The Florida Senate

475.803  Broker's lien for leasing commission.--

(1)  A broker has a lien upon the owner's interest in commercial real estate for any commission earned by the broker pursuant to a brokerage agreement with respect to a lease of the commercial real estate. If the owner obligated to pay the commission is the landlord, the broker's lien attaches to the landlord's interest in the commercial real estate identified in the brokerage agreement but not to the tenant's leasehold estate. If the owner obligated to pay the commission is the tenant, the broker's lien attaches to the tenant's leasehold estate but not to the landlord's interest in the commercial real estate.

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

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

(b)  The owner enters into a lease 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 for that lease.

(3)  For the purposes of this part, a renewal commission with respect to a lease renewal or lease modification is deemed earned when the broker performs all additional services relating to the lease renewal or lease modification that are expressly required by the brokerage agreement. If the brokerage agreement does not expressly require the broker to perform any additional services in order to receive the renewal commission, the renewal commission is an automatic renewal commission and is deemed earned when the broker first earned a commission for that lease.

(4)  For 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.

(5)  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.

(6)  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 Leasing 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 interest in the property for the broker's commission. The broker's lien rights under the act cannot be waived before the commission is earned."

History.--s. 2, ch. 2005-275.