Sunday, August 21, 2011

Florida’s New Adverse Possession Law of 22 June 2011

Florida's New Adverse Possession Law of 22 June 2011

Introduction

You will find Florida's new adverse possession law from Senate Bill 1142 below, signed into law by Governor Scot on 2 June 2011, at http://laws.flrules.org/.  I have attached the pdf file, renamed for clarity, from this entry:

 

Ch_2011-107.pdf

33 KB

Adverse Possession

S 1142

 

I have appended below the text from the enrolled bill, which I found at this web site:

 

http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/1142/BillText/er/HTML

 

At this Department of Revenue site http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/forms/ you will find the new form DR-452 which County Property Appraisers must distribute for adverse possessors to register the adverse possession:

 

 DR-452

fillable pdf

 

R. 01/10

Return of Real Property in Attempt to Establish Adverse Possession without Color of Title
View bulletin PTO 10-01: Return of Real Property in Attempt to Establish Adverse Possession without Color of Title, Form DR-452

 

Bob Hurt Rebuked the House and Senate for BAD LAW.

 

I wrote a strident rebuke of the Senate Bill when I discovered it late in March, 2011.

http://groups.google.com/group/lawmen/browse_thread/thread/89567bfd531b3878

http://bobhurt.blogspot.com/2011/03/florida-adverse-possession-bill-needs.html

 

I appended below the text of that rebuke, following the text of the SB 1142.

 

Bob Hurt's New Rebuke of the Adverse Possession Law

 

Because of that rebuke and the fact that Governor Scott signed the SB 1142 into law, I also hereby rebuke the Governor and the new law.

 

Our AP (Adverse Possession) problem in Florida boils down to one simple reality:  the Sheriff arrests APers (Adverse Possessors) for bogus crimes.  The new law did not fix that.  Furthermore, the new law requires the Property Appraiser to return the APer's tax payment if the Owner pays later.  That restarts the AP clock wrongly.  The new law allows an APer to get a new parcel number on an unparceled piece of land so the Appraiser can establish a tax for that parcel.  This makes good sense.  The APer must know how much tax to pay, particularly if the APer has taken possession of a hunk of adjoining property with a garage, driveway, or garden..

 

But the whole process seems muddy.  The law should deal with the issues that follow as I suggest. 

 

1.       Civil, not Criminal.  We inherited AP as a civil right, not merely a remedy, from English common law and statutory law (see Florida Statute 2.01).

2.       Can't Know the Law.  Florida law started as English law except as inconsistent with US and Florida and laws pursuant thereto.  And yet, the Florida Legislature has never bothered to codify that law so the people can know it and use it to protect their rights.  Adverse Possession existed in English law for at least 400 years prior to the Declaration of Independence.  Because Floridians cannot know that law, they cannot defend their rights under that law.  The Legislature needs to codify the English Law of Florida with respect to Adverse Possession.

3.       AP Benefits All.  APers (Adverse Possessors) of realty abandoned in foreclosure do the owner, lender, community, government, and realty a huge favor, asking nothing in return but to enjoy the exercise of Florida Constitution's Article I Section 23 right to privacy, to be let alone free of government intrusion into their lives.  The law should acknowledge this and require a notice about the benefits to the owner(s) of record.

4.       30 Days to File.  The law should give the APer no more than 30 days to file a notice of adverse possession with the Property Appraiser.

5.       Notice to Owner, HOA, Sheriff, Mortgagee.  The law should require the APer to provide notice to the owner, including any mortgagee or lienholder of record, the Home Owner's Association, and the Sheriff, all of whom may ultimately a claim that can ultimately affect possessory rights.  If the APer cannot find the owners for the purpose of serving notice of AP, the APer ought to publish notice for two weeks in a newspaper that publishes legal notices.

6.       Photo Initial Condition.  The law should require the APer to provide photographic evidence on CD/DVD attached to the Notice of Adverse Possession. The evidence should include digital high resolution photographs or video recording of the realty and buildings on it, roofs, inside and out, every room, all trees, bushes, flowerbeds, fences, paths, paved driveways and walkways.

7.       Trespass Warning.  The law should require the owner desiring to evict the APer to present the APer with a trespass warning that allows a minimum of 15 days and no more than 30 days for the APer to leave the AP realty in broom-clean condition.  This right to present the trespass warning should have effect only for 30 days after the APer filed notice of AP with the County Property Appraiser and owners of record.

8.       APer Keep Journal.  The law should require the APer to keep a journal of maintenance and improvement of the realty for the statutory limitation period.  It should contain narrative descriptions of work scheduled and completed, and all fees and taxes and other expenditures paid.   It should contain complete verified, receipted records of expenses of materials, time, labor (including that of the APer at average rates), taxes, government fees, inspections, and related expenditures.

9.       Taxes, Home Owner Association (HOA) Dues, Assessments.  The APer should pay taxes, HOA dues, and government assessments related to the Realty.  If the rightful owner or any other party pays these while the APer possesses the realty, the recipient must return the payment with a notice that the APer has already paid them.  This scheme allows the owner to benefit from APer's payment of taxes up to the statutory limit of 7 years, and for the last year, the owner may pay the tax in advance, before the APer does, or simply demand the APer leave the property.  The new law requires the Property Appraiser to return the APer's payment, thereby restarting the AP limitation clock.  For owners who fail to pay the tax at all, the APer could purchase the tax deed and foreclose within two years.  Why should

10.   Writ of Possession.  An owner may use the court order and a writ of possession to get the sheriff's assistance in removing the APer.

11.   APer Pay Eviction Cost.  The APer should pay for the cost of evicting the APer who does not willingly leave the realty after receiving a trespass warning, but not for any costs related to issuing trespass warning.

12.   Photo Exit Condition.  The law should require the APer to provide photographic evidence of the condition of the realty immediately prior to final exit from it.

13.   Owner Photo Entry Condition.  The law should require the owner to make photographic evidence of the condition of the realty upon regaining possession from the APer.  In the absence of such evidence, the APer's exit photos shall be deemed factual.

14.   Owner Pays APer's Costs after Eviction.  The owner should pay for all of the APer's verified expenditures, including hourly rate for labor, for improvements to the property, and for taxes and other liens and assessments paid, and the APer should have the right to file a lien against the property for those amounts, subject to the owner's court challenge for padding the bill, prevailing party having entitlement to attorney fees and costs.

15.   No More Bogus Arrests of APers.  Florida Sheriffs arrest APers under the pretense of arresting them for grand theft, burglary, breaking and entering, criminal mischief, and fraud.  The law should punish sheriffs for such harassment.

16.   Aggressive Government Protection of APer's Rights.  Government has the obligation to protect adverse possessors against all aggressors who would interfere with their possessory dominion of the AP realty (including the Sheriff) with one exception only – the owner of record.

17.   Supreme Action.  The Florida Supreme Court should strike down the Sheriff's and Legislature's every effort to limit or criminalize AP under the guise of protecting realty owners' rights.  Adverse Possessors have become the state's new "niggers." They deserve every bit as much protection of their civil rights as did America's former slaves and descendants of slaves and former slaves.  However, no NAACP or SPLC exists to defend their rights or push for legislation to protect them.  So, the Florida Supremes ought to protect them, particularly from spurious arrest by sheriffs who accuse them of grand theft, the realty equivalent of "driving while black."

 

I want the Legislature to rethink this issue.  The new AP law made some good changes and some bad ones.  But as its biggest fault it failed to address the issues above that will heal a lot of problems over AP today.

Text of Florida Senate Bill 1142 as enrolled:

ENROLLED

       2011 Legislature                                         SB 1142

      

                                                             20111142er

    1 

    2         An act relating to adverse possession; amending s.

    3         95.18, F.S.; specifying that occupation and

    4         maintenance of property satisfies the requirements for

    5         possession for purposes of gaining title to property

    6         via adverse possession without color of title;

    7         requiring a person seeking property by adverse

    8         possession to use a uniform adverse possession return

    9         provided by the Department of Revenue; requiring the

   10         property appraiser to notify the owner of record of an

   11         adverse possession claim; requiring that a person

   12         claiming adverse possession attest to the truthfulness

   13         of the information provided in the return under

   14         penalty of perjury; authorizing the Department of

   15         Revenue to adopt emergency rules; requiring that the

   16         property appraiser add certain information related to

   17         the adverse possession claim to the parcel information

   18         on the tax roll and prescribing conditions for removal

   19         of that information; prescribing procedures and

   20         requirements for adverse possession claims against a

   21         portion of an identified parcel or against property to

   22         which the property appraiser has not assigned a parcel

   23         number; requiring the property appraiser to include a

   24         notation of an adverse possession filing in any

   25         searchable property database maintained by the

   26         property appraiser; amending s. 197.212, F.S.;

   27         excluding property subject to adverse possession

   28         claims without color of title from provisions

   29         authorizing the tax collector not to send a tax notice

   30         for minimum tax bills; creating s. 197.3335, F.S.;

   31         requiring the tax collector to determine whether a

   32         duplicate tax payment is made by an adverse possessor;

  33         providing for priority of tax payments made by an

   34         owner of record who is subject to an adverse

   35         possession claim; providing for a refund of tax

   36         payments under certain conditions; providing for

   37         retroactive application of certain provisions

   38         governing procedures for administering a claim of

   39         adverse possession and establishing tax priority for

   40         owners of record; providing an effective date.

   41 

   42  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

   43 

   44         Section 1. Section 95.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to

   45  read:

   46         95.18 Real property actions; adverse possession without

   47  color of title.—

   48         (1) When the occupant has, or those under whom the occupant

   49  claims have, been in actual continued occupation of real

   50  property for 7 years under a claim of title exclusive of any

   51  other right, but not founded on a written instrument, judgment,

  52  or decree, the property actually occupied is shall be held

   53  adversely if the person claiming adverse possession made a

   54  return, as required under subsection (3), of the property by

   55  proper legal description to the property appraiser of the county

   56  where it is located within 1 year after entering into possession

   57  and has subsequently paid, subject to s. 197.3335, all taxes and

   58  matured installments of special improvement liens levied against

   59  the property by the state, county, and municipality.

   60         (2) For the purpose of this section, property is shall be

   61  deemed to be possessed if the property has been in the following

   62  cases only:

   63         (a) When it has been Protected by substantial enclosure;.

   64         (b) When it has been usually Cultivated or improved in a

   65  usual manner; or.

   66         (c) Occupied and maintained.

   67         (3) A person claiming adverse possession under this section

   68  must make a return of the property by providing to the property

   69  appraiser a uniform return on a form provided by the Department

   70  of Revenue. The return must include all of the following:

   71         (a) The name and address of the person claiming adverse

   72  possession.

   73         (b) The date that the person claiming adverse possession

   74  entered into possession of the property.

   75         (c) A full and complete legal description of the property

   76  that is subject to the adverse possession claim.

   77         (d) A notarized attestation clause that states:

   78         UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I DECLARE THAT I HAVE READ

   79         THE FOREGOING RETURN AND THAT THE FACTS STATED IN IT

   80         ARE TRUE AND CORRECT.

   81         (e) A description of the use of the property by the person

   82  claiming adverse possession.

   83         (f) A receipt to be completed by the property appraiser.

   84 

   85  The property appraiser shall refuse to accept a return if it

   86  does not comply with this subsection. The executive director of

   87  the Department of Revenue is authorized, and all conditions are

   88  deemed met, to adopt emergency rules under ss. 120.536(1) and

   89  120.54(4) for the purpose of implementing this subsection. The

   90  emergency rules shall remain in effect for 6 months after

   91  adoption and may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to

   92  adopt rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules.

   93         (4) Upon the submission of a return, the property appraiser

   94  shall:

   95         (a) Send, via regular mail, a copy of the return to the

   96  owner of record of the property that is subject to the adverse

   97  possession claim, as identified by the property appraiser's

   98  records.

   99         (b) Inform the owner of record that, under s. 197.3335, any

  100  tax payment made by the owner of record before April 1 following

  101  the year in which the tax is assessed will have priority over

  102  any tax payment made by an adverse possessor.

  103         (c) Add a notation at the beginning of the first line of

  104  the legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession

  105  claim has been submitted.

  106         (d) Maintain the return in the property appraiser's

  107  records.

  108         (5)(a) If a person makes a claim of adverse possession

  109  under this section against a portion of a parcel of property

  110  identified by a unique parcel identification number in the

  111  property appraiser's records:

  112         1. The person claiming adverse possession shall include in

  113  the return submitted under subsection (3) a full and complete

  114  legal description of the property sufficient to enable the

  115  property appraiser to identify the portion of the property

  116  subject to the adverse possession claim.

  117         2. The property appraiser may refuse to accept the return

  118  if the portion of the property subject to the claim cannot be

  119  identified by the legal description provided in the return, and

  120  the person claiming adverse possession must obtain a survey of

  121  the portion of the property subject to the claim in order to

  122  submit the return.

  123         (b) Upon submission of the return, the property appraiser

  124  shall follow the procedures under subsection (4), and may not

  125  create a unique parcel identification number for the portion of

  126  property subject to the claim.

  127         (c) The property appraiser shall assign a fair and just

  128  value to the portion of the property, as provided in s. 193.011,

  129  and provide this value to the tax collector to facilitate tax

  130  payment under s. 197.3335(3).

  131         (6)(a) If a person makes a claim of adverse possession

  132  under this section against property to which the property

  133  appraiser has not assigned a parcel identification number:

  134         1. The person claiming adverse possession must include in

  135  the return submitted under subsection (3) a full and complete

  136  legal description of the property which is sufficient to enable

  137  the property appraiser to identify the property subject to the

  138  adverse possession claim.

  139         2. The property appraiser may refuse to accept a return if

  140  the property subject to the claim cannot be identified by the

  141  legal description provided in the return, and the person

  142  claiming adverse possession must obtain a survey of the property

  143  subject to the claim in order to submit the return.

  144         (b) Upon submission of the return, the property appraiser

  145  shall:

  146         1. Assign a parcel identification number to the property

  147  and assign a fair and just value to the property as provided in

  148  s. 193.011;

  149         2. Add a notation at the beginning of the first line of the

  150  legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession

  151  claim has been submitted; and

  152         3. Maintain the return in the property appraiser's records.

  153         (7) A property appraiser must remove the notation to the

  154  legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession

  155  claim has been submitted and shall remove the return from the

  156  property appraiser's records if:

  157         (a) The person claiming adverse possession notifies the

  158  property appraiser in writing that the adverse possession claim

  159  is withdrawn;

  160         (b) The owner of record provides a certified copy of a

  161  court order, entered after the date the return was submitted to

  162  the property appraiser, establishing title in the owner of

  163  record;

  164         (c) The property appraiser receives a certified copy of a

  165  recorded deed, filed after the date of the submission of the

  166  return, from the person claiming adverse possession to the owner

  167  of record transferring title of property along with a legal

  168  description describing the same property subject to the adverse

  169  possession claim; or

  170         (d) The owner of record or the tax collector provides to

  171  the property appraiser a receipt demonstrating that the owner of

  172  record has paid the annual tax assessment for the property

  173  subject to the adverse possession claim during the period that

  174  the person is claiming adverse possession.

  175         (8) The property appraiser shall include a clear and

  176  obvious notation in the legal description of the parcel

  177  information of any public searchable property database

  178  maintained by the property appraiser that an adverse possession

  179  return has been submitted to the property appraiser for a

  180  particular parcel.

  181         Section 2. Section 197.212, Florida Statutes, is amended to

  182  read:

  183         197.212 Minimum tax bill.—On the recommendation of the

  184  county tax collector, the board of county commissioners may

  185  adopt a resolution instructing the collector not to mail tax

  186  notices to a taxpayer if when the amount of taxes shown on the

  187  tax notice is less than an amount up to $30. The resolution

  188  shall also instruct the property appraiser that he or she may

  189  shall not make an extension on the tax roll for any parcel for

  190  which the tax would amount to less than an amount up to $30. The

  191  minimum tax bill so established may not exceed an amount up to

  192  $30. This section does not apply to a parcel of property that is

  193  subject to an adverse possession claim pursuant to s. 95.18.

  194         Section 3. Section 197.3335, Florida Statutes, is created

  195  to read:

  196         197.3335 Tax payments when property is subject to adverse

  197  possession; refunds.—

  198         (1) Upon the receipt of a subsequent payment for the same

  199  annual tax assessment for a particular parcel of property, the

  200  tax collector must determine whether an adverse possession

  201  return has been submitted on the particular parcel. If an

  202  adverse possession return has been submitted, the tax collector

  203  must comply with subsection (2).

  204         (2) If a person claiming adverse possession under s. 95.18

  205  pays an annual tax assessment on a parcel of property before the

  206  assessment is paid by the owner of record, and the owner of

  207  record subsequently makes a payment of that same annual tax

  208  assessment before April 1 following the year in which the tax is

  209  assessed, the tax collector shall accept the payment made by the

  210  owner of record and refund within 60 days any payment made by

  211  the person claiming adverse possession. Such refunds do not

  212  require approval from the department.

  213         (3) For claims of adverse possession for a portion of a

  214  parcel of property as provided in s. 95.18(5), the tax collector

  215  may accept a tax payment, based upon the value of the property

  216  assigned by the property appraiser under s. 95.18(5)(c), from a

  217  person claiming adverse possession for the portion of the

  218  property subject to the claim. If the owner of record makes a

  219  payment of the annual tax assessment for the whole parcel before

  220  April 1 following the year in which the tax is assessed, the tax

  221  collector shall refund within 60 days any payment previously

  222  made for the portion of the parcel subject to the claim by the

  223  person claiming adverse possession.

224         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011, and

  225  applies to adverse possession claims in which the return was

  226  submitted on or after that date, except for the procedural

  227  provisions governing the property appraiser's administration of

  228  adverse possession claims included in s. 95.18(4)(c) and (d) and

  229  (7), Florida Statutes, and the provisions governing the payment

  230  of taxes included in s. 197.3335, Florida Statutes, as created

  231  by this act, which apply to adverse possession claims for which

  232  the return was submitted before, on, or after that date.

Approved by the Governor June 2, 2011.

Filed in Office Secretary of State June 2, 2011.

Ch. 2011-107 LAWS OF FLORIDA Ch. 2011-107

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.

 

 

Bob Hurt Comments Against SB1142 in March 2011

 

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 27, 2011

Florida Adverse Possession Bill - Needs Work, Badly

Concerning Adverse Possession Bills:

 

THIS LINK LISTS ALL THE LEGISLATIVE ACTION ON AP AS OF 27 MARCH 2011 

 

HTTP://E-LOBBYIST.COM/GAITS/SEARCH?STATE=ALL&KEYWORD=ADVERSE+POSSESSION

 

SENATE BILL S1142  HTTP://E-LOBBYIST.COM/GAITS/VIEW/280493

 

HOUSE BIL H0927 HTTP://E-LOBBYIST.COM/GAITS/FL/H0927

Senate Bill Text http://e-lobbyist.com/gaits/text/182024

 

 

 

Dear Florida Senator Paula Dockery:

 

I know you have not met me, but I have a lot of friends in your district.  Some of them have fallen victim to sheriff deputies persecuting people who do adverse possession.  A few years ago I retired from the computer industry.  Since then I have devoted myself to study and writing about law.  I write about the Adverse Possession changes you and and Rep Roberson sponsored.   I want you to change your bill to improve it.

 

 

 

 S1142, as written, constitutes a bad law because it wastes resources and fixes no problem.  Given the time involved, people who lose realty to Adverse Possession (AP) deserve it for gross dereliction (not putting the land to its highest, best use).  Your bill does nothing to improve that hard, cold reality. 

 

The bill appear to me to flail arms  at a ship that left port 600 years ago.  It has ignored the problems that really need fixing.  

 

For one example, see the latest census report.  Florida has 1.6 million vacant residences (18%), largely because owners in foreclosure abandon them and people cannot afford to buy.  Meanwhile all families displaced by foreclosure in Florida desperately need a place to live, and AP could solve that, even if everyone knows it as merely a temporary solution.  

 

Unfortunately, irresponsible people (as occupants in AP houses) can quickly ruin a nice house in a decent neighborhood, but most of them haven't the moxy to take the place by AP.  Instead, slick operators sometimes AP homes for a fast buck.  If anything, the law should fix that by making them more accountable for damage to the place if they put occupants in it.

 

I shall make the following comments to everyone I can.  The bill is bad for the following reasons.  I also provide ways to make it good, and leave issues open for discussion.

 

-----------------------

 

I find lots of action in Florida's legislature regarding adverse possession (AP).  Senate Bill, S1142 and House Bill H0927, below, seek to change the rules.  I agree with a couple, disagree strenuously with the rest, and have proposals the bills don't address:

 

   1. APer must swear to return under PoP.  This makes no sense because Making a false official statement already constitutes a second degree misdemeanor, and the state needs no more serious  penalty than that to dissuade falsifying the return.   See F.S. 837.06 False official statements.—Whoever knowingly makes a false statement in writing with the intent to mislead a public servant in the performance of his or her official duty shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

 

   2. Standardized Dept of Revenue AP form - ok

 

   3. Prop Appraiser informs rightful owner.  Unduly burdensome on government (taxpayers).  People ought to care for their own property through routine inspection.  The statute of limitations runs for seven full years.  During this time, any tax payment by the owner restarts the AP clock, so the diligent owner suffers no risk.  Furthermore, many owners who otherwise would not care and who abandoned the property anyway, such as because of foreclosure, will simply get jealous and protest for that reason alone, causing unnecessary trouble and expense for the AP and occupant.  By this measure the Legislature intentionally stirs up trouble needlessly, TO NOBODY's BENEFIT and to everybody's detriment.  AP becomes vitally important as a means of housing the millions of homeless in the 1.6 million vacant Florida residences.  This notification interferes with that, to no good end.  It hurts the community and the state.  If the state requires notice to the owner of AP, then it ought to force the owner to remain in the property throughout foreclosure, so the property does not become run down from neglect and become a danger to the community (drug dealer houses) and future occupants (mold and mildew) and reduce community property values.

 

   4. Put information of AP on the tax roll - ok

 

   5. Authorizing tax collector not to send a notice of minimum tax due on AP without color of title - absolutely not.  THe tax collector thereby cheats the APer out of proper notice in the transparent hope that the APer will forget to pay the taxes when due, and thereby drag out the AP process.  APers clearly stand subject to property tax.  APers have the right to a notice through tax bill just like owners of record do.  After all, filing the AP return provides RECORD of adverse interest in the property, and only a court can sort out the various factors and decide the rightful owner.  The tax collector has no business interfering in this or stirring up trouble.

 

   6. Giving owner priority (over APer) of right to pay tax.  Absolutely not.  The County offers all kinds of incentives to people for paying property taxes early, and the APer should have that same right to save by early payment.  Whoever makes payment first after the first notice of tax due or of opportunity for early payment discount gets credit for making that payment.  The law should require that if the APer pays the tax first.  After all, this tax thing runs for SEVEN YEARS.  The sincere owner can pay the tax first NEXT year.

 

   7. The law should stipulate that every time the owner pays tax first, it restarts the statute of limitations clock, but ONLY IF the owner repays tax plus standard interest to the APer for all the years the APer paid first.  The law should favor the one who pays taxes when due, or when noticed in case of an early pay discount.  Remember why AP happens.  The owner has become derelict  and has refused to put the land to its highest, best use, the ultimate benefit of land ownership to the society.  Remember also that eminent domain proves people don't really have a solid RIGHT to realty, even after they spend their money on it and keep it in the family for hundreds of years.  In keeping with this principle, government has the right to determine the highest best use of realty, and without question, leaving farmland fallow for a decade or a house abandoned for years does NOT benefit the community or put the land to good use.  Generally, the APer does what the owner refuses to do, so the government should reward the APer for this by facilitating, not hindering the AP.

 

   8. The law should require the tax collector to send tax notices both to the owner of record AND the APer.

 

   9. The law should clarify the PURELY CIVIL nature of AP and make the sheriff leave APers and their guests/tenants ALONE, and not falsely accuse them of theft, fraud, b&e, burglary, and other crimes in order to defeat the AP.  The law should impose a penalty on any law enforcer who harasses an APer or occupant.  In other words, the law should specifically exclude the APer from claim of trespass, B&E, criminal mischief,  burglary, and fraud in connection with the AP so long as the APer does not destroy, steal, or dispose of the realty or parts of it.  It should declare that disposal of trash, junk and chattel remaining behind in abandoned realty does not constitute a crime.  Perhaps the law should require the APer to conduct a thorough and itemized inventory of the remaining chattel and give the owner notice and opportunity to collect or remove it.  It should make provision for abandoned realty, how to determine the owner abandoned it.  What if the owner left a chair or radio behind, or tools in the shed?  What obligation does the APer have to care for and store them?  The bill does not deal with any of these crucial questions.  I believe it makes sense to address the point by declaring that chattel remaining in an abandoned, untended realty becomes the property of the APer.  People should understand the law of AP and the consequences of abandonment.

 

  10.  In the AP return, require the APer to stipulate the intention to occupy or not occupy the realty.  If not occupy, the APer must stipulate the intended use (such as to rent it out to others).  The AP non-occupant must specify a domicile in Florida for legal service and a number to contact in the event of an emergency.  The law must hold the APer liable for all damage to the property through negligence or intent (other than acts of vandals or other damage beyond the APer's control).  THe law could require the APer to show proof of financial responsibility AND have a bond, like automobile drivers must have.  The law might require an APer to pass a certification test on the proper care and maintenance of a residence.  The state could concoct an AP license and require it of all professional APers (who rent/sublet the place to others).

 

 

As for some real-life issues, see my blog at http://bobhurt.blogspot.com.  Note the articles on AP.  In particular, look for Joel McNair.  I have shown there the full documents proving that Sheriff deputies lied in Probable Cause Affidavits they used to get a phony warrant for his arrest.  He had 60 houses in AP at the time and now has upwards of 100.  The Deputies of Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, and Sarasota have harassed his "members" and told them not to pay him.  This means he cannot pay the taxes and other fees and expenses of maintenance.  He sends a crew around to mow and maintain the properties for them, so as to make certain that thay son't trash the place.  He has to receive the money in order to afford that service.  

 

Consider these very recent arrests, apparently a declaration of war by Sheriffs against APers:

 

·         Sarasota County deputies arrested Joel McNair, twice charging him with grand theft and scheme to defraud, FOR HELPING HOMELESS PEOPLE GET A PLACE TO LIVE.

·         Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd ordered the warrantless arrest of Derrick Hannah for burglary in Lakeland for AP of the house he lived in for a month, and took him away in the midst of trimming his hedges.

·         Marion County deputies arrested Pastor and former deputy Roosevelt Mitchell for criminal mischief while he painted his AP house which the owner had abandoned at least 6 months earlier.

·         Pasco County deputies arrested APer Shalonda Allen of Land O Lakes, accusing her of  grand theft.

·         Hillsborough County deputies arrested APer George Williams of Plant City for fraud.

·         None of these arrests dealt with the core issue of otherwise homeless people living in decent houses the owners had abandoned.

·         This law needs to FIX the problems, not by persecuting men like those above and his members, but by persecuting deputies and sheriffs who arrest people like Joel McNair on bogus criminal charges.

 

PLEASE, Use your influence to Fix this defective bill

 

PLEASE, Use your influence to Fix this terrible bill

 

 

***

Description: Bob Hurt, Concerned

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Clearwater, FL 33763

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