LEGISLATIVE
Permits and Notaries
and AOB, Oh My!
Florida REALTORS® followed the road to
Tallahassee and came away from the 2019
session with a basket full of legislative victories
Your real estate-ing world got a little bit easier thanks to new
legislation that brings modern technology and common
sense to transactions.
The Florida Legislature passed two particular bills many
Florida Realtors® members had requested: one allowing the use
of remote online notaries and the other providing remedies for
open and expired permits. Here’s additional highlights from the
2019 session.
FLORIDA REALTORS® BIGGEST LEGISLATIVE VICTORIES
Remedies to open and expired permits — Open and expired
permits can delay a closing, and, in some cases, kill a deal
because of the uncertainty associated with them. To address the
problem, HB 447 allows local governments to close a permit six
years after its issuance as long as no apparent safety hazards exist.
It also prevents local governments from penalizing property
owners for an open permit that was applied for by a previous
owner. Effective: October 1, 2019.
Approval of online remote notaries — Many states allow
the use of online remote notaries in real estate transactions to
make closings easier, faster and more convenient for distant parties.
Thanks to HB 409, Florida now joins this group of modern-thinking
states. Effective: January 1, 2020.
Curbing AOB abuse to keep insurance affordable — Property
insurance assignment of benefits (AOB) came about to reduce insurance
claim burdens for property owners. However, some contractors
and attorneys abused the AOB process by overcharging for repairs
and suing insurance carriers when they refuse to pay, leading to
higher premiums for everyone. HB 7065 limits contractors' ability to
receive payment for their attorney fees if the claim is settled or won
in court. This is commonly referred to as one-way attorney fees and
the primary incentive behind AOB fraud. All bill provisions become
effective on July 1, 2019 except for provisions relating to attorney
fees, which become effective when the bill is signed into law.
Further reduction to the business rent tax — Businesses
throughout Florida will save more than $65 million each year due to
a .2% reduction of the business rent tax. The new state tax rate on
commercial leases will be 5.5%, down from 5.7% in 2018 and 6% in
2017. Effective: January 1, 2020.
More than $200 million for affordable housing projects —
Lawmakers allocated $200 million from the state and local government
housing trust funds for affordable housing programs. This
includes $115 million to assist Panhandle residents whose properties
were devastated by Hurricane Michael. Effective: July 1, 2019.
Continued funding for LIDAR mapping — The budget includes
language that allows the Division of Emergency Management to
continue spending the $15 million currently being used for LIDAR
(light detection and ranging) mapping. LIDAR is a next-generation
mapping technique and has the potential to lower flood insurance
rates throughout Florida. Effective: July 1, 2019.
Preventing unlicensed real estate activity — The Legislature
allocated up to $500,000 from the Professional Regulation Trust
Fund to DBPR to combat unlicensed real estate activity. Effective:
July 1, 2019.
OTHER BILLS THAT PASSED OF INTEREST TO REALTORS®
Flood insurance matters — HB 617 requires insurers that do not
provide flood insurance to provide a disclosure at initial issuance
and each renewal regarding the importance of flood insurance.
Effective: July 1, 2019.
Property insurance changes — HB 301 includes a host of
18 Orlando REALTOR® Summer 2019