In Florida the Seller of a condominium is required to make certain disclosure and provide the Buyer with certain documents.  I will focus this article on the typical non developer required disclosures.  First, as in any other non condominium sale, the Seller is required to disclose all known facts which may affect the value of the property.  Note that this requirement to disclose material defects applies to the agents for the Seller as well as your agent, the agent for the Buyer.  To assist the Seller in complying with this law, Realtors ask the Seller to fill out a .   The law also specifies that the Contract between the two parties contain certain language.  This language may be found in the CR-5_A. Condominium Rider to the contract.  This language requires that should the Buyer request them then the Seller must provide the following documents at their own expense:

• CURRENT COPY OF THE DECLARATION OF  CONDOMINIUM
• ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
• BYLAWS AND RULES OF THE ASSOCIATION
• DBPRFormCO6000-4eff122302
• A COPY OF THE MOST RECENT YEAR-END FINANCIAL STATEMENT

The Buyer may also request a  DBPR FL Condo Governance Form be provided to the by the Seller which if it’s available from the DBPR.

If ALL of the required documents are not available at the time a contract is negotiated then the time (3 days) from which the Buyer may rescind the contract is determined by the date on the Receipt of Condominium – Cooperative Documents

I copied this from the Florida Statute…

(2)NONDEVELOPER DISCLOSURE.—

WOW! The Realtors Association of the palm Beach just released the sales data for April 2015. In Jupiter the median sales price is up 25% in the last year and there have been 16% more closed sales in April 2015 Vs. April 2014. This is a WOW statistic. There is now just 3.9 months of inventory at the current absorption rate. The March sales were up 15% year over year and now they’re continuing the upward trend. It’s interesting that Palm Beach Gardens is not seeing these kinds of numbers. They’re OK with 32% more sales but median price up only 4.6% and just 4.6 months of inventory the current absorption rate. In Jupiter there are 758 houses for sale out of a total of about 30k. This is about 3% of the total housing units are for sale. The numbers in Palm Beach Gardens are similar at 766/27663.

CLICK HERE to read the April 2015 sales information from RAPB for the various municipalities.

The Clerk & Comptroller of Palm Beach just issued their annual report for the tax collection and spending for Palm Beach County for the year ending September 2014.  CLICK HERE to go to a copy of that report but here are a few notable items from it.

• In Fiscal Year 2014, we saw significant economic increases for Palm Beach County.
  Property tax revenues increased almost $29 million over the prior fiscal year, a 3.5 percent increase (see Property
  Taxes, page 9). Sales tax increased by $5.3 million, tourist development tax by $3.3 million and local option gas
  tax by $1.4 million over the prior fiscal year
• Palm Beach County grew in FY 2014 – both in its tax base and population. The County saw property values increase,
  with overall tax bills at $3.14 billion in 2014 – a $90 million increase from 20131. The County’s population also grew, with
  approximately 1.36 million people calling Palm Beach County home in 20142. It is the fifth consecutive year of population
  growth for Palm Beach County, which remains the third most-populous county in Florida.
• The number of jobs also grew in Palm Beach County during FY 2014, with employers adding 12,300 nonagricultural jobs in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach Metro Division, a 2.3 percent increase from a year ago4. The sectors adding jobs included Trade, Transportation and Utilities, Retail Trade and Professional and Business Services. Palm Beach County’s unemployment rate fell during the fiscal year as did the nation’s unemployment rate. The County rate fell 13 percent5 to 6 percent whereas the national rate fell 18.6 percent to 5.7 percent. These rates measure the percentage of the workforce that is unemployed and looking for paid employment. The County rate hit a high of 6.9 percent and a low of 5.6 percent during the fiscal year.
• Palm Beach County’s Top Five Taxpayers for 20143
  1. Florida Power & Light Company………………………………………………………… $77,409,495
  2. Town Center at Boca Raton Trust……………………………………………………….. $7,506,035
  3. BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc……………………………………………………$ 5,858,674
  4. US Sugar Corporation………………………………………………………………………….. $5,183,276
  5. Comcast of Florida………………………………………………………………………………. $4,954,703
• Palm Beach County’s Principal Employers
  Top Private Employers as of 20137
  1. Tenet Heathcare…………………………………………………………………………………………… 6,100
  2. NextEra Energy……………………………………………………………………………………………… 3,804
  3. G4S……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3,000
  4. Hospital Corp. of America…………………………………………………………………………….. 2,714
  5. Bethesda Memorial Hospital……………………………………………………………………….. 2,643
• Palm Beach County’s real estate market extended the turnaround that began in 2013, with numbers improving
  from the previous year for both median sales price and closed sales. The median sales price for a single-family home rose
  to $275,000 in 2014, a 4.2 percent increase from the revised median sales price of $264,000 for a single-family home in
  2013 (originally reported at $244,000). There were 16,207 sales closed8 on single-family homes in Palm Beach County, a
  10.9 percent increase from 14,620 closings in 2013.  Another important metric for measuring the health of Palm
  Beach County real estate is the number of mortgages and deeds recorded in Palm Beach County, as well as the number of new foreclosure lawsuits filed with the Clerk & Comptroller. Mortgages and deeds recorded by the Clerk & Comptroller were down from the prior year, with mortgages falling 22.6 percent to 35,902 and
  deeds falling 2.7 percent to 73,603. However, a continued positive sign for the County: new foreclosure cases filed in Palm Beach County decreased once again, falling 38.1 percent to 6097, versus 9857 cases filed in FY 201310.
• The trend of increasing residential building permits issued reversed itself after 4 years of steadily climbing. There were
  3,960 permits issued for single-family and multi-family units in 2014, a 21.6 percent decrease from 5,051 permits in 2013. Most of the decline may be attributed to multi-family units which were down 38 percent. The sharp rise in long-term mortgage rates, high home prices and tight credit criteria contributed to the decline. The total value of all residential permits fell 2 percent.

The item that always shocks me is that the of the total tax bill the Palm Beach County School Board is 54%, the County as a whole (including fire rescue and the sheriff) is 32% where about half of the county budget or 16% of every tax dollar collected is for the sheriff and fire rescue.  We spend an enormous amount of money on educations and

One of Florida Realtors’ key legislative priorities, legislation that would cap estoppel certificate fees, had passed the Senate and was minutes away from being voted on in the House. It’s possible, but not guaranteed, that the estoppel certificate bills could be part of the Special Session. The stalled budget talks also sidelined three of Florida Realtors’ other top initiatives this session because they are revenue-dependent: reducing the sales tax on commercial leases; funding of the Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust Funds; and work on a statewide water policy. Some budget items that don’t make news headlines but are important to our industry are also on hold, such as allocating funds to combat unlicensed real estate activity.

The following real estate-related bills passed and are on their way to the governor.

Flood Insurance. SB 1094 expands an effort that began last year to establish a private, primary flood insurance market so property owners have an alternative to the National Flood Insurance Program. It allows insurers to offer “flexible” flood insurance coverage that, among other things, may be for an agreed upon amount or cover only the building, and not personal property or additional living expenses.

Condominium Terminations. HB 643 ensures that bulk buyers cannot force condo owners out of their homes without providing adequate compensation.

Foreclosures & Tenant Protection. HB 779 allows buyers of foreclosed properties to provide a notice to the tenant that has the effect of a lease termination. The bill allows the tenant to remain in possession of the property for 30 days following receipt of the notice.

Drones. The commercial operation of a drone is still prohibited, but SB 766 will exempt a “person or entity engaged in a business or profession licensed by the state.” This exemption will prove valuable to Realtors when such activities are permitted.

Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. HB 715 allows some coastal properties that would have lost Citizens coverage due to reconstruction or renovation to maintain their coverage as long as the building does not exceed 125 percent of its original size.

Flood Insurance Guarantee Fund (FIGA). SB 836 lengthens the amount of time insurance companies have to pay assessments to FIGA, the fund that pays the claims of insurers who go bust. This change is designed to attract private market capital to the state.

Real Estate Brokers & Appraisers. SB 608 provides the Florida Real Estate Commission the ability to reinstate null & void licenses when a hardship occurs; allows a brokerage to temporarily appoint a broker of record in the event of a death or other unexpected situation; and clarifies certain appraiser and appraisal management company recordkeeping requirements.

Depopulating Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. HB 1087 enables policyholders to return to Citizens if the premium charged by a private insurer is 10 percent higher than the insurer’s estimated cost. Policyholders may also return to Citizens during a renewal period if the new policy’s rate increases more than 10 percent per year during the next 36 months.

Recovery Residences. HB 21 establishes a voluntary process for recovery residences — also known as “sober homes” and often located in residential areas — to become state certified. Federal regulations greatly restrict the state’s ability to govern sober homes.

Private Property Rights. HB 383 codifies into law the provisions of a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Koontz vs. St. Johns River Management District. The court ruled that a government agency may not require a property owner to, among other things, perform off-site improvements or repairs to other properties he or she does not own and which are located miles away.