| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to mitigation enhancement; amending s. |
| 3 | 215.5586, F.S.; revising eligibility criteria for |
| 4 | qualifying as a wind certification entity for certain |
| 5 | purposes; deleting an obsolete provision; requiring the |
| 6 | Department of Financial Services to implement a quality |
| 7 | assurance program; revising authority of the department to |
| 8 | require certain improvements to be made as a condition of |
| 9 | reimbursing a homeowner approved for a grant; deleting a |
| 10 | provision authorizing the department to transfer certain |
| 11 | funds to Volunteer Florida Foundation, Inc., for certain |
| 12 | purposes; deleting a requirement that Volunteer Florida, |
| 13 | Inc., undertake certain activities; requiring the |
| 14 | department to implement a no-interest loan program by a |
| 15 | certain date; providing program requirements; requiring |
| 16 | the department to set aside certain moneys for certain |
| 17 | purposes; authorizing the department to adopt rules; |
| 18 | expanding authority of the department to contract with |
| 19 | additional third parties for certain purposes; amending s. |
| 20 | 627.062, F.S.; requiring insurers to account for county |
| 21 | ordinances and local amendments to the Florida Building |
| 22 | Code in certain rate filings; amending s. 627.711, F.S.; |
| 23 | requiring insurers to accept as valid uniform mitigation |
| 24 | verification forms certified by the department or signed |
| 25 | by certain professionals; providing an effective date. |
| 26 |
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| 27 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 28 |
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| 29 | Section 1. Subsection (1), paragraphs (e) and (j) of |
| 30 | subsection (2), and subsections (8) and (10) of section |
| 31 | 215.5586, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 32 | 215.5586 My Safe Florida Home Program.--There is |
| 33 | established within the Department of Financial Services the My |
| 34 | Safe Florida Home Program. The department shall provide fiscal |
| 35 | accountability, contract management, and strategic leadership |
| 36 | for the program, consistent with this section. This section does |
| 37 | not create an entitlement for property owners or obligate the |
| 38 | state in any way to fund the inspection or retrofitting of |
| 39 | residential property in this state. Implementation of this |
| 40 | program is subject to annual legislative appropriations. It is |
| 41 | the intent of the Legislature that the My Safe Florida Home |
| 42 | Program provide inspections for at least 400,000 site-built, |
| 43 | single-family, residential properties and provide grants to at |
| 44 | least 35,000 applicants before June 30, 2009. The program shall |
| 45 | develop and implement a comprehensive and coordinated approach |
| 46 | for hurricane damage mitigation that shall include the |
| 47 | following: |
| 48 | (1) HURRICANE MITIGATION INSPECTIONS.-- |
| 49 | (a) Free home-retrofit inspections of site-built, single- |
| 50 | family, residential property shall be offered throughout the |
| 51 | state to determine what mitigation measures are needed, what |
| 52 | insurance premium discounts may be available, and what |
| 53 | improvements to existing residential properties are needed to |
| 54 | reduce the property's vulnerability to hurricane damage. The |
| 55 | Department of Financial Services shall contract with wind |
| 56 | certification entities to provide free hurricane mitigation |
| 57 | inspections. The inspections provided to homeowners, at a |
| 58 | minimum, must include: |
| 59 | 1. A home inspection and report that summarizes the |
| 60 | results and identifies recommended improvements a homeowner may |
| 61 | take to mitigate hurricane damage. |
| 62 | 2. A range of cost estimates regarding the recommended |
| 63 | mitigation improvements. |
| 64 | 3. Insurer-specific information regarding premium |
| 65 | discounts correlated to the current mitigation features and the |
| 66 | recommended mitigation improvements identified by the |
| 67 | inspection. |
| 68 | 4. A hurricane resistance rating scale specifying the |
| 69 | home's current as well as projected wind resistance |
| 70 | capabilities. As soon as practical, the rating scale must be the |
| 71 | uniform home grading scale adopted by the Financial Services |
| 72 | Commission pursuant to s. 215.55865. |
| 73 | (b) To qualify for selection by the department as a wind |
| 74 | certification entity to provide hurricane mitigation |
| 75 | inspections, the entity shall, at a minimum: |
| 76 | 1. Use hurricane mitigation inspectors who: |
| 77 | a. Are certified as a building code inspector under s. |
| 78 | 468.607; |
| 79 | b. Are licensed as a general contractor or residential |
| 80 | contractor under s. 489.111; |
| 81 | c. Are licensed as a professional engineer under s. |
| 82 | 471.015 and have passed the appropriate equivalency test of the |
| 83 | Building Code training program as required by s. 553.841; |
| 84 | d. Are licensed as a professional architect under s. |
| 85 | 481.213; or |
| 86 | e.a. Have at least 2 years' prior experience in |
| 87 | residential construction or residential building inspection and |
| 88 | have received specialized training in hurricane mitigation |
| 89 | procedures. Such training may be provided by a class offered |
| 90 | online or in person. |
| 91 | 2. Use hurricane mitigation inspectors who: |
| 92 | a.b. Have undergone drug testing and level 2 background |
| 93 | checks pursuant to s. 435.04. The department may is authorized |
| 94 | to conduct criminal record checks of inspectors used by wind |
| 95 | certification entities. Inspectors must submit a set of the |
| 96 | fingerprints to the department for state and national criminal |
| 97 | history checks and must pay the fingerprint processing fee set |
| 98 | forth in s. 624.501. The fingerprints shall be sent by the |
| 99 | department to the Department of Law Enforcement and forwarded to |
| 100 | the Federal Bureau of Investigation for processing. The results |
| 101 | shall be returned to the department for screening. The |
| 102 | fingerprints shall be taken by a law enforcement agency, |
| 103 | designated examination center, or other department-approved |
| 104 | entity. Hurricane mitigation inspectors participating in the |
| 105 | program on January 25, 2007, shall have until June 1, 2007, to |
| 106 | meet the requirements for a criminal record check. |
| 107 | b.c. Have been certified, in a manner satisfactory to the |
| 108 | department, to conduct the inspections. |
| 109 | 3.2. Provide a quality assurance program including a |
| 110 | reinspection component. |
| 111 | (c) The department shall implement a quality assurance |
| 112 | program that includes a statistically valid number of |
| 113 | reinspections. |
| 114 | (d)(c) An application for an inspection must contain a |
| 115 | signed or electronically verified statement made under penalty |
| 116 | of perjury that the applicant has submitted only a single |
| 117 | application for that home. |
| 118 | (e)(d) The owner of a site-built, single-family, |
| 119 | residential property may apply for and receive an inspection |
| 120 | without also applying for a grant pursuant to subsection (2) and |
| 121 | without meeting the requirements of paragraph (2)(a). |
| 122 | (2) MITIGATION GRANTS.--Financial grants shall be used to |
| 123 | encourage single-family, site-built, owner-occupied, residential |
| 124 | property owners to retrofit their properties to make them less |
| 125 | vulnerable to hurricane damage. |
| 126 | (e) When recommended by a hurricane mitigation inspection, |
| 127 | grants may be used for the following improvements only: |
| 128 | 1. Opening protection. |
| 129 | 2. Exterior doors, including garage doors. |
| 130 | 3. Brace gable ends. |
| 131 |
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| 132 | The department may require that improvements be made to all |
| 133 | openings, including exterior doors and garage doors, as a |
| 134 | condition of reimbursing a homeowner who has been approved |
| 135 | approving an application for a grant if the department |
| 136 | determines that improvements to less than all openings would not |
| 137 | substantially improve the structure's ability to withstand |
| 138 | hurricane damage. |
| 139 | (j) The department shall transfer the amount of $40 |
| 140 | million from funds appropriated to the program, including up to |
| 141 | 5 percent for administrative costs, to Volunteer Florida |
| 142 | Foundation, Inc., for provision of inspections and grants to |
| 143 | low-income homeowners, as defined in s. 420.0004(10), consistent |
| 144 | with this section. Volunteer Florida Foundation, Inc., shall be |
| 145 | responsible for inspections and grants management for low-income |
| 146 | homeowners and shall report its activities and account for state |
| 147 | funds on a quarterly and annual basis to the Chief Financial |
| 148 | Officer, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the |
| 149 | House of Representatives. |
| 150 | (8) NO-INTEREST LOANS.--The department shall implement may |
| 151 | develop a no-interest loan program by October 1, 2008, |
| 152 | contingent upon the selection of a qualified vendor and |
| 153 | execution of a contract acceptable to the department and the |
| 154 | vendor. The department shall partner with December 31, 2007, to |
| 155 | encourage the private sector to provide loans to owners of site- |
| 156 | built, single-family, residential property to pay for mitigation |
| 157 | measures listed in subsection (2). A loan eligible for interest |
| 158 | payments pursuant to this subsection may be for a term of up to |
| 159 | 3 years and cover up to $5,000 in mitigation measures. The |
| 160 | department shall pay the creditor the market rate of interest |
| 161 | using funds appropriated for the My Safe Florida Home Program. |
| 162 | In no case shall the department pay more than the interest rate |
| 163 | set by s. 687.03. To be eligible for a loan, a loan applicant |
| 164 | must first obtain a home inspection and report that specifies |
| 165 | what improvements are needed to reduce the property's |
| 166 | vulnerability to windstorm damage pursuant to this section and |
| 167 | meet loan underwriting requirements set by the lender. The |
| 168 | department shall may set aside up to $10 million from funds |
| 169 | appropriated for the My Safe Florida Home Program to implement |
| 170 | this subsection. The department may shall adopt rules pursuant |
| 171 | to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement this subsection which |
| 172 | may include eligibility criteria. |
| 173 | (10) CONTRACT MANAGEMENT.--The department may contract |
| 174 | with third parties for grants management, inspection services, |
| 175 | contractor services for low-income homeowners, information |
| 176 | technology, educational outreach, and auditing services. Such |
| 177 | contracts shall be considered direct costs of the program and |
| 178 | shall not be subject to administrative cost limits, but |
| 179 | contracts valued at $500,000 or more shall be subject to review |
| 180 | and approval by the Legislative Budget Commission. The |
| 181 | department shall contract with providers that have a |
| 182 | demonstrated record of successful business operations in areas |
| 183 | directly related to the services to be provided and shall ensure |
| 184 | the highest accountability for use of state funds, consistent |
| 185 | with this section. |
| 186 | Section 2. Paragraph (k) is added to subsection (2) of |
| 187 | section 627.062, Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 188 | 627.062 Rate standards.-- |
| 189 | (2) As to all such classes of insurance: |
| 190 | (k) With respect to residential property insurance rate |
| 191 | filings, the rate filing must account for county ordinances and |
| 192 | local amendments to the Florida Building Code that effectuate |
| 193 | the reduction or elimination of geologic hazards and ordinances |
| 194 | geared toward reducing insurer risk from geologic hazards. |
| 195 |
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| 196 | The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to workers' |
| 197 | compensation and employer's liability insurance and to motor |
| 198 | vehicle insurance. |
| 199 | Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 627.711, Florida |
| 200 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 201 | 627.711 Notice of premium discounts for hurricane loss |
| 202 | mitigation; uniform mitigation verification inspection form.-- |
| 203 | (2) By July 1, 2007, the Financial Services Commission |
| 204 | shall develop by rule a uniform mitigation verification |
| 205 | inspection form that shall be used by all insurers when |
| 206 | factoring discounts for wind insurance. In developing the form, |
| 207 | the commission shall seek input from insurance, construction, |
| 208 | and building code representatives. Further, the commission shall |
| 209 | provide guidance as to the length of time the inspection results |
| 210 | are valid. An insurer shall accept as valid a uniform mitigation |
| 211 | verification form certified by the Department of Financial |
| 212 | Services or signed by: |
| 213 | (a) A hurricane mitigation inspector employed by an |
| 214 | approved My Safe Florida Home wind certification entity; |
| 215 | (b) A building code inspector certified under s. 468.607; |
| 216 | (c) A general or residential contractor licensed under s. |
| 217 | 489.111; |
| 218 | (d) A professional engineer licensed under s. 471.015 who |
| 219 | has passed the appropriate equivalency test of the Building Code |
| 220 | training program as required by s. 553.841; or |
| 221 | (e) A professional architect licensed under s. 481.213. |
| 222 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |