Florida Senate - 2015 CS for CS for SB 656
By the Committees on Regulated Industries; and Judiciary; and
Senator Latvala
580-03236-15 2015656c2
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to unlawful detention by a transient
3 occupant; creating s. 82.045, F.S.; defining the term
4 “transient occupant”; providing factors that establish
5 a transient occupancy; providing for removal of a
6 transient occupant by a law enforcement officer;
7 providing a cause of action for wrongful removal;
8 limiting actions for wrongful removal; providing a
9 civil action for removal of a transient occupant;
10 providing an effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 Section 1. Section 82.045, Florida Statutes, is created to
15 read:
16 82.045 Remedy for unlawful detention by a transient
17 occupant of residential property.—
18 (1) As used in this section, the term “transient occupant”
19 means a person whose residency in a dwelling intended for
20 residential use has occurred for a brief length of time, is not
21 pursuant to a lease, and whose occupancy was intended as
22 transient in nature.
23 (a) Factors that establish that a person is a transient
24 occupant include, but are not limited to:
25 1. The person does not have an ownership interest,
26 financial interest, or leasehold interest in the property
27 entitling him or her to occupancy of the property.
28 2. The person does not have any property utility
29 subscriptions.
30 3. The person does not use the property address as an
31 address of record with any governmental agency, including, but
32 not limited to, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
33 Vehicles or the supervisor of elections.
34 4. The person does not receive mail at the property.
35 5. The person pays minimal or no rent for his or her stay
36 at the property.
37 6. The person does not have a designated space of his or
38 her own, such as a room, at the property.
39 7. The person has minimal, if any, personal belongings at
40 the property.
41 8. The person has an apparent permanent residence
42 elsewhere.
43 (b) Minor contributions made for the purchase of household
44 goods or minor contributions toward other household expenses, do
45 not establish residency.
46 (2) A transient occupant unlawfully detains a residential
47 property if the transient occupant remains in occupancy of the
48 residential property after the party entitled to possession of
49 the property has directed the transient occupant to leave.
50 (3) Any law enforcement officer may, upon receipt of a
51 sworn affidavit of the party entitled to possession that a
52 person who is a transient occupant is unlawfully detaining
53 residential property, direct a transient occupant to surrender
54 possession of residential property. The sworn affidavit must set
55 forth the facts, including the applicable factors listed in
56 paragraph (1)(a), which establish that a transient occupant is
57 unlawfully detaining residential property.
58 (a) A person who fails to comply with the direction of the
59 law enforcement officer to surrender possession or occupancy
60 violates s. 810.08. In any prosecution of a violation of s.
61 810.08 related to this section, whether the defendant was
62 properly classified as a transient occupant is not an element of
63 the offense, the state is not required to prove that the
64 defendant was in fact a transient occupant, and the defendant’s
65 status as a permanent resident is not an affirmative defense.
66 (b) A person wrongfully removed pursuant to this subsection
67 has a cause of action for wrongful removal against the person
68 who requested the removal, and may recover injunctive relief and
69 compensatory damages. However, a wrongfully removed person does
70 not have a cause of action against the law enforcement officer
71 or the agency employing the law enforcement officer absent a
72 showing of bad faith by the law enforcement officer.
73 (4) A party entitled to possession of a dwelling has a
74 cause of action for unlawful detainer against a transient
75 occupant pursuant to s. 82.04. The party entitled to possession
76 is not required to notify the transient occupant before filing
77 the action. If the court finds that the defendant is not a
78 transient occupant but is instead a tenant of residential
79 property governed by part II of chapter 83, the court may not
80 dismiss the action without first allowing the plaintiff to give
81 the transient occupant notice required by that part and to
82 thereafter amend the complaint to pursue eviction under that
83 part.
84 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.