It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Hello Members!

January through June is my favorite time of year for so many reasons!  I could, of course, start with March Madness and could mention the announcement over the weekend of the tournament #1 seeds……but I will save that for another day!  Plenty of time to fill your inbox in March with that topic….

Here are two other things going on to chat about.

Assembly 2025!  Fund Assembly registration is open and early bird pricing is available, so why not take advantage of it?  Join us in Orlando May 15-17 for our usual fantastic program and your chance to connect with your fellow Fund Members.  There are lots of NEW things this year.  Note that we are starting EARLIER on Thursday, the Thursday night Welcome reception is more casual and family-friendly, Friday night is going to be a fancy Member Appreciation Gala not to be missed and Saturday morning will be workshops on the new Broker Compensation Rules and Fraud Awareness.  Here's the link to register:  https://www.thefund.com/assembly

Florida Legislative Session.  What is that old song?  "We've Only Just Begun….."  Things are already happening in Tallahassee and the session doesn't officially kick off until March 4.  Bills are being filed and we expect the pace to pick up significantly over the next two weeks.  I am sure we will have more to mention to you but here are two that I picked out sort of randomly as examples of ones we are watching:

• HB 381 requires the appropriate governing body to assign Parcel Identification Numbers, street addresses and mailing addresses to newly created parcels within two weeks of a plat recording.  If they fail to do so, the building permit fee (I guess on each individual lot) will be reduced by 10% for each business day that goes by.  This is one of those bills that creates a chuckle; in what jurisdiction do each of these things get issued by just ONE agency?  Maybe you know of one but my experience was that each of these bits of information came from at least 3 different governmental agencies…..Well, we will keep an eye on it.  Here's a link to the bill. https://www.thefund.com/pdf/legislative/hb-381-parcel-identification-numbers.pdf
• Another bill of particular interest is HB 93, which requires swimming pools located on residential property sold to meet certain pool safety and barrier requirements, but get this – the title company, property inspector or mortgage underwriter are among those who MUST report any pool safety violations to local law enforcement.  You do not have déjà vu.  There was a similar bill filed last year that did not go anywhere, so certain legislators have decided to give it another go.  We will be paying close attention to this one also.    Here's a link to the bill.  https://www.thefund.com/pdf/legislative/hb-93-swimming-pools.pdf

Update on MV Realty.  Here's some good news out of our Attorney General's office. The AG secured an injunction from the 13th Judicial Circuit Court that provides the following:

MV Realty and the individual defendants are prohibited from the following actions pertaining to property in Florida:

• Enforcing any HBA; 
• Collecting or attempting to collect any early termination fee or other payment for any alleged breach of an HBA;
• Asserting or representing to any consumer, homeowner, title agent, real estate agent, closing attorney, lender, prospective purchaser, or in any legal action or arbitration proceeding involving a consumer who has signed an HBA, that MV Realty holds any enforceable property interest, lien, constructive trust, mortgage, or any other encumbrance or cloud on title on the home that arises from an HBA.; 
• Filing, or causing to be indexed, a lis pendens on a property that is subject to an HBA; and 
• Recording a Memorandum of Homeowner Benefit Agreement, a Memorandum of OptListing Agreement, or any other document which provides public notice of an HBA on the property subject to an HBA with MV Realty or its subsidiaries, successors, or assigns.

MV Realty must also record terminations of all memoranda recorded on the properties of homeowners associated with an HBA within 14 days of the injunction order date or within two days of being notified by any Florida homeowner, title agent, real estate agent, closing attorney, lender, or prospective purchaser that a termination is required to be recorded in order to proceed with any transaction related to a Florida homeowner's property, including but not limited to, a loan, refinancing, reverse mortgage, or sale of the property.

To view the injunction, click here. To view the Press Release from the AG office View PDF

HOT OFF THE PRESS. We just learned that MV Realty filed an appeal of the injunction last Friday (February 14, 2025). No order on this appeal has been filed so STAY TUNED. Right now, the injunction is still in effect. We will keep you updated as best we can!

Let me know how we can help you.

 

Melissa Jay Murphy
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer,
and General Counsel