SIMPLE E-FILE WITH FEES A Guide for Attorneys 1

Introduction The Brevard Clerk of Courts is accepting eFiled documents from registered attorneys for both new and existing cases. E-filed documents are accepted via the State of Florida’s Statewide E- Filing Court Records Portal – also known as ePortal per Supreme Court Order (AOSC 09-30). Prior to utilizing the State of Florida ePortal, the filer must create an account by accessing the ePortal’s log-in page at: 2

Log In/Create Account To Create a new account for e-Filing: Click Register Now! Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your account. If you are a registered User: Type your assigned User Name and Password. Click 3

Filing Options Click the menu. Brevard County is accepting new cases and existing pleadings by using. You may utilize the icons on the upper right for other options: My Trial Court Filings – View a list of your e-filings on the ePortal. This is the default display after a successful log on. Log – View a list of status s received from the ePortal in date order. My Appellate Court Files – File subsequent pleading on Appellant cases. Simple E-File With Fees – File pleadings for a new case and subsequent pleadings on an existing case. 4

Simple E-File With Fees Enter the New Case Information: Select Type of Court, County and Division from the drop down menus. Check the box for New Case Case Type – Same as Division 5 **Note: The grey area is for existing cases only

6 Sub Type – Select from the drop down menu based on the division selected. **Note** Do not use the Sub Type beginning with a number on new case filings; these Sub Types were used for cases filed prior to 2010.

Total # Defendants: Enter the number of Defendants listed on the Complaint/Petition. The fee of $2.50 will calculate for each defendant over five. # of Units: Enter the number of Timeshare units. Lis Pendens (# of Pages): Enter the total number of pages of the document. Names Considered for Indexing: Enter the total number of Plaintiffs and Defendants, including DBA, AKA, Unknown Tenant #1, etc. Do not include additional Tenants, unknown spouses, unknown beneficiaries, or other unknowns. Depending on the case type for filing – additional fee Options will display. 7

Click Adding Documents 8

Document Group: Select the applicable Document Group from the options available. Document Type: Select a Document Type from the options available for selected group. Initial case filings will typically begin with a Civil Cover Sheet and a Complaint or Petition. Additional documents from other document groups may also be filed with the initiating documents. 9

# Pages: Enter number of pages of the document. Select Document: Click to select the document from your computer. (Use only MS Word 97 or higher, Word Perfect, or Adobe PDF format. Also, attach only one file per pleading. For example, if filing a Complaint, Civil Cover Sheet, and summons, attach three separate files.) Click Repeat the process above for as many documents as necessary. 10 Click to view the document prior to submission. Click to edit document information. Click to remove the entire entry.

11 eFiling a Summons A summons may be eFiled using the ePortal. a.The summons is filed as: Document Group: Writ Document Type: EPORTAL SUMMONS. Each summons must be filed as a separate document. a. There is a filing fee of $10.00 for each Document Type: EPORTAL SUMMONS. The clerk will an issued summons to the Attorney’s primary address.

Pay the new case filing fees: Select the desired method of payment – Enter new credit card/bank account information. Credit card and/or account routing information may be saved for future use by checking the.. There is a 3% statutory convenience fee for payments made via credit card. The statutory convenience fee for payments made via electronic check (direct debit from a bank account) is $

Request fee Waiver The appropriate affidavit must be attached for the clerk’s review and approval if selecting this option. Emergency Filing Only click the for use to identify filings that are true emergencies. For example: Matters of extreme urgency, matters of life and death, and/or instances of irreparable harm. If applicable, check the box. A red exclamation will appear in the clerk of court’s queues. 13

Verify the application of fees based on the document filings. Click the once the verification is complete and the information is accurate. Confirmations A filer receives a total of three Confirmations during the filing process: Upon submission, the filer will receive a confirmation message in the portal noting the new case has been received by our office. The notice provides the filing reference number This is the number to use prior to a case number being assigned by the Clerk. 14

15 The filer receives an regarding the filing in their account registered to their ePortal profile. The is also listed in the Log/Notifications on the ePortal.

16 Once the Clerk completes the review, the filer will receive an confirming acceptance by the Clerk or notification of return of the eFile to the filer. An accepted eFile is assigned a case number.

eFiling for Existing Cases Click the menu. Brevard County is accepting new cases and existing pleadings by using 17

To eFile a subsequent document for an existing case:  Select Type of Court, County and Division from the drop down menus.  Enter the 12 digit case number as indicated:  The Case Type, Case Title, Case Status, and additional fee options display. 18

 Total # Defendants – Enter the number of Defendants listed on the Complaint/Petition. The fee of $2.50 will calculate for each defendant over five.  # of Units - Enter the number of Timeshare units.  Lis Pendens (# of Pages) – Enter the total number of pages of the document.  Names Considered for Indexing – Enter the total number of Plaintiffs Defendants, including DBA, AKA, Unknown Tenant #1, etc. Do not include additional Tenants, unknown spouses, unknown beneficiaries, or other unknowns. Additional Fee Options: Attach a Document: 19

 Document Group: Select document group from the drop down box (Ex: Select Notice for a Notice Cancel Hearing  Document Type: Select document type from the drop down box (Ex: Select Notice Cancel Hearing  # Pages: Enter the # of pages for the document.  Select Document: click the icon to upload your file. ( Documents should be MS Word 97 or higher, Word Perfect or adobe PDF format. Also, attach only one file per pleading. For example, if filing Notice Cancel hearing, and a Eportal Summons; attach two separate files.)  Click on  Repeat for each document being Efiled. Example of screen after documents have been uploaded 20

Payment Screen: The payment screen displays the total filing fees. To pay filing fees:  Select the desired method of payment (Saved Credit Card, Saved Account or enter new credit card or bank information).  Fee Waiver: When selecting the request for Fee waiver box, the appropriate Affidavit must be attached for clerk review and approval if selecting this option.  Emergency Filing: Only for use to identify filings that are true emergencies.  21

Filing Confirmation: Upon submission, you will receive a message in the portal noting that the filing has been received by our office. Confirmation You will receive a confirmation to the address you provided in your registration. This can be used for inquiries to our office and also provides you with the filing date and time. 22

23 Final confirmation: You will receive a final that verifies your filing has been accepted.

24 When information has been submitted electronically through the Florida Courts E-Portal, the Clerk will review the filed document. During the review process, if a determination is made that the document filed is not acceptable, the clerk will place that entire transaction of the filing # received into a pending queue. A filing may be placed in a pending queue for any reason that prevents the filing from being accepted into the clerk’s case maintenance system, e.g. a corrupt file; incorrect case number; a poor image, wrong county etc. When a filing is moved to the pending queue, the filer will receive an that notes the case number, name, and reason for the return. The filing will remain in the pending queue up to five business days, after which time the filing will be moved to the Judicial Review Queue. The filer will receive an additional e- mail stating “no further ePortal actions may be taken on this filing except viewing and/or printing from the filings menu to accommodate your local Judicial Review process”. Resubmissions

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26 Log into the statewide portal. Select “My Filings” from the drop down menu under Filing Options. Change the date range to capture the filings made that have been returned to your pending queue. Click refresh, and a report will display.

27 In the status column, “Pending Queue” is highlighted in purple. Click on the link in the Filing # column. The Filing # link will take you to the Case Information. On the document tab, you can remove an incorrect document or add a new document. Once completed, click save/submit. a.If you a document and replace it with another, the new document will receive a new electronically filed timestamp. b.If you add a new document to the filing, the new document will receive a new electronically filed timestamp. c.If you replace a document by using, the document will keep the same electronically filed timestamp. Once you click submit, the previous filing is removed from the Pending Queue and is ready for normal processing. The status on the “My Filings” page will also update. If the filings are not resubmitted within the five days, on the sixth day, the filings are moved to the “Filed for Judicial Review” status. An will be sent to the filer notifying the action that was taken.

28 If a payment was made for a new case or pleadings that requires a fee and the filing is returned to you in the pending queue, another payment must be resubmitted. a)Regardless of electronic check or credit card, the actual payment does not occur until the clerk processes the filing locally. A notification will be sent to the filer. b)Credit Card: the moment the Submit button is clicked on the portal, a hold is placed on the account for the amount noted. Once the pleading is resubmitted via the pending queue, the filer will need to enter their payment information again and a second hold will be placed on the account, etc. Holds will stay in place until the clerk process the resubmission locally. When the filing is accepted and completed, the final hold will become the payment and the other holds will be removed. The time it takes to remove the additional holds will depend on the filers bank. c)Electronic check: There is no hold for electronic checks. Once the Clerk accepts and completes the filing, the payment is processed through ACH (Automated Clearing House).

29 Frequently Asked Questions Q: Why would the clerk move my filing to the Pending Queue? A: If it is filed in the wrong county, if the image is not readable, or if the case type is incorrect. Q: If I do not correct my pleading that was moved to the Pending Queue and there was a fee associated with it, will the fee still be charged? A: No, when the pleading is moved to Judicial Review after the five days, the fee will not be charged. Q: What happens when the clerk does not approve the fee waiver request? A: The clerk will assess the fee due and mail a Notice of Payment Due. Q: What format should be used on the ePortal for the case number? A: In order to search and find a case on the ePortal, the case number must be in the following format: 4 digit year (2013, 2012, etc…) 6 digit case sequence (001999) 2 digit case type (DR, CA, CC, CP)

30 Q: Is there a charge to use the ePortal? A: Payment for statutory filing fees or costs paid though the Florida ePortal includes an additional credit card or bankePortal transaction fee. These are convenience fees established to offset the use of electronic funds transfers, whether using a credit, charge or debit card, or an ACH transaction. The ePortalePortal accepts MasterCard, Discover, and American Express cards at a rate of 3 percent. VISA is not accepted. The fee for an ACH transaction is a $3.00 flat fee. Q: How do I sign an electronic document? A: A submission by a registered user is not required to bear the electronic image of the handwritten signature or an encrypted signature of the filer. Instead, the requirement of a signature on an electronically filed document may be met as follows: s/ John Doe John Doe ( address) Bar Number Attorney for (Plaintiff/Defendant) XYZ Company ABC Law Firm 123 South Street Orlando, FL Telephone: (407) See Florida Supreme Court AOSC09-30 for more informationAOSC09-30

31 Q: How will the ePortal provide access to filings once the Clerk accepts them? A: The ePortal provides access to filings “in progress” only. Once the filing is accepted and filed in the local Case Maintenance System, this becomes the official court record just like the current paper process. Original filings are retained at the portal for a brief period and then removed. Permanent access to these documents is provided through the Clerk’s Office. Q: Who do I contact if I need assistance with my ePortal account? A: For technical support, including password resets, contact the Florida Association of Court Clerks' Services Group at or assistance with a filing, such as an inquiry regarding a filing or a case, please contact our office. Q: How will the ePortal store the filing stamp? A: A document shall be deemed to be filed on the date and time when the electronic filing is received at the ePortal.

32 Resources: FCCC e-Portal Support address: AccessStandardsJan2013v8.pdf