Florida Statutes 475.483 – Conditions for recovery; eligibility
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(1) Any person is eligible to seek recovery from the Real Estate Recovery Fund if:
(a) Such person has received a final judgment in a court of competent civil jurisdiction in this state against an individual broker or sales associate in any action wherein the cause of action was based on a real estate brokerage transaction. If such person is unable to secure a final judgment against a licensee due to the death of the licensee, the commission may waive the requirement for a final judgment. The filing of a bankruptcy petition by a broker or sales associate does not relieve a claimant from the obligation to obtain a final judgment against the licensee. In this instance, the claimant must seek to have assets involving the real estate transaction that gave rise to the claim removed from the bankruptcy proceedings so that the matter might be heard in a court of competent civil jurisdiction in this state. If, after due diligence, the claimant is precluded by action of the bankruptcy court from securing a final judgment against the licensee, the commission may waive the requirement for a final judgment.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 475.483
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- Broker: means a person who, for another, and for a compensation or valuable consideration directly or indirectly paid or promised, expressly or impliedly, or with an intent to collect or receive a compensation or valuable consideration therefor, appraises, auctions, sells, exchanges, buys, rents, or offers, attempts or agrees to appraise, auction, or negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, or rental of business enterprises or business opportunities or any real property or any interest in or concerning the same, including mineral rights or leases, or who advertises or holds out to the public by any oral or printed solicitation or representation that she or he is engaged in the business of appraising, auctioning, buying, selling, exchanging, leasing, or renting business enterprises or business opportunities or real property of others or interests therein, including mineral rights, or who takes any part in the procuring of sellers, purchasers, lessors, or lessees of business enterprises or business opportunities or the real property of another, or leases, or interest therein, including mineral rights, or who directs or assists in the procuring of prospects or in the negotiation or closing of any transaction which does, or is calculated to, result in a sale, exchange, or leasing thereof, and who receives, expects, or is promised any compensation or valuable consideration, directly or indirectly therefor; and all persons who advertise rental property information or lists. See Florida Statutes 475.01
- Commission: means the Florida Real Estate Commission. See Florida Statutes 475.01
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- real estate: means any interest or estate in land and any interest in business enterprises or business opportunities, including any assignment, leasehold, subleasehold, or mineral right; however, the term does not include any cemetery lot or right of burial in any cemetery; nor does the term include the renting of a mobile home lot or recreational vehicle lot in a mobile home park or travel park. See Florida Statutes 475.01
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Sales associate: means a person who performs any act specified in the definition of "broker" but who performs such act under the direction, control, or management of another person. See Florida Statutes 475.01
- Single agent: means a broker who represents, as a fiduciary, either the buyer or seller but not both in the same transaction. See Florida Statutes 475.01
- Transaction broker: means a broker who provides limited representation to a buyer, a seller, or both, in a real estate transaction, but does not represent either in a fiduciary capacity or as a single agent. See Florida Statutes 475.01
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
(b) At the time the action was commenced, such person gave notice thereof to the commission by certified mail; except that, if no notice has been given to the commission, the claim can still be honored if, in the opinion of the commission, the claim is otherwise valid.
(c) A claim for recovery is made within 2 years from the time of the act giving rise to the claim or within 2 years from the time the act is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence. In no event may a claim for recovery be made more than 4 years after the date of the act giving rise to the claim.
(d)1. Such person has caused to be issued a writ of execution upon such judgment, and the person has executed an affidavit showing that no personal or real property of the judgment debtor liable to be levied upon in satisfaction of the judgment can be found or that the amount realized on the sale of the judgment debtor’s property pursuant to such execution was insufficient to satisfy the judgment; or
2. If such person is unable to comply with subparagraph 1. for a valid reason to be determined by the commission, such person has made all reasonable searches and inquiries to ascertain whether the judgment debtor is possessed of real or personal property or other assets subject to being sold or applied in satisfaction of the judgment and by her or his search the person has discovered no property or assets or she or he has discovered property and assets and has taken all necessary action and proceedings for the application thereof to the judgment but the amount thereby realized was insufficient to satisfy the judgment.
(e) Any amounts recovered by such person from the judgment debtor, or from any other source, have been applied to the damages awarded by the court.
(f) Such person is not a person who is precluded by this act from making a claim for recovery.
(g) Such person has executed an affidavit showing that the final judgment is not on appeal or, if it was the subject of an appeal, that the appellate proceedings have concluded and the outcome of the appeal.
(2) A person is not qualified to make a claim for recovery from the Real Estate Recovery Fund, if:
(a) Such person is the spouse of the judgment debtor or a personal representative of such spouse;
(b) Such person is a licensed broker or sales associate who acted as a single agent or transaction broker in the transaction that is the subject of the claim;
(c) Such person’s claim is based upon a real estate transaction in which the licensed broker or sales associate was the owner of or controlled the property involved in the transaction; in which the licensee was dealing for the licensee’s own account; or in which the licensee was not acting as a broker or sales associate;
(d) Such person’s claim is based upon a real estate transaction in which the broker or sales associate did not hold a valid, current, and active license at the time of the real estate transaction; or
(e) The judgment is against a real estate brokerage corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or limited liability partnership.
(3) If the claim is of the type described in s. 475.482(2), the commission shall pay the defendant‘s reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs and, if the plaintiff prevails in court, the plaintiff’s reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.