Legal Question in Administrative Law in Florida

Re: Small Claims Court

If defendant does not show up, this is a good thing for plaintiff.

If the defendant does not show up, and plaintiff does show up, then plaintiff will get a "default judgment". This means that plaintiff will win. If the plaintiff asked for a specific dollar amount in the complaint, then a judgment will be entered for that dollar amount.

This is assuming that defendant was properly notified of the court case and hearing, defendant was named in the complaint, and a cause of action was alleged against the defendant.

Defendant may be able to appeal a default judgment by showing that they were not properly notified of the hearing, that the complaint did not allege a cause of action against them, or possibly by explaining why they did not attend the hearing.