prior liens.
- During dissolution proceedings, Lawrence obtained a $1.2 million loan from Palm Beach Savings & Loan Association secured by a new mortgage on the house.
- The lender allowed Lawrence to obtain Deborah’s signature outside the lender’s presence; Lawrence forged Deborah’s signature without her knowledge.
- About $930,000 of the loan proceeds was used to pay off three existing mortgages and property taxes; the remaining proceeds were used by Lawrence for other purposes.
- In the divorce matter, a property settlement was later set aside for fraud, and the house was awarded to Deborah nunc pro tunc; the lender’s mortgage went into default and the lender filed foreclosure.
- In the foreclosure case, the parties stipulated that, at the time of the lender’s loan, Deborah’s interest in the property was limited to a homestead interest.

## Issues

1. Whether a lender may obtain an equitable lien against homestead property when its loan proceeds, advanced under a mortgage invalid due to a forged spousal signature, were used to satisfy prior valid mortgages and taxes on the homestead.
2. Whether imposing such an equitable lien violates Florida’s constitutional homestead protection when the non-forging spouse did not participate in the fraud.

## Decision

- The Florida Supreme Court quashed the district court’s decision and reinstated the trial court’s judgment.
- The Court held the mortgage was unenforceable against Deborah’s homestead interest because her signature was forged.
- The Court nevertheless imposed an equitable lien on the homestead in favor of the lender, limited to the amounts of loan proceeds used to discharge the prior valid mortgages and unpaid taxes.
- The Court denied lien relief for the portion of the loan proceeds diverted to Lawrence’s personal purposes.

## Legal Principles

- Florida homestead property is generally protected from forced sale, subject to constitutional exceptions (including taxes and certain obligations tied to purchase or improvement of the homestead).
- A forged mortgage is invalid as to the homestead interest of the spouse whose signature was forged.
- Equity may impose an equitable lien (or allow equitable subrogation) on homestead property to prevent unjust enrichment when a lender’s funds directly discharge prior valid encumbrances and taxes that could have been enforced against the homestead.
- The equitable remedy is limited to the measurable benefit conferred on the homestead; it does not enforce the forged instrument or permit recovery of sums not used to satisfy valid liens or taxes.

## Conclusion

The court permitted a limited equitable lien against homestead property where a lender’s funds, though advanced under a mortgage invalid due to a forged spousal signature, paid off prior enforceable mortgages and taxes; denying reimbursement would have allowed the homeowner to retain the homestead free of those debts at the lender’s expense.


Palm Beach Sav. & Loan Ass’n, F.S.A. v. Fishbein, 619 So. 2d 267 (Fla. 1993)