government affairs blog

TALLAHASSEE --Senate President Mike Haridopolos said Thursday that the state is facing another multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, and the public can expect another year of deep cuts to government programs and services.   

The latest version of the DFS designation rule has been released, and we are seeking comments on how this might impact your business practices in the FLTA Title Forum.

Nationally, we are facing a huge foreclosure problem.   Congress is holding hearings, and our friends at ALTA are actively protecting the interests of the title industry.   The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has mandated that upon request, a foreclosed homeowner is entitled to an independent review of any improprieties in their foreclosure process.  (here's the Link at ALTA)  This is only going to open up the possibility of more attempts to set aside a completed foreclosure, increase the risk and uncertainty facing our title insurers and delay the economic recovery.   

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which was set to expire Sept. 30, received a temporary extension Monday as the Senate approved legislation keeping the program running through Nov. 18.

By a 79-12 vote, the Senate ended an impasse that threatened a government shutdown at midnight Friday by approving a continuing resolution that will keep the government funded through Nov. 18. The key was a determination by the Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier Monday that it had enough money to fund its emergency loan program through the end of the current fiscal year.

Another Case of Interest from Paul Minoff, Esq.

Just over a week ago, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal clarified the law in that jurisdiction on mechanic's liens under Chapter 713, ruling, among other things, that a claim of lien can be found to have been fraudulently made even when the lienor believed in good faith that the lien was properly based upon lienable work, materials, etc. 

In this case, the court reversed final judgment in favor of the contractor and remanded the case back to the trial court to determine whether the lien was fraudulent despite the proclaimed good faith belief of the lienors.

This opinion definitely stresses the importance of not only making sure that the appropriate bases exist to file a claim of lien, but in fully analyzing the bases of the lien and the amount claimed therein when defending such claims. 

Regards,

Paul

Here is a link to the Case

New FLTA Member Paul Minoff reports:

In what could potentially have far-reaching implications to land developers in Florida (and outside as well), earlier this month, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that developers who are seeking exemptions from the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act must provide a "legitimate business purpose" when structuring transactions in way to exempt them from the Act, and expressly holding that avoiding the requirements of the Act is NOT a legitimate business purpose.

In this case, the developer used two separate agreements to place the development project within two separate exemptions under the Act.  The court reviewed the use of such agreements and ruled that the developer did not have a legitimate business purpose, resulting in a return of the purchaser's condo deposits.  As anyone in the development world knows, this type of practice was and is very common so it behooves everyone representing clients in the industry (as well as escrow agents who are holding deposits) to closely review this opinion.

We can only hope that the string of bad recent decisions affecting the real estate and title industries will come to an end soon.

Hope all is well.

Paul

-- Paul H. Minoff
   McGlinchey Stafford PLLC
   www.mcglinchey.com | www.cafalawblog.com

Direct: (954) 332-3639
Cell: (954) 999-2441
Fax: (954) 333-3847
Email: mailto:pminoff@mcglinchey.com
101 N.E. Third Avenue, Suite 1500
Fort Lauderdale FL 33301

Last Tuesday, the Civil Justice Subcommittee received testimony on Florida's Foreclosure "Crisis."   The economist for the Florida Legislature, Amy Baker, gave a report which included some truly disturbing statistics.   A copy of the powerpoint slides presented are here.

When one of our members reported having received a "Love Letter" from the Florida Department of Revenue asking why doc stamps hadn't been paid on the assignment of a winning foreclosure bid, FLTA issued a new bulletin outlining some of the subtle and sometimes counter-intuitive rules governing doc stamps.

The CFPB is seeking a 4th round of comments from the industry on their latest draft of the combined TILA - GFE forms.   Please take a moment to share your comments here

In Louisiana, the purchaser of a WWII era bombing range discovered that the local government wouldn't issue permits for turning the property into a residential subdivision because of unexploded ordinance.