TALLAHASSEE – With Florida among the slowest states to wade out of the post-boom foreclosure morass, lawmakers in Tallahassee have proposed a number of bills to speed up the process of property seizures. Two that have the backing of both the state’s banking industry and Florida Realtors, are House Bill 87 and Senate Bill 1666,…
Thousands of homes languishing in foreclosure are a real problem for Florida. But lawmakers aiming to clear the logjam should resist legislation that would speed up the legal process at the expense of consumers. Instead, resources should be directed toward rectifying unfair loan practices; helping “underwater” homeowners; assisting condominium and homeowner associations as they deal…
Many landlords and tenants are unaware that a landlord cannot cause any utility in a rental unit to be turned off while a tenant is in possession of the unit, even if the tenant is not paying rent. Section 83.67(1) of the Florida Statutes states: A landlord of any dwelling unit governed by this…
As of July 1, 2013, Chapter 83, Part II of the Florida Statutes was substantially revised. Chapter 83 is the section that governs landlord-tenant relations. Part II deals with residential as opposed to commercial leases. As part of the revision to this law, there are certain notices and disclosures that are required to be in…
Chapter 509 of the Florida Statues deals with lodging. Generally speaking, lodging refers to hotels, motels, and inns. The term also includes other forms of lodging as well. The main types of lodging are Transient public lodging establishments and Nontransient public lodging establishments. Transient public lodging establishments are defined by Chapter 509 as being rented…
On Friday, June 7, 2013, Governor Rick Scott signed The Florida Fair Foreclosure Act, which made many substantive changes to how foreclosures must be conducted in the state. The primary focus of the Act is residential real estate foreclosures, however, a number of the new foreclosure requirements also relate to commercial real estate foreclosures. Section…
Florida Law Provides for the notice a homeowners’ association must give to its members of any meetings of the Board or Directors. Florida law also provides for who has the right to attend these meetings. Section 720.303 of the Florida Statutes states: 2) Board meetings.– (a) A meeting of the board of directors of an…
The amount of fees to which a prevailing party is entitled in any lawsuit where they are at issue are calculated following a method laid out by the Florida Supreme Court in Florida Patient’s Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So.2d 1145 (Fla.1985). This method is often referred to as the “lodestar” method because the Court…
This question used to come up quite often in the early days of the foreclosure boom; however, the courts put this question to bed a long time ago. If the only issue is the pending foreclosure, the tenant does not have the right to unilaterally terminate the lease agreement. Additionally, the tenant is required to…
A proposal for settlement in Florida can be filed by either party to a lawsuit. Section 768.79 of the Florida Statutes provides for the proposal for settlement, a/k/a offer of judgment. Proposals for settlement are most often used in personal injury cases; however, they can be utilized in other cases as well. The proposal itself…
Landlords often make the mistake of not considering whether they need to provide their former tenants the security deposit notice required under Florida law after the tenants are evicted. It is rare that anything happens to the Landlord as a result. The reason seems to be that once a tenant is evicted, they may think…
On Friday, June 7, 2013, Governor Rick Scott signed The Florida Fair Foreclosure Act, which made many substantive changes to how foreclosures must be conducted in the state. One of those changes affected the statute of limitation regarding the bank/lender’s ability to pursue deficiency judgments after a home is sold through a foreclosure auction. What…