The Florida Senate

475.703  Broker's lien for sales commission.--

(1)  A broker has a lien upon the owner's net proceeds from the disposition of commercial real estate for any commission earned by the broker with respect to that disposition pursuant to a brokerage agreement. The lien upon the owner's net proceeds pursuant to this part for a broker's commission is a lien upon personal property, attaches to the owner's net proceeds only, and does not attach to any interest in real property.

(2)  For purposes of this part, a commission is earned on the earlier of the date that:

(a)  An event occurs under the brokerage agreement that defines when the commission is earned; or

(b)  The owner enters into a contract for the disposition of all or part of the commercial real estate specified in the brokerage agreement, provided that a commission would be payable to the broker pursuant to the brokerage agreement if the disposition occurs under that contract.

(3)  For the purposes of this part, a commission is payable at the time provided in the brokerage agreement. If payment of the commission is conditioned on the occurrence of an event and that event does not occur, a broker may not enforce a lien for that commission under this part.

(4)  A broker's lien for commission arising under this part:

(a)  Belongs to the broker named in the brokerage agreement and not to an employee or independent contractor of the broker.

(b)  Cannot be assigned voluntarily or by operation of law and may not be enforced by a person other than the broker.

(c)  Cannot be waived before the commission is earned.

(d)  Cannot be waived by any person other than the broker, regardless of whether that person may execute and bind the broker to a brokerage agreement.

(5)  A broker shall disclose to the owner at or before the time the owner executes the brokerage agreement that this part creates lien rights for a commission earned by the broker that are not waivable before the commission is earned by the broker. A broker may not enforce a lien under this part for a commission earned under a brokerage agreement for which the disclosure required by this subsection was not made. A disclosure in substantially the following form shall be sufficient: "The Florida Commercial Real Estate Sales Commission Lien Act provides that when a broker has earned a commission by performing licensed services under a brokerage agreement with you, the broker may claim a lien against your net sales proceeds for the broker's commission. The broker's lien rights under the act cannot be waived before the commission is earned."

History.--s. 1, ch. 2005-275.