Fund News and Alerts

Restoration of Priority: Applying the Revised Notice of Termination Statute

Title insurers are routinely called upon to insure loans on property before, during, and after construction. The priority of the loan is of paramount importance to the lender in every instance. Florida’s Construction Lien Law, Sec. 713.13, F.S., contains the concept of the notice of commencement. The notice of commencement marks the beginning of construction and establishes a single point in time to which any liens filed against the property relate back. A notice of commencement is valid for one year (or longer if so provided). Its primary purposes are to create an equal playing field for all who work on a project and eliminate disputes over the priority of lienors’ claims filed at various times during construction. A notice of commencement can create a challenge to the loan priority if it is recorded and unexpired prior to a mortgage in a current loan transaction. 

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06/03/2024

Alert - Lee County Grantor/Grantee ID Requirement Applicable to Electronically Submitted Deeds

Fund Members should be aware of a requirement to include government-issued photo identification (IDs) with electronically submitted deeds in Lee County effective June 1, 2024. Florida Statute 28.2225 created the Title Fraud Prevention Through Identity Verification Pilot Program in Lee County for the purposes of assisting law enforcement to verify the parties engaged in a property-related transaction

05/30/2024

Issuing Implementing Rules to Florida’s Foreign Interest Law

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Joins the Department of Commerce in Issuing Implementing Rules to Florida’s Foreign Interest Law.

On Mar. 15, 2024, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) issued rules implementing the provisions of Ch. 2023-33, Laws of Florida, relating to the interests of foreign principal ownership of agricultural land. The FDACS rules went into effect on Apr. 4, 2024, and are in Ch. 5J-27, F.A.C. The rules mirror in many ways the implementing rules issued earlier this year by the Florida Department of Commerce (FDOC) relating to the interests of foreign principal ownership of non-agricultural real property. The FDOC rules are in Ch. 73C-60, F.A.C. This article will highlight some key aspects of the FDACS and FDOC rules. 

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05/01/2024

Prevent Losses, Reduce Errors Automatically with ClosingVue

Looking for an easy way to manage your escrow account and prepare for your next audit? ClosingVue, the title and settlement production software for Fund Members, automatically reconciles your banking data with your escrow transactions. 

04/23/2024

Goodbye, GTOs; Hello Forever Reporting?

On Feb. 7, 2024, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The new rule would replace the temporary Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) that have for years required title insurance companies and their agents to report residential real estate purchases above a certain dollar amount in certain localities by business entities without institutional financing. FinCEN issued the proposed rule on Feb. 16, 2024.  The proposed rule is currently subject to a 60-day comment period.   Read the article

04/01/2024

Work Smarter and Faster with 30+ Integrations in ClosingVue

Fund Exclusive Integrations make it quick and easy to do all this, right in the software: 

• Place & Import Product Orders
• Process CPLs & Jackets
• Submit & Pay Policies

03/26/2024

Additional Recording Requirement for Deeds in Highlands County

Fund Members should be aware of an additional recording requirement for Highlands County. Highlands County Ordinance No. 22-23-23 requires that an affidavit from each of the grantees in a deed be recorded together with and just after the deed.

03/20/2024

Addressing Title Objections to Development Agreements and Development Orders

Objections to development agreements and development orders generally arise in commercial transactions. This article is the third in a series of articles addressing specific title objections. Like its predecessors, it is designed to help Fund Members analyze specific objections’ merits and provide potential resolutions. For guidance in addressing title objections related to surveys or tenants, please see, “Addressing Specific Title Objections Relating to Surveys and Tenants,” 54 Fund Concept 49 (May 2022), and for guidance in addressing water and oil, gas, and mineral right objections, please see, “Addressing Title Objections to Water Rights and Oil, Gas & Mineral Rights,” 55 Fund Concept 69 (June 2023).

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03/01/2024

2023 Sightings of Florida’s ”Legal Chameleon”

Florida’s homestead exemption laws have been compared by legal scholars and courts to a chameleon “which changes color to accord with the background against which it is viewed.” Crosby and Miller, Our Legal Chameleon: The Florida Homestead Exemption, 2 U. Fla. L. Rev. 12 (1949). Under Florida’s Constitution and Statutes, there have developed three distinct aspects of Florida homestead law: (1) exemption from creditor’s claims, (2) restrictions on alienation, and (3) tax exemptions and benefits. Art. X, Sec. 4(a), Fla. Const., protects the homestead from forced sale by creditors unless the judgment stems from one of the limited exceptions in the Constitution. Art. X, Sec. 4(c) Fla. Const., establishes restrictions on the alienation of a homestead. Restrictions with respect to the devise and descent of homestead property are codified in Secs. 732.401 and 732.4015, F.S. Art. VII, Secs. 4(d) and 6, Fl. Const., set forth Florida’s homestead tax exemption laws which are codified in Ch. 196 and Sec. 193.155, F.S. This update covers the 2023 reported state and federal case sightings of the Florida “legal chameleon” (a/k/a Homestead).

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02/01/2024

ClosingVue Training & Support Makes Your Transition Easy

Stop Worrying; Start Learning!

Worried about learning the ins and outs of a new closing software? Relax. ClosingVue, the title and settlement production software for Fund Members, makes the transition easy.

01/30/2024