Important Update! SB 264 & What You Need to Know
Dear Members,
We are all talking about the law, SB 264, that restricts ownership of certain types of property by "foreign principals" from any of several "foreign countries of concern." One of the provisions of the new law is that buyers of property sign an affidavit at closing, stating whether they are a foreign principal and that they are in compliance with the law.
Understandably, this has sparked lots of questions from Members. A recurring question is whether The Fund will be providing a suggested Affidavit form for Member use. A team was assembled and we have worked hard for several weeks on how best to support you in the implementation of this new law.
Providing you with an Affidavit form is just one of the ways we will try to be helpful. Here is what we have come up with so far:
- Michael Rothman and I did a webinar on May 24 where our focus was on reviewing the provisions of the law. Here is a link to that webinar https://www.thefund.com/ondemand/legal-education/fl-sb-264.aspx.
- Here is a link to the new law in its entirety. https://www.thefund.com/fl-sb-264-law.pdf
- We have established a dedicated email folder for your questions about this law, foreigninterests@thefund.com. Please send your questions and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Questions help us learn about the issues you are encountering in your practices, which in turn guides how we can best support you.
- Finally, we are offering an Affidavit and Notice form for you to consider using, along with Guidance that contains suggestions and other information about how these can be used. https://www.thefund.com/resources/conveyances-to-foreign-entities.aspx These forms are offered to you with the following conditions:
- We have done our best to provide forms that accurately reflect the requirements of the law. However, Fund Members are urged to become familiar with the law and make their own determination of whether the forms provided meet the needs of their particular transaction. You may want to tweak the Affidavit and Notice form to fit your particular transaction needs.
- The Affidavit and Notice form we have provided are not Fund-required forms. They are practice guides for you to use based on your particular transaction and your understanding of the law.
- Michael Rothman and Colleen Sachs will be presenting a webinar on June 28 at noon, to review the Affidavit and Notice form, along with our Guidance. Here is a link to register https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5671927920824271963.
This has been one of the more challenging situations we have faced recently. We hope that the work we have done so far is helpful but we know that only time and experience will show how those of you involved in the day to day business of closing transactions learn how to deal with and adapt to this new law.
Thank you for your support of The Fund.
Let me know how we can help you.
Melissa Jay Murphy
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer,
and General Counsel
06/20/2023