Fund News and Alerts

“Heirs Property” refers to land passed down to family members through the laws of intestacy and held by descendants as tenants in common. For many years, heirs property owners have lost their property involuntarily through partition actions in which a cotenant in common seeks a forced partition sale of the property. Such partition sales often negatively impact low to moderate income owners or other disadvantaged groups who do not have ready access to affordable legal representation. Read the article.

11/01/2021

You Asked for It - Policy Payment has been added to ePolicyManager. Save time, streamline your post-closing process with Policy Payment, the latest feature that lets you pay policy premium invoices to The Fund electronically online on thefund.com

11/01/2021

By: Michael Rothman, Senior Manager, Legal Education, Attorneys’ Title Fund Services, LLC

Read on to learn what real estate agents need to consider. 

10/19/2021

Under Florida law, licensed contractors and other professionals who supply labor, services, or materials to improve real property are entitled to a lien against the property they improve. Generally, an owner understands that if they engage a contractor to improve their property, it could be subject to a lien if they fail to pay. This concept is not as straightforward when the owner leases the land to another who intends to construct improvements upon it. Is there potential for the tenant’s construction liens to attach to the real property? The answer is maybe. 

Read the article

10/01/2021

Florida’s 2021 legislative session concluded on Apr. 30. Consistent with what the Legislature has done over a number of years, bills passed by both houses include some that make various alterations to existing laws governing community associations under Chs. 718, 719, and 720, F.S., as well as other statutes that tangentially relate to community associations. All bills described in this article have already been approved by Governor DeSantis and are now law. The article highlights new laws of potential interest to Fund Members. 
Read the article.

09/01/2021

In the wake of the pandemic, leveraged commercial real property may be more susceptible to default, foreclosure, loss, and waste. Historically, during the pendency of a commercial foreclosure action, one remedy creditors have had is the appointment of a receiver to protect and preserve the income and value of distressed property. But common law commercial receiverships based in equity developed haphazardly; they lacked clarity and predictability. An effort by the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar, acting with the assistance of The Florida Bar’s Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section (RPPTL), fostered the codification of statutory guidelines. Read the article.

08/01/2021

Keep your motivation and marketing going with these helpful tips and suggestions. 

07/29/2021

True story: A closing agent received a spoofed phone call from a fraudster posing as the seller. The “seller” called to say that he had an issue with his mortgage lender’s payoff amount and said to expect to hear from the mortgage company. Soon after, an updated payoff statement was received with a slightly lowered amount due. The closing agent did not realize the wiring account number had changed and wired the payoff to the fraudster’s account. Read the article.

07/01/2021

When a Fund Member is handling a real estate transaction that involves a deceased owner, the potential for estate taxes is one of the many issues to be addressed. This is especially true for large estates, whether or not the deceased is a Florida resident. 

Under the terms of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (and subsequent amendments), any resident or nonresident dying on or after Jan. 1, 2005, is not subject to Florida estate taxes. Therefore, the focus of this article will be limited to addressing potential federal estate taxes during a real estate transaction.

Read the article.

 

06/01/2021

The Fund’s Underwriting department receives many inquiries from Fund Members seeking assistance with clearing trust requirements. Trusts can be complicated and often contain unrecorded terms and conditions that affect ownership of the real property interests held in trust. The purpose of this article is to introduce Fund Members to The Fund’s updated commitment clauses dealing with trusts and to explain why they are required and how the requirements can be cleared. With a little practice, Fund Members and their staff members can gain confidence in dealing with trusts.

There are three categories of deeds involving trusts that a Fund Member will regularly encounter — the Sec. 689.07, F.S., “as Trustee” deed; a land trust formed under the Florida Land Trust Act, Sec. 689.071, F.S.; and an express trust, either revocable or irrevocable, made pursuant to the Florida Trust Code, Ch. 736, F.S. The revocable inter-vivos trust, an express trust often used for estate planning purposes and to avoid probate, is by far the most common trust encountered by real estate practitioners.

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05/03/2021