Fund News and Alerts

By: Rene Rutan, Manager, Events & Affiliate, REC & Realtor® Relations

On November 21st, The Fund hosted its Annual Highlands Town Hall, which celebrates our amazing area Fund Members. The luncheon featured an Industry and Underwriting Update from Melissa Scaletta, The Fund’s Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Operations Officer & Deputy General Counsel.

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) settlement prompted significant changes that have impacted the entire real estate industry. Use these resources to help you navigate the changes and ultimately grow your business.

Vacation is not a word often associated with title. Vacation is typically an eagerly awaited plan or the subject of daydreams. When insuring title, however, vacation takes on a whole different meaning. “Vacation” of a platted street or alley means that the public’s interest in a property is being eliminated or “vacated.” This article will discuss what interests are created in the streets and alleys by virtue of the platting process, and once a street or an alley (hereinafter referred to as “street”) is vacated, who owns that vacated land, in what proportion, and the steps for insuring. 

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Frequently, Fund Members receive a Commitment with a deed restriction that one party to the transaction finds objectionable. This article is meant to be a practical guide for addressing those title objections. Read the article

Most real property practitioners are familiar with tax deeds incident to the nonpayment of real property taxes. However, escheatment tax deeds are less common. This article addresses the guidelines for insuring when the tax deed process becomes an escheatment tax deed process. Read the article

In today’s real estate market, one can never be too careful when it comes to mortgage payoffs. The mounting increase in payoff fraud and wire diversion continues to disrupt the real estate market as fraudsters find more creative and devious ways of defrauding unsuspecting parties who fall victim to their ploys. This article will revisit mortgage payoffs, address some common underwriting questions, and recommend some best practices and tips to incorporate into the daily practice of handling transactional closings. Read the article

Powers of attorney are used to facilitate a transaction when a party is unable to sign the closing documents in person. The purpose of a power of attorney is to give authority to another person, the “agent” or “attorney in fact,” to act on behalf of the person granting the power of attorney, the “principal.” In Florida, Sec. 709.2105(1), F.S., provides that the agent may be “a natural person who is 18 years of age or older or a financial institution that has trust powers, has a place of business in this state, and is authorized to conduct trust business in this state.” Chapter 4 of the Fund Title Notes discusses powers of attorney in detail. The purpose of this article is to provide Fund Members with the key points of powers of attorney and how they are used in real estate transactions.

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During the 2024 session, the Florida Legislature passed House Bill 1029 (HB 1029), establishing an important pilot program for hurricane mitigation designed to help protect condominiums in Florida. The bill was approved by the Governor and assigned Session Law 2024-108, effective July 1, 2024. This article will highlight the significant provisions of the new law. 

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By: Rene Rutan, Manager, Events &  Affiliate, REC & Realtor® Relations

Florida ARECs Recognizes Patricia Nugent

On May 4th, I had the honor of presenting an award on behalf of Florida ARECs to Fund Member Pat Nugent.  It’s been over ten years since former Fund CEO Jimmy Jones, Fund General Counsel Melissa Murphy and I worked closely with Pat and others to design the statewide umbrella organization to support the real estate councils.