Florida Senate - 2016                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for SB 1050
       
       
       
       
       
       
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                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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       Senator Hays moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment to Amendment (310022) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Between lines 1020 and 1021
    5  insert:
    6         Section 39. Subsection (2) of section 720.302, Florida
    7  Statutes, is amended to read:
    8         720.302 Purposes, scope, and application.—
    9         (2) The Legislature recognizes that it is not in the best
   10  interest of homeowners’ associations or the individual
   11  association members thereof to allow create or impose a bureau
   12  or other agency of state government to regulate a limited number
   13  of the affairs of homeowners’ associations. However,
   14         (a) In accordance with s. 720.311, the Legislature finds
   15  that homeowners’ associations and their individual members will
   16  benefit from an expedited alternative process for resolution of
   17  election and recall disputes and presuit mediation of other
   18  disputes involving covenant enforcement and authorizes the
   19  department to hear, administer, and determine these disputes as
   20  more fully set forth in this chapter.
   21         (b) The Legislature finds that homeowners’ associations and
   22  their individual members will benefit from having access to all
   23  records and financial documents. Therefore, the Legislature
   24  authorizes the department to receive and make a determination on
   25  complaints against homeowners’ associations, their officers, or
   26  any directors which involve association financial matters,
   27  access to official records, passage of an annual budget, reserve
   28  funds, or misappropriation of funds.
   29         (c) The Legislature recognizes that certain existing
   30  contract rights were created for the benefit of homeowners’
   31  associations and their members before July 1, 2016, and that ss.
   32  720.301-720.407 are not intended to impair such contract rights,
   33  including, but not limited to, the rights of a developer to
   34  complete a community as initially contemplated. Notwithstanding
   35  this, the Legislature finds that homeowners’ associations and
   36  their individual members will benefit from being afforded
   37  reasonable protections of their property through contractual
   38  rights and authorizes the department to receive and make a
   39  determination on complaints against any association or a
   40  director or an officer of an association that is still subject
   41  to developer control Further, the Legislature recognizes that
   42  certain contract rights have been created for the benefit of
   43  homeowners’ associations and members thereof before the
   44  effective date of this act and that ss. 720.301-720.407 are not
   45  intended to impair such contract rights, including, but not
   46  limited to, the rights of the developer to complete the
   47  community as initially contemplated.
   48         Section 40. Subsection (13) of section 720.303, Florida
   49  Statutes, is amended to read:
   50         720.303 Association powers and duties; meetings of board;
   51  official records; budgets; financial reporting; association
   52  funds; recalls.—
   53         (13) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The community association
   54  manager or management firm, or the association when there is no
   55  community association manager or management firm, shall submit a
   56  report to the division by November 22, 2016 2013, and each year
   57  thereafter in a manner and form prescribed by the division.
   58         (a) The report must shall include the association’s:
   59         1. Legal name.
   60         2. Federal employer identification number.
   61         3. Mailing and physical addresses.
   62         4. Total number of parcels.
   63         5. Total amount of revenues and expenses from the
   64  association’s annual budget.
   65         (b) For associations in which control of the association
   66  has not been transitioned to nondeveloper members, as set forth
   67  in s. 720.307, the report shall also include the developer’s:
   68         1. Legal name.
   69         2. Mailing address.
   70         3. Total number of parcels owned on the date of reporting.
   71         (c) The reporting requirement provided in this subsection
   72  shall be a continuing obligation on each association until the
   73  required information is reported to the division. The community
   74  association manager or management firm, or the association if
   75  there is no community association manager or management firm as
   76  defined in s. 468.431, must resubmit the report required under
   77  this subsection upon the occurrence of a material change in the
   78  information required to be reported pursuant to paragraphs (a)
   79  and (b).
   80         (d) By October 1, 2016 2013, the department shall establish
   81  and implement a registration system through a an Internet
   82  website that provides for the reporting requirements of
   83  paragraphs (a) and (b).
   84         (e) The department shall prepare an annual report of the
   85  data reported pursuant to this subsection and present it to the
   86  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
   87  House of Representatives by December 1, 2016 2013, and each year
   88  thereafter.
   89         (f) The division shall adopt rules pursuant to ss.
   90  120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this
   91  subsection.
   92         (g) This subsection shall expire on July 1, 2026 2016,
   93  unless reenacted by the Legislature.
   94         Section 41. Subsection (2) of section 720.305, Florida
   95  Statutes, is amended to read:
   96         720.305 Obligations of members; remedies at law or in
   97  equity; levy of fines and suspension of use rights.—
   98         (2) The association may levy reasonable fines. A fine may
   99  not exceed $100 per violation against any member or any member’s
  100  tenant, guest, or invitee for the failure of the owner of the
  101  parcel or its occupant, licensee, or invitee to comply with any
  102  provision of the declaration, the association bylaws, or
  103  reasonable rules of the association unless otherwise provided in
  104  the governing documents. A fine may be levied by the board for
  105  each day of a continuing violation, with a single notice and
  106  opportunity for hearing, except that the fine may not exceed
  107  $1,000 in the aggregate unless otherwise provided in the
  108  governing documents. A fine, or an action to collect on a fine,
  109  may not result in foreclosure on of less than $1,000 may not
  110  become a lien against a parcel. In any action to recover a fine,
  111  the prevailing party is entitled to reasonable attorney fees and
  112  costs from the nonprevailing party as determined by the court.
  113         (a) An association may suspend, for a reasonable period of
  114  time, the right of a member, or a member’s tenant, guest, or
  115  invitee, to use common areas and facilities for the failure of
  116  the owner of the parcel or its occupant, licensee, or invitee to
  117  comply with any provision of the declaration, the association
  118  bylaws, or reasonable rules of the association. This paragraph
  119  does not apply to that portion of common areas used to provide
  120  access or utility services to the parcel. A suspension may not
  121  prohibit an owner or tenant of a parcel from having vehicular
  122  and pedestrian ingress to and egress from the parcel, including,
  123  but not limited to, the right to park.
  124         (b) A fine or suspension may not be imposed by the board of
  125  administration without at least 14 days’ notice to the person
  126  sought to be fined or suspended and an opportunity for a hearing
  127  before a committee of at least three members appointed by the
  128  board who are not officers, directors, or employees of the
  129  association, or the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of
  130  an officer, director, or employee. If the committee, by majority
  131  vote, does not approve a proposed fine or suspension, it may not
  132  be imposed. The role of the committee is limited to determining
  133  whether to confirm or reject the fine or suspension levied by
  134  the board. If the board of administration imposes a fine or
  135  suspension, the association must provide written notice of such
  136  fine or suspension by mail or hand delivery to the parcel owner
  137  and, if applicable, to any tenant, licensee, or invitee of the
  138  parcel owner.
  139         Section 42. Subsection (1) and paragraph (d) of subsection
  140  (2) of section 720.311, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  141         720.311 Dispute resolution.—
  142         (1) The Legislature finds that alternative dispute
  143  resolution has made progress in reducing court dockets and
  144  trials and in offering a more efficient, cost-effective option
  145  to litigation. The filing of any petition for arbitration or the
  146  serving of a demand for presuit mediation as provided for in
  147  this section shall toll the applicable statute of limitations.
  148  Any recall dispute filed with the department pursuant to s.
  149  720.303(10) shall be conducted by the department in accordance
  150  with the provisions of ss. 718.112(2)(j) and 718.1255 and the
  151  rules adopted by the division. In addition, the department shall
  152  conduct mandatory binding arbitration of election disputes
  153  between a member and an association pursuant to s. 718.1255 and
  154  rules adopted by the division. Neither Election disputes and nor
  155  recall disputes are eligible for presuit mediation; these
  156  disputes shall be arbitrated by the department. At the request
  157  of the parcel owner or the homeowners’ association, the
  158  department is authorized to, and shall provide, binding
  159  arbitration in disputes involving covenants, restrictions, rule
  160  enforcement, and duties to maintain and make safe pursuant to
  161  the declaration of covenants, rules and regulations, and other
  162  governing documents; disputes involving assessments; and
  163  disputes involving the official records of the homeowners’
  164  association. At the conclusion of the proceeding, the department
  165  shall charge the parties a fee in an amount adequate to cover
  166  all costs and expenses incurred by the department in conducting
  167  the proceeding. Initially, the petitioner shall remit a filing
  168  fee of at least $200 to the department. The fees paid to the
  169  department shall become a recoverable cost in the arbitration
  170  proceeding, and the prevailing party in an arbitration
  171  proceeding shall recover its reasonable costs and attorney
  172  attorney’s fees in an amount found reasonable by the arbitrator.
  173  The department shall adopt rules to effectuate the purposes of
  174  this section.
  175         (2)
  176         (d) A mediator or arbitrator shall be authorized to conduct
  177  mediation or arbitration under this section only if he or she
  178  has been certified as a county court or circuit court civil
  179  mediator or arbitrator, respectively, pursuant to the
  180  requirements established by the Florida Supreme Court.
  181  Settlement agreements resulting from mediation do shall not have
  182  precedential value in proceedings involving parties other than
  183  those participating in the mediation to support either a claim
  184  or defense in other disputes.
  185         Section 43. Present subsection (2) of section 720.401,
  186  Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (3), and a new
  187  subsection (2) is added to that section, to read:
  188         720.401 Prospective purchasers subject to association
  189  membership requirement; disclosure required; covenants;
  190  assessments; contract cancellation.—
  191         (2) A seller of a parcel for which membership in a
  192  homeowners’ association is a condition of ownership must provide
  193  a prospective buyer with the association’s governing documents,
  194  including the declaration of covenants, the articles and bylaws,
  195  any rules and regulations, the operating budget for the current
  196  year, and any amendments to such documents. The seller must
  197  provide the prospective buyer with such documents at least 7
  198  days before closing. The prospective buyer may terminate the
  199  contract for purchase within 3 days after receipt of such
  200  documents.
  201  
  202  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  203  And the title is amended as follows:
  204         Between lines 1158 and 1159
  205  insert:
  206         amending s. 720.302, F.S.; revising legislative
  207         findings; amending s. 720.303, F.S.; providing that a
  208         community association manager or management firm, or
  209         the association, must submit an annual report to the
  210         Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and
  211         Mobile Homes beginning on a specified date; requiring
  212         the community association or management firm, or the
  213         association, to resubmit the report under certain
  214         circumstances; revising the date by which the
  215         Department of Business and Professional Regulation
  216         must establish and implement a certain registration
  217         system through a website and the date by which it must
  218         prepare a certain report; revising an expiration date;
  219         amending s. 720.305, F.S.; providing that an action to
  220         collect a fine may not result in foreclosure on a
  221         parcel; deleting a provision prohibiting a fine less
  222         than $1,000 from becoming a lien against a parcel;
  223         amending s. 720.311, F.S.; providing that election and
  224         recall disputes are eligible for presuit mediation;
  225         providing that the department must provide binding
  226         arbitration for certain disputes at the request of the
  227         parcel owner or homeowners’ association; revising
  228         certification requirements to conduct mediation or
  229         arbitration in such disputes; amending s. 720.401,
  230         F.S.; providing that a seller must provide certain
  231         documents to a prospective buyer if membership in a
  232         homeowners’ association is a condition of ownership;
  233         authorizing a prospective buyer to terminate a
  234         contract for purchase within a specified timeframe;