| 1 | Representative Sands offered the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Amendment (with title amendment) |
| 4 | Remove everything after the enacting clause and insert: |
| 5 | Section 1. Section 720.3085, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 6 | to read: |
| 7 | 720.3085 Payment for assessments; lien claims.-- |
| 8 | (1) A parcel owner, regardless of how his or her title to |
| 9 | property has been acquired, including by purchase at a |
| 10 | foreclosure sale or by deed in lieu of foreclosure, is liable |
| 11 | for all assessments that come due while he or she is the parcel |
| 12 | owner. The parcel owner's liability for assessments may not be |
| 13 | avoided by waiver or suspension of the use or enjoyment of any |
| 14 | common area or by abandonment of the parcel upon which the |
| 15 | assessments are made. |
| 16 | (2) A parcel owner is jointly and severally liable with |
| 17 | the previous parcel owner for all unpaid assessments that came |
| 18 | due up to the time of transfer of title. This liability is |
| 19 | without prejudice to any right the present parcel owner may have |
| 20 | to recover any amounts paid by the present owner from the |
| 21 | previous owner. |
| 22 | (3) Assessments and installments on assessments that are |
| 23 | not paid when due bear interest from the due date until paid at |
| 24 | the rate provided in the declaration of covenants or the bylaws |
| 25 | of the association, which rate may not exceed the rate allowed |
| 26 | by law. If no rate is provided in the declaration or bylaws, |
| 27 | interest accrues at the rate of 18 percent per year. |
| 28 | (a) If the declaration or bylaws so provide, the |
| 29 | association may also charge an administrative late fee in an |
| 30 | amount not to exceed the greater of $25 or 5 percent of the |
| 31 | amount of each installment that is paid past the due date. |
| 32 | (b) Any payment received by an association and accepted |
| 33 | shall be applied first to any interest accrued, then to any |
| 34 | administrative late fee, then to any costs and reasonable |
| 35 | attorney's fees incurred in collection, and then to the |
| 36 | delinquent assessment. This paragraph applies notwithstanding |
| 37 | any restrictive endorsement, designation, or instruction placed |
| 38 | on or accompanying a payment. A late fee is not subject to the |
| 39 | provisions of chapter 687 and is not a fine. |
| 40 | (4) A homeowners' association may not file a claim of lien |
| 41 | against a parcel for unpaid assessments unless a written notice |
| 42 | or demand for past due assessments as well as any other amounts |
| 43 | owed to the association pursuant to its governing documents has |
| 44 | been made by the association. The written notice or demand must: |
| 45 | (a) Provide the owner with 45 days to make payment for all |
| 46 | amounts due, including, but not limited to, any attorney's fees |
| 47 | and actual costs associated with the preparation and delivery of |
| 48 | the written demand. |
| 49 | (b) Be sent by registered or certified mail, return |
| 50 | receipt requested, and by first-class United States Mail to the |
| 51 | parcel owner at his or her last address as reflected in the |
| 52 | records of the association, if the address is within the United |
| 53 | States, and to parcel owner subject to the demand at the address |
| 54 | of the parcel if the owner's address as reflected in the records |
| 55 | of the association is not the parcel address. If the address |
| 56 | reflected in the records is outside the United States then |
| 57 | sending the notice to that address and to the parcel address |
| 58 | only by first-class United States mail is sufficient. |
| 59 | (5) The association may bring an action in its name to |
| 60 | foreclose a lien for unpaid assessments secured by a lien in the |
| 61 | same manner that a mortgage of real property is foreclosed and |
| 62 | may also bring an action to recover a money judgment for the |
| 63 | unpaid assessments without waiving any claim of lien. Such |
| 64 | action may not be brought until 45 days after the parcel owner |
| 65 | has been provided notice of the association's intent to |
| 66 | foreclose and collect the unpaid amount. |
| 67 | (a) The association may recover any reasonable attorney's |
| 68 | fees incurred in a lien foreclosure action or in an action to |
| 69 | recover a money judgment for the unpaid assessments. |
| 70 | (b) The association may purchase the parcel at the |
| 71 | foreclosure sale and hold, lease, mortgage, or convey the |
| 72 | parcel. |
| 73 | (6) If after service of a summons on a complaint to |
| 74 | foreclose a lien, the parcel is not the subject of a mortgage |
| 75 | foreclosure or a notice of tax certificate sale, or the parcel |
| 76 | owner is not a debtor in bankruptcy proceedings, the parcel |
| 77 | owner may serve and file with the court a qualifying offer at |
| 78 | any time before the entry of a foreclosure judgment. For |
| 79 | purposes of this subsection, the term "qualifying offer" means a |
| 80 | written offer to pay all amounts secured by the lien of the |
| 81 | association plus interest accruing during the pendency of the |
| 82 | offer at the rate of interest provided in this section. The |
| 83 | parcel owner may make only one qualifying offer during the |
| 84 | pendency of a foreclosure action. |
| 85 | (a) The parcel owner shall deliver a copy of the filed |
| 86 | qualifying offer to the association's attorney by hand delivery |
| 87 | or by certified mail, return receipt requested. |
| 88 | (b) The parcel owner's filing of the qualifying offer with |
| 89 | the court stays the foreclosure action for the period stated in |
| 90 | the qualifying offer, which may not exceed 60 days, to permit |
| 91 | the parcel owner to pay the qualifying offer to the association |
| 92 | plus any interest accruing during the pendency of the offer. |
| 93 | (c) The qualifying offer of the parcel owner must be in |
| 94 | writing, be signed by the owner of the parcel and the spouse of |
| 95 | the owner if the spouse holds a homestead interest in the |
| 96 | parcel, be acknowledged by a notary public, state the total |
| 97 | amount due the association, state that the total amount due the |
| 98 | association is secured by the lien of the association, state |
| 99 | that the association is entitled to foreclose the lien and |
| 100 | obtain a foreclosure judgment for the total amount due if the |
| 101 | parcel owner breaches the qualified offer, state that the parcel |
| 102 | owner will not endanger the priority of the lien of the |
| 103 | association or the amounts secured by the lien, and state the |
| 104 | actual date or dates the association will receive the total |
| 105 | amount due from the parcel owner. If the parcel owner makes a |
| 106 | qualifying offer under this subsection, the association may not |
| 107 | add the cost of any legal fees acquired by the association |
| 108 | within the period of the stay other than costs acquired in |
| 109 | defense of a mortgage foreclosure action concerning the parcel, |
| 110 | a bankruptcy proceeding in which the parcel owner is a debtor, |
| 111 | or in response to filings by a party other than the association |
| 112 | in the lien foreclosure action of the association. |
| 113 | (d) If the parcel owner breaches the qualifying offer, the |
| 114 | stay shall be vacated and the association may proceed in its |
| 115 | action to obtain a foreclosure judgment against the parcel and |
| 116 | the parcel owners for the amount in the qualifying offer and any |
| 117 | interest amounts accruing after the date of the qualifying |
| 118 | offer. |
| 119 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |
| 120 |
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| 121 | ======= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ========== |
| 122 | Remove the entire title and insert: |
| 123 | A bill to be entitled |
| 124 | An act relating to homeowners' associations; creating s. |
| 125 | 720.3085, F.S.; providing that a parcel owner is liable for all |
| 126 | assessments on a parcel; providing for the payment of interest |
| 127 | and late fees on unpaid assessments; prioritizing the |
| 128 | application of any payment received; prohibiting the placement |
| 129 | of a restriction statement on the payment; providing for the |
| 130 | filing of a claim of lien for unpaid assessments; providing for |
| 131 | the foreclosure of the lien; providing for notice to the owner; |
| 132 | providing for a qualifying offer from the owner; providing an |
| 133 | effective date. |