Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1844
Barcode 440634
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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04/26/2007 12:42 PM .
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11 Senator Ring moved the following amendment:
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13 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
14 Delete everything after the enacting clause
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16 and insert:
17 Section 1. Section 720.3085, Florida Statutes, is
18 created to read:
19 720.3085 Payment for assessments; lien claims.--
20 (1) A parcel owner, regardless of how his or her title
21 to property has been acquired, including by purchase at a
22 foreclosure sale or by deed in lieu of foreclosure, is liable
23 for all assessments that come due while he or she is the
24 parcel owner. The parcel owner's liability for assessments may
25 not be avoided by waiver or suspension of the use or enjoyment
26 of any common area or by abandonment of the parcel upon which
27 the assessments are made.
28 (2) A parcel owner is jointly and severally liable
29 with the previous parcel owner for all unpaid assessments that
30 came due up to the time of transfer of title. This liability
31 is without prejudice to any right the present parcel owner may
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Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1844
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1 have to recover any amounts paid by the present owner from the
2 previous owner.
3 (3) Assessments and installments on assessments that
4 are not paid when due bear interest from the due date until
5 paid at the rate provided in the declaration of covenants or
6 the bylaws of the association, which rate may not exceed the
7 rate allowed by law. If no rate is provided in the declaration
8 or bylaws, interest accrues at the rate of 18 percent per
9 year.
10 (a) If the declaration or bylaws so provide, the
11 association may also charge an administrative late fee in an
12 amount not to exceed the greater of $25 or 5 percent of the
13 amount of each installment that is paid past the due date.
14 (b) Any payment received by an association and
15 accepted shall be applied first to any interest accrued, then
16 to any administrative late fee, then to any costs and
17 reasonable attorney's fees incurred in collection, and then to
18 the delinquent assessment. This paragraph applies
19 notwithstanding any restrictive endorsement, designation, or
20 instruction placed on or accompanying a payment. A late fee is
21 not subject to the provisions of chapter 687 and is not a
22 fine.
23 (4) A homeowners' association may not file a claim of
24 lien against a parcel for unpaid assessments unless a written
25 notice or demand for past due assessments as well as any other
26 amounts owed to the association pursuant to its governing
27 documents has been made by the association. The written notice
28 or demand must:
29 (a) Provide the owner with 45 days to make payment for
30 all amounts due, including, but not limited to, any attorney's
31 fees and actual costs associated with the preparation and
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Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1844
Barcode 440634
1 delivery of the written demand.
2 (b) Be sent by registered or certified mail, return
3 receipt requested, and by first-class United States Mail to
4 the parcel owner at his or her last address as reflected in
5 the records of the association, if the address is within the
6 United States, and to the parcel owner subject to the demand
7 at the address of the parcel if the owner's address as
8 reflected in the records of the association is not the parcel
9 address. If the address reflected in the records is outside
10 the United States, then sending the notice to that address and
11 to the parcel address by first-class United States mail is
12 sufficient.
13 (5) The association may bring an action in its name to
14 foreclose a lien for unpaid assessments secured by a lien in
15 the same manner that a mortgage of real property is foreclosed
16 and may also bring an action to recover a money judgment for
17 the unpaid assessments without waiving any claim of lien. Such
18 action may not be brought until 45 days after the parcel owner
19 has been provided notice of the association's intent to
20 foreclose and collect the unpaid amount.
21 (a) The association may recover any reasonable
22 attorney's fees incurred in a lien foreclosure action or in an
23 action to recover a money judgment for the unpaid assessments.
24 (b) The association may purchase the parcel at the
25 foreclosure sale and hold, lease, mortgage, or convey the
26 parcel.
27 (6) If after service of a summons on a complaint to
28 foreclose a lien the parcel is not the subject of a mortgage
29 foreclosure or a notice of tax certificate sale, or the parcel
30 owner is not a debtor in bankruptcy proceedings, the parcel
31 owner may serve and file with the court a qualifying offer at
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Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1844
Barcode 440634
1 any time before the entry of a foreclosure judgment. For
2 purposes of this subsection, the term "qualifying offer" means
3 a written offer to pay all amounts secured by the lien of the
4 association plus interest accruing during the pendency of the
5 offer at the rate of interest provided in this section. The
6 parcel owner may make only one qualifying offer during the
7 pendency of a foreclosure action.
8 (a) The parcel owner shall deliver a copy of the filed
9 qualifying offer to the association's attorney by hand
10 delivery or by certified mail, return receipt requested.
11 (b) The parcel owner's filing of the qualifying offer
12 with the court stays the foreclosure action for the period
13 stated in the qualifying offer, which may not exceed 60 days,
14 to permit the parcel owner to pay the qualifying offer to the
15 association plus any interest accruing during the pendency of
16 the offer.
17 (c) The qualifying offer of the parcel owner must be
18 in writing, be signed by the owner of the parcel and the
19 spouse of the owner if the spouse holds a homestead interest
20 in the parcel, be acknowledged by a notary public, state the
21 total amount due the association, state that the total amount
22 due the association is secured by the lien of the association,
23 state that the association is entitled to foreclose the lien
24 and obtain a foreclosure judgment for the total amount due if
25 the parcel owner breaches the qualifying offer, state that the
26 parcel owner will not endanger the priority of the lien of the
27 association or the amounts secured by the lien, and state the
28 actual date or dates the association will receive the total
29 amount due from the parcel owner. If the parcel owner makes a
30 qualifying offer under this subsection, the association may
31 not add the cost of any legal fees incurred by the association
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Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1844
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1 within the period of the stay other than costs acquired in
2 defense of a mortgage foreclosure action concerning the
3 parcel, a bankruptcy proceeding in which the parcel owner is a
4 debtor, or in response to filings by a party other than the
5 association in the lien foreclosure action of the association.
6 (d) If the parcel owner breaches the qualifying offer,
7 the stay shall be vacated and the association may proceed in
8 its action to obtain a foreclosure judgment against the parcel
9 and the parcel owners for the amount in the qualifying offer
10 and any amounts accruing after the date of the qualifying
11 offer.
12 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
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15 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
16 And the title is amended as follows:
17 Delete everything before the enacting clause
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19 and insert:
20 A bill to be entitled
21 An act relating to homeowners' associations;
22 creating s. 720.3085, F.S.; providing that a
23 parcel owner is liable for all assessments on a
24 parcel; providing for the payment of interest
25 and late fees on unpaid assessments;
26 prioritizing the application of any payment
27 received; prohibiting the placement of a
28 restriction statement on the payment; providing
29 for the filing of a claim of lien for unpaid
30 assessments; providing for the foreclosure of
31 the lien; providing for notice to the owner;
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Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1844
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1 providing for a qualifying offer from the
2 owner; providing an effective date.
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