HB 927

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to adverse possession; amending s. 95.18,
3F.S.; specifying that occupation and maintenance of
4property satisfies the requirements for possession for
5purposes of gaining title to property via adverse
6possession without color of title; requiring a person
7seeking property by adverse possession to use a uniform
8adverse possession return provided by the Department of
9Revenue; requiring the property appraiser to notify the
10owner of record of an adverse possession claim; requiring
11that a person claiming adverse possession attest to the
12truthfulness of the information provided in the return
13under penalty of perjury; authorizing the Department of
14Revenue to adopt emergency rules; requiring that the
15property appraiser add certain information related to the
16adverse possession claim to the parcel information on the
17tax roll and prescribing conditions for removal of that
18information; prescribing procedures and requirements for
19adverse possession claims against a portion of an
20identified parcel or against property to which the
21property appraiser has not assigned a parcel number;
22requiring the property appraiser to include a notation of
23an adverse possession filing in any searchable property
24database maintained by the property appraiser; amending s.
25197.212, F.S.; excluding property subject to adverse
26possession claims without color of title from provisions
27authorizing the tax collector not to send a tax notice for
28minimum tax bills; creating s. 197.3335, F.S.; requiring
29the tax collector to determine whether a duplicate tax
30payment is made by an adverse possessor; providing for
31priority of tax payments made by an owner of record who is
32subject to an adverse possession claim; providing for a
33refund of tax payments under certain conditions; providing
34for retroactive application of certain provisions
35governing procedures for administering a claim of adverse
36possession and establishing tax priority for owners of
37record; providing an effective date.
38
39Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
40
41     Section 1.  Section 95.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to
42read:
43     95.18  Real property actions; adverse possession without
44color of title.-
45     (1)  When the occupant has, or those under whom the
46occupant claims have, been in actual continued occupation of
47real property for 7 years under a claim of title exclusive of
48any other right, but not founded on a written instrument,
49judgment, or decree, the property actually occupied is shall be
50held adversely if the person claiming adverse possession made a
51return, as required under subsection (3), of the property by
52proper legal description to the property appraiser of the county
53where it is located within 1 year after entering into possession
54and has subsequently paid, subject to s. 197.3335, all taxes and
55matured installments of special improvement liens levied against
56the property by the state, county, and municipality.
57     (2)  For the purpose of this section, property is shall be
58deemed to be possessed if the property has been in the following
59cases only:
60     (a)  When it has been Protected by substantial enclosure;.
61     (b)  When it has been usually Cultivated or improved in a
62usual manner; or.
63     (c)  Occupied and maintained.
64     (3)  A person claiming adverse possession under this
65section must make a return of the property by providing to the
66property appraiser a uniform return on a form provided by the
67Department of Revenue. The return must include all of the
68following:
69     (a)  The name and address of the person claiming adverse
70possession.
71     (b)  The date that the person claiming adverse possession
72entered into possession of the property.
73     (c)  A full and complete legal description of the property
74that is subject to the adverse possession claim.
75     (d)  A notarized attestation clause that states:
76UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I DECLARE THAT I HAVE READ
77THE FOREGOING RETURN AND THAT THE FACTS STATED IN IT
78ARE TRUE AND CORRECT.
79     (e)  A description of the use of the property by the person
80claiming adverse possession.
81     (f)  A receipt to be completed by the property appraiser.
82
83The property appraiser shall refuse to accept a return if it
84does not comply with this subsection. The executive director of
85the Department of Revenue is authorized, and all conditions are
86deemed met, to adopt emergency rules under ss. 120.536(1) and
87120.54(4) for the purpose of implementing this subsection. The
88emergency rules shall remain in effect for 6 months after
89adoption and may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to
90adopt rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules.
91     (4)  Upon the submission of a return, the property
92appraiser shall:
93     (a)  Send, via regular mail, a copy of the return to the
94owner of record of the property that is subject to the adverse
95possession claim, as identified by the property appraiser's
96records.
97     (b)  Inform the owner of record that, under s. 197.3335,
98any tax payment made by the owner of record before April 1
99following the year in which the tax is assessed will have
100priority over any tax payment made by an adverse possessor.
101     (c)  Add a notation at the beginning of the first line of
102the legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession
103claim has been submitted.
104     (d)  Maintain the return in the property appraiser's
105records.
106     (5)(a)  If a person makes a claim of adverse possession
107under this section against a portion of a parcel of property
108identified by a unique parcel identification number in the
109property appraiser's records:
110     1.  The person claiming adverse possession shall include in
111the return submitted under subsection (3) a full and complete
112legal description of the property sufficient to enable the
113property appraiser to identify the portion of the property
114subject to the adverse possession claim.
115     2.  The property appraiser may refuse to accept the return
116if the portion of the property subject to the claim cannot be
117identified by the legal description provided in the return, and
118the person claiming adverse possession must obtain a survey of
119the portion of the property subject to the claim in order to
120submit the return.
121     (b)  Upon submission of the return, the property appraiser
122shall follow the procedures under subsection (4), and may not
123create a unique parcel identification number for the portion of
124property subject to the claim.
125     (c)  The property appraiser shall assign a fair and just
126value to the portion of the property, as provided in s. 193.011,
127and provide this value to the tax collector to facilitate tax
128payment under s. 197.3335(3).
129     (6)(a)  If a person makes a claim of adverse possession
130under this section against property to which the property
131appraiser has not assigned a parcel identification number:
132     1.  The person claiming adverse possession must include in
133the return submitted under subsection (3) a full and complete
134legal description of the property which is sufficient to enable
135the property appraiser to identify the property subject to the
136adverse possession claim.
137     2.  The property appraiser may refuse to accept a return if
138the property subject to the claim cannot be identified by the
139legal description provided in the return, and the person
140claiming adverse possession must obtain a survey of the property
141subject to the claim in order to submit the return.
142     (b)  Upon submission of the return, the property appraiser
143shall:
144     1.  Assign a parcel identification number to the property
145and assign a fair and just value to the property as provided in
146s. 193.011;
147     2.  Add a notation at the beginning of the first line of
148the legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession
149claim has been submitted; and
150     3.  Maintain the return in the property appraiser's
151records.
152     (7)  A property appraiser must remove the notation to the
153legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession
154claim has been submitted and shall remove the return from the
155property appraiser's records if:
156     (a)  The person claiming adverse possession notifies the
157property appraiser in writing that the adverse possession claim
158is withdrawn;
159     (b)  The owner of record provides a certified copy of a
160court order, entered after the date the return was submitted to
161the property appraiser, establishing title in the owner of
162record;
163     (c)  The property appraiser receives a certified copy of a
164recorded deed, filed after the date of the submission of the
165return, from the person claiming adverse possession to the owner
166of record transferring title of property along with a legal
167description describing the same property subject to the adverse
168possession claim; or
169     (d)  The owner of record or the tax collector provides to
170the property appraiser a receipt demonstrating that the owner of
171record has paid the annual tax assessment for the property
172subject to the adverse possession claim during the period that
173the person is claiming adverse possession.
174     (8)  The property appraiser shall include a clear and
175obvious notation in the legal description of the parcel
176information of any public searchable property database
177maintained by the property appraiser that an adverse possession
178return has been submitted to the property appraiser for a
179particular parcel.
180     Section 2.  Section 197.212, Florida Statutes, is amended
181to read:
182     197.212  Minimum tax bill.-On the recommendation of the
183county tax collector, the board of county commissioners may
184adopt a resolution instructing the collector not to mail tax
185notices to a taxpayer if when the amount of taxes shown on the
186tax notice is less than an amount up to $30. The resolution
187shall also instruct the property appraiser that he or she may
188shall not make an extension on the tax roll for any parcel for
189which the tax would amount to less than an amount up to $30. The
190minimum tax bill so established may not exceed an amount up to
191$30. This section does not apply to a parcel of property that is
192subject to an adverse possession claim pursuant to s. 95.18.
193     Section 3.  Section 197.3335, Florida Statutes, is created
194to read:
195     197.3335  Tax payments when property is subject to adverse
196possession; refunds.-
197     (1)  Upon the receipt of a subsequent payment for the same
198annual tax assessment for a particular parcel of property, the
199tax collector must determine whether an adverse possession
200return has been submitted on the particular parcel. If an
201adverse possession return has been submitted, the tax collector
202must comply with subsection (2).
203     (2)  If a person claiming adverse possession under s. 95.18
204pays an annual tax assessment on a parcel of property before the
205assessment is paid by the owner of record, and the owner of
206record subsequently makes a payment of that same annual tax
207assessment before April 1 following the year in which the tax is
208assessed, the tax collector shall accept the payment made by the
209owner of record and refund within 60 days any payment made by
210the person claiming adverse possession. Such refunds do not
211require approval from the department.
212     (3)  For claims of adverse possession for a portion of a
213parcel of property as provided in s. 95.18(5), the tax collector
214may accept a tax payment, based upon the value of the property
215assigned by the property appraiser under s. 95.18(5)(c), from a
216person claiming adverse possession for the portion of the
217property subject to the claim. If the owner of record makes a
218payment of the annual tax assessment for the whole parcel before
219April 1 following the year in which the tax is assessed, the tax
220collector shall refund within 60 days any payment previously
221made for the portion of the parcel subject to the claim by the
222person claiming adverse possession.
223     Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011, and
224applies to adverse possession claims in which the return was
225submitted on or after that date, except for the procedural
226provisions governing the property appraiser's administration of
227adverse possession claims included in s. 95.18(4)(c) and (d) and
228(7), Florida Statutes, and the provisions governing the payment
229of taxes included in s. 197.3335, Florida Statutes, as created
230by this act, which apply to adverse possession claims for which
231the return was submitted before, on, or after that date.


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