Florida Senate - 2016                                     SB 826
       
       
        
       By Senator Latvala
       
       
       
       
       
       20-00856A-16                                           2016826__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to mobile homes; amending s. 723.006,
    3         F.S.; revising certain notice requirements for written
    4         complaints; amending s. 723.031, F.S.; authorizing a
    5         mobile home park owner to pass on non-ad valorem
    6         assessments to a tenant under certain circumstances;
    7         providing that a mobile home park owner is deemed to
    8         have disclosed the passing on of certain taxes and
    9         assessments under certain circumstances; requiring the
   10         non-ad valorem assessments to be a part of the lot
   11         rental amount; requiring that a renewed rental
   12         agreement remain under the same terms unless certain
   13         notice is provided; amending s. 723.059, F.S.;
   14         authorizing a mobile home purchaser to cancel or
   15         rescind the contract to purchase under certain
   16         circumstances; amending s. 723.075, F.S.; revising the
   17         rights that mobile home owners exercise if they form
   18         an association; authorizing mobile home owners to
   19         become members upon incorporation of the association;
   20         defining the terms “member” and “shareholder”;
   21         deleting provisions relating to memberships of
   22         successors to home owners; amending s. 723.078, F.S.;
   23         specifying voting requirements for homeowners’
   24         associations; specifying the requirements for a
   25         majority of votes; authorizing members to vote by
   26         secret ballot and absentee ballot; providing an
   27         effective date.
   28          
   29  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   30  
   31         Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 723.006, Florida
   32  Statutes, is amended to read:
   33         723.006 Powers and duties of division.—In performing its
   34  duties, the division has the following powers and duties:
   35         (6) With regard to any written complaint alleging a
   36  violation of any provision of this chapter or any rule adopted
   37  promulgated pursuant thereto, the division shall, within 30 days
   38  after receipt of a written complaint, periodically notify, in
   39  writing, the person who filed the complaint of the status of the
   40  complaint. Thereafter, the division shall notify the complainant
   41  of the status of the investigation within 90 days after receipt
   42  of the written complaint. Upon completion of the investigation,
   43  the division investigation, whether probable cause has been
   44  found, and the status of any administrative action, civil
   45  action, or appellate action, and if the division has found that
   46  probable cause exists, it shall notify, in writing, the
   47  complainant and the party complained against of the results of
   48  the investigation and disposition of the complaint.
   49         Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 723.031, Florida
   50  Statutes, is amended to read:
   51         723.031 Mobile home lot rental agreements.—
   52         (5) The rental agreement shall contain the lot rental
   53  amount and services included. An increase in lot rental amount
   54  upon expiration of the term of the lot rental agreement shall be
   55  in accordance with ss. 723.033 and 723.037 or s. 723.059(4),
   56  whichever is applicable, provided that, pursuant to s.
   57  723.059(4), the amount of the lot rental increase is disclosed
   58  and agreed to by the purchaser, in writing. An increase in lot
   59  rental amount shall not be arbitrary or discriminatory between
   60  similarly situated tenants in the park. A No lot rental amount
   61  may not be increased during the term of the lot rental
   62  agreement, except:
   63         (a) When the manner of the increase is disclosed in a lot
   64  rental agreement with a term exceeding 12 months and which
   65  provides for such increases not more frequently than annually.
   66         (b) For pass-through charges as defined in s. 723.003.
   67         (c) That a no charge may not be collected which that
   68  results in payment of money for sums previously collected as
   69  part of the lot rental amount. The provisions hereof
   70  notwithstanding, the mobile home park owner may pass on, at any
   71  time during the term of the lot rental agreement, ad valorem
   72  property taxes, non-ad valorem assessments, and utility charges,
   73  or increases of either, provided that the ad valorem property
   74  taxes, non-ad valorem assessments, and the utility charges are
   75  not otherwise being collected in the remainder of the lot rental
   76  amount and provided further that the passing on of such ad
   77  valorem taxes, non-ad valorem assessments, or utility charges,
   78  or increases of either, was disclosed prior to tenancy, was
   79  being passed on as a matter of custom between the mobile home
   80  park owner and the mobile home owner, or such passing on was
   81  authorized by law. A park owner shall be deemed to have
   82  disclosed the passing on of ad valorem property taxes and non-ad
   83  valorem assessments if ad valorem property taxes or non-ad
   84  valorem assessments were disclosed as a factor for increasing
   85  the lot rental amount in the prospectus or rental agreement.
   86  Such ad valorem taxes, non-ad valorem assessments, and utility
   87  charges shall be a part of the lot rental amount as defined by
   88  this chapter. Other provisions of this chapter notwithstanding,
   89  pass-on charges may be passed on only within 1 year of the date
   90  a mobile home park owner remits payment of the charge. A mobile
   91  home park owner is prohibited from passing on any fine,
   92  interest, fee, or increase in a charge resulting from a park
   93  owner’s payment of the charge after the date such charges become
   94  delinquent. Nothing herein shall prohibit a park owner and a
   95  homeowner from mutually agreeing to an alternative manner of
   96  payment to the park owner of the charges.
   97         (d)If a notice of increase in lot rental amount is not
   98  given 90 days before the renewal date of the rental agreement,
   99  the rental agreement shall remain under the same terms until a
  100  90-day notice of increase in lot rental amount is given. The
  101  notice may provide for a rental term shorter than 1 year in
  102  order to maintain the same renewal date.
  103         Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 723.059, Florida
  104  Statutes, is amended to read:
  105         723.059 Rights of purchaser.—
  106         (1) The purchaser of a mobile home within a mobile home
  107  park may become a tenant of the park if such purchaser would
  108  otherwise qualify with the requirements of entry into the park
  109  under the park rules and regulations, subject to the approval of
  110  the park owner, but such approval may not be unreasonably
  111  withheld. The purchaser of the mobile home may cancel or rescind
  112  the contract for purchase of the mobile home if the purchaser’s
  113  tenancy has not been approved by the park owner 5 days before
  114  the closing of the purchase.
  115         Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 723.075, Florida
  116  Statutes, is amended to read:
  117         723.075 Homeowners’ associations.—
  118         (1) In order to exercise the rights provided in this
  119  chapter s. 723.071, the mobile home owners shall form an
  120  association in compliance with this section and ss. 723.077,
  121  723.078, and 723.079, which shall be a corporation for profit or
  122  not for profit and of which not less than two-thirds of all of
  123  the mobile home owners within the park shall have consented, in
  124  writing, to become members or shareholders. Upon incorporation
  125  of the association such consent by two-thirds of the mobile home
  126  owners, all consenting mobile home owners in the park may become
  127  members or shareholders. The term member” or “shareholder”
  128  means a mobile home owner who consents to be bound by the
  129  articles of incorporation, bylaws, and policies of the
  130  incorporated homeowners’ association and their successors shall
  131  become members of the association and shall be bound by the
  132  provisions of the articles of incorporation, the bylaws of the
  133  association, and such restrictions as may be properly
  134  promulgated pursuant thereto. The association may not shall have
  135  a no member or shareholder who is not a bona fide owner of a
  136  mobile home located in the park. Upon incorporation and service
  137  of the notice described in s. 723.076, the association shall
  138  become the representative of all the mobile home owners in all
  139  matters relating to this chapter.
  140         Section 5. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
  141  723.078, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  142         723.078 Bylaws of homeowners’ associations.—
  143         (2) The bylaws shall provide and, if they do not, shall be
  144  deemed to include, the following provisions:
  145         (b) Quorum; voting requirements; proxies.—
  146         1. Unless otherwise provided in the bylaws, 30 percent of
  147  the total membership is required to constitute a quorum.
  148  Decisions shall be made by a majority of members represented at
  149  a meeting at which a quorum is present.
  150         2. A member may not vote by general proxy but may vote by
  151  limited proxies substantially conforming to a limited proxy form
  152  adopted by the division. Limited proxies and general proxies may
  153  be used to establish a quorum. Limited proxies may be used for
  154  votes taken to amend the articles of incorporation or bylaws
  155  pursuant to this section, and any other matters for which this
  156  chapter requires or permits a vote of members, except that no
  157  proxy, limited or general, may be used in the election of board
  158  members. If a mobile home or subdivision lot is owned jointly,
  159  the owners of the mobile home, or subdivision lot, shall be
  160  counted as one for the purpose of determining the number of
  161  votes required for a majority. Only one vote per mobile home or
  162  subdivision lot shall be counted. Any number greater than 50
  163  percent of the total number of votes constitutes a majority.
  164  Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, members may vote
  165  in person at member meetings or by secret ballot, including
  166  absentee ballots.
  167         3. A proxy is effective only for the specific meeting for
  168  which originally given and any lawfully adjourned meetings
  169  thereof. In no event shall any proxy be valid for a period
  170  longer than 90 days after the date of the first meeting for
  171  which it was given. Every proxy shall be revocable at any time
  172  at the pleasure of the member executing it.
  173         4. A member of the board of directors or a committee may
  174  submit in writing his or her agreement or disagreement with any
  175  action taken at a meeting that the member did not attend. This
  176  agreement or disagreement may not be used as a vote for or
  177  against the action taken and may not be used for the purposes of
  178  creating a quorum.
  179         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.