Florida Senate - 2011                                     SB 918
       
       
       
       By Senator Bogdanoff
       
       
       
       
       25-00955-11                                            2011918__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to adverse possession; amending s.
    3         95.18, F.S.; specifying that occupation and
    4         maintenance of property satisfies requirements for
    5         possession for purposes of gaining title to property
    6         via adverse possession without color of title;
    7         requiring a person seeking property by adverse
    8         possession to use a uniform adverse possession return
    9         provided by the Department of Revenue; requiring the
   10         property appraiser to notify the owner of record of an
   11         adverse possession claim; requiring a person claiming
   12         adverse possession to attest to the truthfulness of
   13         the information provided in the return under penalty
   14         of perjury; authorizing the Department of Revenue to
   15         adopt emergency rules; requiring that the property
   16         appraiser add certain information related to the
   17         adverse possession claim to the parcel information on
   18         the tax roll and prescribing conditions for removal of
   19         that information; prescribing procedures and
   20         requirements for adverse possession claims against a
   21         portion of an identified parcel or against property to
   22         which the property appraiser has not assigned a parcel
   23         number; requiring the property appraiser to include a
   24         notation of an adverse possession filing in any
   25         searchable property database maintained by the
   26         property appraiser; amending s. 197.212, F.S.;
   27         excluding property subject to adverse possession
   28         claims without color of title from provisions
   29         authorizing the tax collector not to send a tax notice
   30         for minimum tax bills; creating s. 197.3335, F.S.;
   31         requiring the tax collector to determine whether a
   32         duplicate tax payment is made by an adverse possessor;
   33         providing for priority of tax payments made by an
   34         owner of record who is subject to an adverse
   35         possession claim; providing for a refund of tax
   36         payments under certain conditions; providing for
   37         retroactive application of certain provisions
   38         governing procedures for administering a claim of
   39         adverse possession and establishing tax priority for
   40         owners of record; providing an effective date.
   41  
   42  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   43  
   44         Section 1. Section 95.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   45  read:
   46         95.18 Real property actions; adverse possession without
   47  color of title.—
   48         (1) When the occupant has, or those under whom the occupant
   49  claims have, been in actual continued occupation of real
   50  property for 7 years under a claim of title exclusive of any
   51  other right, but not founded on a written instrument, judgment,
   52  or decree, the property actually occupied is shall be held
   53  adversely if the person claiming adverse possession made a
   54  return, as required under subsection (3), of the property by
   55  proper legal description to the property appraiser of the county
   56  where it is located within 1 year after entering into possession
   57  and has subsequently paid, subject to s. 197.3335, all taxes and
   58  matured installments of special improvement liens levied against
   59  the property by the state, county, and municipality.
   60         (2) For the purpose of this section, property is shall be
   61  deemed to be possessed if the property has been in the following
   62  cases only:
   63         (a) When it has been Protected by substantial enclosure;.
   64         (b) When it has been usually Cultivated or improved in a
   65  usual manner; or.
   66         (c)Occupied and maintained.
   67         (3)A person claiming adverse possession under this section
   68  must make a return of the property by providing to the property
   69  appraiser a uniform return on a form provided by the Department
   70  of Revenue. The return must include all of the following:
   71         (a)The name and address of the person claiming adverse
   72  possession.
   73         (b)The date that the person claiming adverse possession
   74  entered into possession of the property.
   75         (c)A full and complete legal description of the property
   76  that is subject to the adverse possession claim.
   77         (d)A notarized attestation clause that states:
   78         UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I DECLARE THAT I HAVE READ
   79         THE FOREGOING RETURN AND THAT THE FACTS STATED IN IT
   80         ARE TRUE AND CORRECT.
   81         (e)A description of the use of the property by the person
   82  claiming adverse possession.
   83         (f)A receipt to be completed by the property appraiser.
   84  
   85  The property appraiser shall refuse to accept a return if it
   86  does not comply with this subsection. The executive director of
   87  the Department of Revenue is authorized, and all conditions are
   88  deemed met, to adopt emergency rules under ss. 120.536(1) and
   89  120.54(4) for the purpose of implementing this subsection. The
   90  emergency rules shall remain in effect for 6 months after
   91  adoption and may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to
   92  adopt rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules.
   93         (4)Upon the submission of a return, the property appraiser
   94  shall:
   95         (a)Send, via regular mail, a copy of the return to the
   96  owner of record of the property that is subject to the adverse
   97  possession claim, as identified by the property appraiser’s
   98  records.
   99         (b)Inform the owner of record that, under s. 197.3335, any
  100  tax payment made by the owner of record before April 1 following
  101  the year in which the tax is assessed will have priority over
  102  any tax payment made by an adverse possessor.
  103         (c)Add a notation at the beginning of the first line of
  104  the legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession
  105  claim has been submitted.
  106         (d)Maintain the return in the property appraiser’s
  107  records.
  108         (5)(a)If a person makes a claim of adverse possession
  109  under this section against a portion of a parcel of property
  110  identified by a unique parcel identification number in the
  111  property appraiser’s records:
  112         1.The person claiming adverse possession shall include in
  113  the return submitted under subsection (3) a full and complete
  114  legal description of the property sufficient to enable the
  115  property appraiser to identify the portion of the property
  116  subject to the adverse possession claim.
  117         2.The property appraiser may refuse to accept the return
  118  if the portion of the property subject to the claim cannot be
  119  identified by the legal description provided in the return, and
  120  the person claiming adverse possession must obtain a survey of
  121  the portion of the property subject to the claim in order to
  122  submit the return.
  123         (b) Upon submission of the return, the property appraiser
  124  shall follow the procedures under subsection (4), and may not
  125  create a unique parcel identification number for the portion of
  126  property subject to the claim.
  127         (c)The property appraiser shall assign a fair and just
  128  value to the portion of the property, as provided in s. 193.011,
  129  and provide this value to the tax collector to facilitate tax
  130  payment under s. 197.3335(3).
  131         (6)(a)If a person makes a claim of adverse possession
  132  under this section against property to which the property
  133  appraiser has not assigned a parcel identification number:
  134         1.The person claiming adverse possession must include in
  135  the return submitted under subsection (3) a full and complete
  136  legal description of the property which is sufficient to enable
  137  the property appraiser to identify the property subject to the
  138  adverse possession claim.
  139         2.The property appraiser may refuse to accept a return if
  140  the property subject to the claim cannot be identified by the
  141  legal description provided in the return, and the person
  142  claiming adverse possession must obtain a survey of the property
  143  subject to the claim in order to submit the return.
  144         (b)Upon submission of the return, the property appraiser
  145  shall:
  146         1. Assign a parcel identification number to the property
  147  and assign a fair and just value to the property as provided in
  148  s. 193.011;
  149         2.Add a notation at the beginning of the first line of the
  150  legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession
  151  claim has been submitted; and
  152         3.Maintain the return in the property appraiser’s records.
  153         (7)A property appraiser must remove the notation to the
  154  legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession
  155  claim has been submitted and shall remove the return from the
  156  property appraiser’s records if:
  157         (a)The person claiming adverse possession notifies the
  158  property appraiser in writing that the adverse possession claim
  159  is withdrawn;
  160         (b)The owner of record provides a certified copy of a
  161  court order, entered after the date the return was submitted to
  162  the property appraiser, establishing title in the owner of
  163  record;
  164         (c)The property appraiser receives a certified copy of a
  165  recorded deed, filed after the date of the submission of the
  166  return, from the person claiming adverse possession to the owner
  167  of record transferring title of property along with a legal
  168  description describing the same property subject to the adverse
  169  possession claim; or
  170         (d)The owner of record or the tax collector provides to
  171  the property appraiser a receipt demonstrating that the owner of
  172  record has paid the annual tax assessment for the property
  173  subject to the adverse possession claim during the period that
  174  the person is claiming adverse possession.
  175         (8)The property appraiser shall include a clear and
  176  obvious notation in the legal description of the parcel
  177  information of any public searchable property database
  178  maintained by the property appraiser that an adverse possession
  179  return has been submitted to the property appraiser for a
  180  particular parcel.
  181         Section 2. Section 197.212, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  182  read:
  183         197.212 Minimum tax bill.—On the recommendation of the
  184  county tax collector, the board of county commissioners may
  185  adopt a resolution instructing the collector not to mail tax
  186  notices to a taxpayer if when the amount of taxes shown on the
  187  tax notice is less than an amount up to $30. The resolution
  188  shall also instruct the property appraiser that he or she may
  189  shall not make an extension on the tax roll for any parcel for
  190  which the tax would amount to less than an amount up to $30. The
  191  minimum tax bill so established may not exceed an amount up to
  192  $30. This section does not apply to a parcel of property that is
  193  subject to an adverse possession claim pursuant to s. 95.18.
  194         Section 3. Section 197.3335, Florida Statutes, is created
  195  to read:
  196         197.3335Tax payments when property is subject to adverse
  197  possession; refunds.—
  198         (1)Upon the receipt of a subsequent payment for the same
  199  annual tax assessment for a particular parcel of property, the
  200  tax collector must determine whether an adverse possession
  201  return has been submitted on the particular parcel. If an
  202  adverse possession return has been submitted, the tax collector
  203  must comply with subsection (2).
  204         (2)If a person claiming adverse possession under s. 95.18
  205  pays an annual tax assessment on a parcel of property before the
  206  assessment is paid by the owner of record, and the owner of
  207  record subsequently makes a payment of that same annual tax
  208  assessment before April 1 following the year in which the tax is
  209  assessed, the tax collector shall accept the payment made by the
  210  owner of record and refund within 60 days any payment made by
  211  the person claiming adverse possession. Such refunds do not
  212  require approval from the department.
  213         (3) For claims of adverse possession for a portion of a
  214  parcel of property as provided in s. 95.18(5), the tax collector
  215  may accept a tax payment, based upon the value of the property
  216  assigned by the property appraiser under s. 95.18(5)(c), from a
  217  person claiming adverse possession for the portion of the
  218  property subject to the claim. If the owner of record makes a
  219  payment of the annual tax assessment for the whole parcel before
  220  April 1 following the year in which the tax is assessed, the tax
  221  collector shall refund within 60 days any payment previously
  222  made for the portion of the parcel subject to the claim by the
  223  person claiming adverse possession.
  224         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011, and
  225  applies to adverse possession claims in which the return was
  226  submitted on or after that date, except for the procedural
  227  provisions governing the property appraiser’s administration of
  228  adverse possession claims included in s. 95.18(4)(c) and (d) and
  229  (7), Florida Statutes, and the provisions governing the payment
  230  of taxes included in s. 197.3335, Florida Statutes, as created
  231  by this act, which apply to adverse possession claims for which
  232  the return was submitted before, on, or after that date.