| 1 | The Committee on Judiciary recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to the sale of residential property; |
| 7 | creating s. 689.261, F.S.; requiring a seller to give |
| 8 | notice to the prospective purchaser of residential |
| 9 | property concerning ad valorem taxes on the property; |
| 10 | specifying the form of notice; providing an effective |
| 11 | date. |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Section 1. Section 689.261, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 16 | to read: |
| 17 | 689.261 Sale of residential property; disclosure of ad |
| 18 | valorem taxes to prospective purchaser.-- |
| 19 | (1) A prospective purchaser of residential property must |
| 20 | be presented a disclosure summary at or before execution of the |
| 21 | contract for sale. Unless a substantially similar disclosure |
| 22 | summary is included in the contract for sale, a separate |
| 23 | disclosure summary must be attached to the contract for sale. |
| 24 | The disclosure summary, whether separate or included in the |
| 25 | contract, must be in a form substantially similar to the |
| 26 | following: |
| 27 |
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| 28 | PROPERTY TAX DISCLOSURE SUMMARY |
| 29 |
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| 30 | BUYER SHOULD NOT RELY ON THE SELLER'S CURRENT PROPERTY TAXES AS |
| 31 | THE AMOUNT OF PROPERTY TAXES THAT THE BUYER MAY BE OBLIGATED TO |
| 32 | PAY IN THE YEAR SUBSEQUENT TO PURCHASE. A CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP OR |
| 33 | PROPERTY IMPROVEMENTS TRIGGERS REASSESSMENTS OF THE PROPERTY |
| 34 | THAT COULD RESULT IN HIGHER PROPERTY TAXES. IF YOU HAVE ANY |
| 35 | QUESTIONS CONCERNING VALUATION, CONTACT THE COUNTY PROPERTY |
| 36 | APPRAISER'S OFFICE FOR INFORMATION. |
| 37 |
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| 38 | (2) Unless included in the contract, the disclosure |
| 39 | summary must be provided by the seller. If the disclosure |
| 40 | summary is not included in the contract for sale, the contract |
| 41 | for sale must refer to and incorporate by reference the |
| 42 | disclosure summary and include, in prominent language, a |
| 43 | statement that the potential purchaser should not execute the |
| 44 | contract until he or she has read the disclosure summary |
| 45 | required by this section. |
| 46 | Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2004. |