CS/HB 1465

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

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.