Florida Senate - 2015                                     SB 524
       
       
        
       By Senator Soto
       
       
       
       
       
       14-00703-15                                            2015524__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to rental agreements; creating s.
    3         83.561, F.S.; providing that a purchaser taking title
    4         to a tenant-occupied residential property following a
    5         foreclosure sale takes title to the property as a
    6         landlord; specifying conditions under which the tenant
    7         may remain in possession of the premises; prescribing
    8         the form for a 90-day notice of termination of the
    9         rental agreement; establishing requirements for
   10         delivery of the notice; providing exceptions;
   11         providing an effective date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Section 83.561, Florida Statutes, is created to
   16  read:
   17         83.561 Termination of rental agreement upon foreclosure.—
   18         (1) If a tenant is occupying residential premises that are
   19  the subject of a foreclosure sale, upon issuance of a
   20  certificate of title following the sale, the purchaser named in
   21  the certificate of title takes title to the residential premises
   22  as a landlord, subject to the rights of the tenant under
   23  paragraph (a).
   24         (a)1. If a written rental agreement was entered into before
   25  the issuance of the certificate of title, the tenant may remain
   26  in possession of the premises until the end of the term
   27  specified in the rental agreement or at least 90 days following
   28  the date of the purchaser’s delivery of a written notice of
   29  termination of the tenancy to the tenant, whichever occurs
   30  later.
   31         2. If a written rental agreement was entered into before
   32  the issuance of the certificate of title, but the purchaser
   33  named in the certificate of title sells the premises to a
   34  subsequent purchaser who intends to occupy the premises as a
   35  primary residence, the subsequent purchaser may terminate the
   36  rental agreement by delivering a written 90-day notice of
   37  termination to the tenant.
   38         3. If a written rental agreement was not entered into
   39  before the issuance of the certificate of title, the tenant may
   40  remain in possession of the premises for 90 days following
   41  delivery of the written 90-day notice of termination.
   42         (b) The 90-day notice of termination must be in
   43  substantially the following form:
   44  
   45         You are hereby notified that your rental agreement is
   46  terminated effective 90 days following the date of the delivery
   47  of this notice or the end of the term specified in your written
   48  rental agreement, whichever occurs later, and that I demand
   49  possession of the premises on that date. You are still obligated
   50  to pay rent during the 90-day period or the remainder of the
   51  term of your rental agreement, in the same amount that you have
   52  been paying. Your rent must be delivered to ...(landlord’s name
   53  and address)....
   54  
   55         (c) The 90-day notice of termination shall be delivered in
   56  the same manner as provided in s. 83.56(4).
   57         (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if:
   58         (a) The tenant is the mortgagor in the subject foreclosure
   59  or the child, spouse, or parent of the mortgagor in the subject
   60  foreclosure, unless the property is a multiunit residential
   61  structure and other tenants occupy units of the structure.
   62         (b) The tenant’s rental agreement is not the result of an
   63  arm’s-length transaction.
   64         (c) The tenant’s rental agreement allows the tenant to pay
   65  rent that is substantially less than the fair market rent for
   66  the premises, unless the rent is reduced or subsidized due to a
   67  federal, state, or local subsidy.
   68         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.