Member > General Counsel Blog > January 2025 > New Forms, Revisions & Resource

New Forms, Revisions & Resource

Dear Members,

It's been a month since my last blog!  I'm back with several things I think are of interest.  First, how about those Gators (meaning the men's basketball team)!!!  They are fun to watch and root for and I hope they have a great rest of the season.  And March Madness is coming……so prepare yourself to block my emails for those 3 or 4 weeks if you don't want to hear my rants and raves about the tournament…..

More important stuff now.

New FRBAR Contract.  A revised FRBAR contract has been published.(Contract version 7 with a revision date of "Rev. 12/24").  Here is a high-level list of the revisions:

  • Paragraphs 9(a) and (b) have been revised to provide that both buyer and seller may, and I emphasize may, pay a Closing Services fee.  More about this below.
  • Paragraph 9(c) has been modified quite a bit.  I won't go through all of the changes.  A definition of "Closing Services" has been added to refer to Section 627.7711(1)(a), Fla. Stats. A party may select the designated Closing Agent or another provider to provide any required Closing Services.
  • Paragraph 15, Default, has been amended to delete the provision dictating how the deposit is to be paid upon a default.
  • Paragraph 19 has been extensively amended to clean some stuff up and add new Riders "FF" and "GG" which address the obligation for the Buyer Broker Compensation.  Note that the revision dates on "FF" and "GG" are "Rev. 8/24."
  • The broker provision has been amended to delete any reference to the MLS.  This was changed back in August but I am drawing your attention to it while we are pointing out changes.

A revised Comprehensive Rider/Condominium Rider has also been published.  It has been amended to add required information about the Milestone Inspection Report, Structural Integrity Reserve Study, and Turnover Inspection Report.  See paragraph 10 of the Rider for the changes.

Here are links to the new forms:

A word about revised Paragraph 9.  This revision has come out of many years of thoughtful, protracted, controversial and sometimes heated debate about what was appropriate and fair to the consumer.  Many different perspectives were presented to the Joint Committee from members of Florida REALTORS, FLTA and RPPTL.  Several members of those organizations have worked long and hard on this issue and they deserve a lot of thanks for their hard work.  The members of the Joint Committee also deserve a huge amount of credit for listening to all sides of the debate and making the hard decision to amend the contract.  The language that was finally approved seeks to achieve balance and treat both buyer and seller fairly and give both parties the opportunity to negotiate any fee proposed to be charged to them.  I suspect this remains a work in progress and that the discussion may not be over.  For now, however, you should be aware of and get familiar with the revised language.

Now for some editorial comments on Paragraph 9: This is absolutely NOT a blank check for a closing/title agent to automatically charge both sides a Closing Services fee on every transaction.  The closing/title agent should inform a party, as soon as is practicable, if they are going to provide services to that party, what those services are and what the fee will be.  Under the contract, that party has the right to obtain those services from someone else.  I realize that this is not practical in many situations.  So let's be reasonable, see how this works, treat each other fairly and provide positive, constructive feedback to the committee.  You are welcome to funnel those comments through me and/or Shannon Widman, Fund Deputy General Counsel.

New Resources RE: Broker Compensation Rules.  Many of you are dealing with clients who are trying to understand the new broker compensation rules— whether your clients are buyers, sellers or brokers.  We have GREAT new resources for you.  Here's a link to our resource page https://www.thefund.com/resources/nar.  There you will find links to webinars that go over the new rules and webinars that demonstrate presentations that YOU can make to your local realtor groups.  There are also links to the new forms issued by the Florida REALTORS and LOTS more.  We are updating the information on this page constantly, so you should keep this link handy.

Why did we go to all of this trouble?  Because this is an incredible opportunity for you to show your value as a real estate expert to brokers and agents in your area, potential clients and business partners.  Learn these new rules, the various forms that are now being used, and go out and tell your story!  Show off your knowledge and demonstrate that you know what you are doing and you are available to help them navigate this new world.  It is rare that we get handed such great opportunities like this and we are remiss if we don't take advantage of it.  Help these brokers and agents that are confused.  Make sure your buyer and seller clients are well represented.  The Fund can help you get there.

Last but Not Unimportant.  The legislative session is coming.  It's on a "regular" schedule this year, kicking off on March 4, 2025.  There is a lot of change in Tallahassee, with a new Senate President and new Speaker of the House.  There are also several open seats because President-elect Trump has tapped some of Florida's legislators to serve in Washington.  Special elections will be held to fill those openings.  Additionally, it is certain that CFO Patronis will resign effective in March and Governor DeSantis will appoint his replacement.  The CFO is head of the Department of Financial Services, an important regulatory agency for us because of their oversight of title insurance agents.  We are on the lookout for bills that will need to be reviewed, changes in personnel in offices we work with and anything else that affects our world.  I will try my best to keep you up to date on what's going on!

That's all for this week.

Let me know how we can help you.

Melissa Jay Muprhy

 

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

01/14/2025

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