Florida Senate - 2015                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 656
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì297176IÎ297176                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/01/2015           .                                
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       The Committee on Regulated Industries (Latvala) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 82.045, Florida Statutes, is created to
    6  read:
    7         82.045 Remedy for unlawful detention by a transient
    8  occupant of residential property.—
    9         (1) As used in this section, the term “transient occupant”
   10  means a person whose residency in a dwelling intended for
   11  residential use has occurred for a brief length of time, is not
   12  pursuant to a lease, and whose occupancy was intended as
   13  transient in nature.
   14         (a) Factors that establish that a person is a transient
   15  occupant include, but are not limited to:
   16         1. The person does not have ownership, financial, or
   17  leasehold in the property entitling him or her to occupancy of
   18  the property.
   19         2. The person does not have any property utility
   20  subscriptions.
   21         3. The person does not use the property address as an
   22  address of record with any governmental agency, including, but
   23  not limited to, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
   24  Vehicles or the supervisor of elections.
   25         4. The person does not receive mail at the property.
   26         5. The person pays minimal or no rent for his or her stay
   27  at the property.
   28         6. The person does not have a designated space of his or
   29  her own, such as a room, at the property.
   30         7. The person has minimal, if any, personal belongings at
   31  the property.
   32         8. The person has an apparent permanent residence
   33  elsewhere.
   34         (b) Minor contributions made for the purchase of household
   35  goods or minor contributions towards other household expenses,
   36  do not establish residency.
   37         (2) A transient occupant unlawfully detains a residential
   38  property if the transient occupant remains in occupancy of the
   39  residential property after the party entitled to possession of
   40  the property has directed the transient occupant to leave.
   41         (3) Any law enforcement officer may, upon receipt of a
   42  sworn affidavit of the party entitled to possession that a
   43  person who is a transient occupant is unlawfully detaining
   44  residential property, direct a transient occupant to surrender
   45  possession of residential property. The sworn affidavit must set
   46  forth the facts, including the applicable factors listed in
   47  paragraph (1)(a), which establish that a transient occupant is
   48  unlawfully detaining residential property.
   49         (a) A person who fails to comply with the direction of the
   50  law enforcement officer to surrender possession or occupancy
   51  violates s. 810.08. In any prosecution of a violation of s.
   52  810.08 related to this section, whether the defendant was
   53  properly classified as a transient occupant is not an element of
   54  the offense, the state is not required to prove that the
   55  defendant was in fact a transient occupant, and the defendant’s
   56  status as a permanent resident is not an affirmative defense.
   57         (b) A person wrongfully removed pursuant to this subsection
   58  has a cause of action for wrongful removal against the person
   59  who requested the removal, and may recover injunctive relief and
   60  compensatory damages. However, a wrongfully removed person does
   61  not have a cause of action against the law enforcement officer
   62  or the agency employing the law enforcement officer absent a
   63  showing of bad faith by the law enforcement officer.
   64         (4) A party entitled to possession of a dwelling has a
   65  cause of action for unlawful detainer against a transient
   66  occupant pursuant to s. 82.04. The party entitled to possession
   67  is not required to notify the transient occupant before filing
   68  the action. If the court finds the defendant is not a transient
   69  occupant but is instead a tenant of residential property
   70  governed by part II of chapter 83, the court may not dismiss the
   71  action without first allowing the plaintiff to give the
   72  transient occupant notice required by that part and to
   73  thereafter amend the complaint to pursue eviction under that
   74  part.
   75         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.
   76  
   77  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   78  And the title is amended as follows:
   79         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   80  and insert:
   81                        A bill to be entitled                      
   82         An act relating to unlawful detention by a transient
   83         occupant; creating s. 82.045, F.S.; defining the term
   84         “transient occupant”; providing factors that establish
   85         a transient occupancy; providing for removal of a
   86         transient occupant by a law enforcement officer;
   87         providing a cause of action for wrongful removal;
   88         limiting actions for wrongful removal; providing a
   89         civil action for removal of a transient occupant;
   90         providing an effective date.