Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 966
       
       
        
       By Senator Burgess
       
       
       
       
       
       23-01261A-24                                           2024966__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to assignment of home warranty
    3         contracts; amending s. 634.312, F.S.; providing
    4         requirements for home warranties assigned to
    5         subsequent home purchasers; amending ss. 634.327 and
    6         634.331, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes made
    7         by the act; amending s. 634.336, F.S.; revising the
    8         definition of the term “unfair methods of competition
    9         and unfair or deceptive acts or practices” to include
   10         failure to continue to perform obligations under home
   11         warranty contracts assigned to subsequent home
   12         purchasers; providing an effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 634.312, Florida
   17  Statutes, is amended to read:
   18         634.312 Forms; required provisions and procedures.—
   19         (1) All home warranty contracts are assignable in a
   20  consumer transaction and must contain a statement informing the
   21  purchaser of the home warranty of her or his right to assign it,
   22  at least within 15 days after from the date the home is sold or
   23  transferred, to a subsequent retail purchaser of the home
   24  covered by the home warranty and all conditions on such right of
   25  transfer. The home warranty company may charge an assignment fee
   26  not to exceed $40. Home warranty assignments include, but are
   27  not limited to, the assignment from a home builder who purchased
   28  the home warranty to a subsequent home purchaser.
   29         (a) A home warranty that is assigned to a subsequent home
   30  purchaser continues in effect as if the subsequent home
   31  purchaser was the original purchaser of the home warranty.
   32         (b) The home warranty company or the insurer that issues
   33  the home warranty contract shall continue to be obligated under
   34  the terms of the home warranty contract for a contract assigned
   35  to a subsequent home purchaser under this subsection.
   36         (c) The assignment of the home warranty contract to a
   37  subsequent home purchaser under this subsection does not extend
   38  the remaining term of the contract.
   39         (d) The original purchaser of the home warranty shall
   40  deliver a paper or electronic copy of the home warranty to the
   41  subsequent home purchaser within 15 days after the home is sold
   42  or transferred.
   43         Section 2. Section 634.327, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   44  read:
   45         634.327 Applicability to warranty on new home.—Except as
   46  provided in s. 634.312(1), this part does shall not apply to any
   47  program offering a warranty on a new home which is underwritten
   48  by an insurer licensed to do business in this the state when the
   49  insurance policy underwriting such program has been filed with
   50  and approved by the office as required by law.
   51         Section 3. Section 634.331, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   52  read:
   53         634.331 Coverage of property for sale.—A home warranty may
   54  provide coverage of residential property during the listing
   55  period of such property for a period not to exceed 12 months,
   56  provided that the home warranty company charges the warranty
   57  purchaser a separately identifiable charge for the listing
   58  period coverage in an amount equal to at least 15 percent of the
   59  annual premium charged for the home warranty and the charge for
   60  such coverage is due at the earlier of the end of the listing
   61  period or the date the sale of the residential property is
   62  closed. If, after the sale, the home purchaser decides to keep
   63  the home warranty, the requirements in s. 634.312(1) apply to
   64  the home warranty contract assigned to the home purchaser.
   65         Section 4. Present subsections (6) through (9) of section
   66  634.336, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (7)
   67  through (10), respectively, and a new subsection (6) is added to
   68  that section, to read:
   69         634.336 Unfair methods of competition and unfair or
   70  deceptive acts or practices defined.—The following methods,
   71  acts, or practices are defined as unfair methods of competition
   72  and unfair or deceptive acts or practices:
   73         (6) FAILURE TO CONTINUE TO PERFORM OBLIGATIONS UNDER
   74  ASSIGNED CONTRACTS.—Failing to continue to perform obligations
   75  under the terms of a home warranty contract assigned to a
   76  subsequent home purchaser as required in s. 634.312(1).
   77         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.