the Florida RealEstate Commission (FREC) was created, the regulatory agency that implements andenforces the State licensing laws.

7 members

must have 51% to vote

2 year miniumum service of an agent

Division of Real Estate (DRE), the State agency empowered to enforce on a daily basis the rules and regulations imposed by the FREC. More than 300,000 real estate sales associates, broker associates, brokers, and brokerage firms are presently regulated.

works hand in hand with FREC

DRE is responsible for performing all the DPR functions as they relate to the real estate profession.

a broker may offer limited representation to any party in the transaction. Fiduciary duties are not owed to either party, although limited confidentiality is owed to the party represented. When acting as a transaction broker for both parties, a broker is not permitted to represent one party to the detriment of the othe

assumes operating as this type of broker inless a form is disclosed stating it is a single agency or a no brokerage relationship

must work under the supervision of a broker-employer or owner-employer. A sales associate may not be employed directly by the public.

Can do all dutys a broker can do

Can manage an office

Brokerage firms often specialize in or target a particular geographic area, property or client type and use the marketing method farming to solicit the target’s business.

Business brokerage involves the sale of business enterprises (sales prices in excess of $200,000) and business opportunities (typically smaller businesses with a sales price of $200,000 or below). Because the value of a business is normally based on going-concern value, special expertise is needed to examine the business as an operating enterprise producing income rather than simply limiting the value to a collection of tangible assets and liabilities.

require a license

 having more than 10 units or budgets in excess of $100,000 per yea

Paid on a fee bais

based on the time and difficulty of the assignment and not on the value of the property being appraised.

Uniform Standards of Professiothe generally accepted standards for professional appraisal practice in North Amnal Appraisal Practice (USPAP),

CMA'S are not controlled under this

In speculative construction, the improvement is built by the developer, contractor, or builder to his specifications, on his land, with the goal of selling the land and building

subdivision building

    any service of real estate

•in Florida

•for another

•for compensation

Investigation

Prosecution of complaints.

Administration of licenses

Use of monies.

allows four types of broker transactions, does not allow dual agency

passed the  presumption that all licensees are operating as transaction brokers unless written disclosure of a single agency or no brokerage relationship is provided.

 The party who employs a licensee in an agency relationship. The licensee works for and represents this party (buyer or seller) in a fiduciary capacity. Single agency is the only authorized brokerage relationship in which licensees have a client. Also called principal.

a broker may imploy two sales associates to perform  by the same firm to represent different parties in the same transaction as single agents, termed designated sales associate. However, this provision applies only to commercial real estate transactions, not to residential transactions

have in which the seller and buyer each have assets of $1 million or more

•improved residential property of 4 units or fewer

•unimproved residential property intended for use of 4 units or fewer

•agricultural property of 10 acres or fewer

Competing brokerage firms typically work together to sell property

can get ugly(dual agency)

prohibited with most firms

•name of the broker

•words Licensed Real Estate Broker or Lic. Real Estate Broker

•corporate or LLC name if applicable

•trade name if applicable

•partnership name if applicable

Must be done under a brokers supervision

must include the name of the brokerage firm as it is registered with the FREC. It must be displayed in a manner that a reasonable person would know he or she is dealing with a real estate licensee.

prior to accepting the offer, the seller has no rights to the deposit, and the broker holds the deposit in \\must be in a trust or title company having trust powers within Florida, or a credit union, bank, or savings and loan association located in Florida. .

statments must be kept for 5 years

misuse of, commingling or intermingling of, or failure to account for funds or property entrusted to any licensee for safekeepin

agent uses keys to party at the vacant house

when the broker does claim an interest in the deposit. Brokers could be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs in a suit for interpleader, but the broker is not entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs in a suit for declaratory decree.

suit for interpleader is opposite

75% refund

notice within 30 days

The following written contract or receipt agreement must be provided to the prospective renter in boldface 10-point (or larger) type:

first degree misdemeanor  if unable to comply with renter laws

A broker cannot divide/split commissions and accept, or try to collect compensation from another broker who represents an adverse interest to his or her principal without the knowledge and consent of all involved parties.

limited partnership, a certificate of limited partnership is filed with the Florida Secretary of State and recorded in the public records of the county in which the principal office is located.

Limited partners are liable only to the extent of their investment

is a temporary business relationship formed when 2 or more adult parties combine their efforts to complete a single business transaction or a predetermined definite number of transactions. A joint venture agreement can be oral or written. The brokerage firms do not need to register with the FREC because they are already registered separately.

 typically a second degree misdemeanor punishable by a criminal fine not to exceed $500 and/or imprisonment for up to 60 days.

Violation of rental agrements is a first degree misdemeanor

someone who acts as a license without is a 3rd degree felony

was created to provide financial reimbursement to persons who have suffered a loss as the result of actions of a real estate licensee

$50k for single

$150 for multiple

 If a broker was following an escrow disbursement order (EDO) and was sued in a civil action, damages awarded against the broker can be reimbursed from the Fund without jeopardy to the broker’s license.

Real estate brokers must display a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) fair housing poster in all places of business, including model homes in subdivisions. In addition, developments financed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) must undertake an affirmative marketing program to attract a cross section of the community.

Deed restrictions with references to restrictions concerning race, religion, color, or national origin may be encountered in practice, but are not enforceable.

refers to families with children, including pregnant women and people with, or securing custody of children under the age of 18

exempt to

•retirement communities

•complexes of 4 units or less and single-family houses, if sold or rented by owners who have no more than 3 houses.

 lease is a contract and is subject to all the general requirements of contracts.

purpose is to create a careful balance of rights between landlord and tenant

•the extermination of rats, mice, roaches, ants, and bedbugs

•locks and keys

•the clean and safe condition of common areas

•garbage removal and outside receptacles

•heat during winter

•running water, and hot water

The funds must be kept in a Florida banking institution.

•The tenant shall receive 75% of the interest payable on this account, if any. The landlord may retain the remaining 25%

The landlord must notify the tenant in writing of the manner in which the landlord is holding any security deposit or advance rent within 30 days of receipt of any such monies.

 The landlord has 15 days after termination of a lease to return any security deposit with interest, if any, or within 30 days

inspect the premises

•make necessary or agreed-upon repairs

•decorate, make improvements, or alterations

•supply agreed-upon services

•show the dwelling to purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen, or contractors

Property is either real or personal. The term property, in the strict legal sense, is an aggregate or bundle of rights to a thing that is guaranteed and protected by the government. More specifically, property means ownership and the unrestricted and exclusive right to a thing (with certain exceptions). These rights include the right to own it, possess it, use it, enjoy it, encumber it, dispose of it, and exclude everyone else from interfering with it. Simply put, property is a bundle of ownership rights.

•disposition

•use

•possession

•exclusion

 loss of land due to natural causes and is very common along Florida’s coast.

A person who has rights to real property has an estate,which is an interest in the property. The type of estate he or she has is determined by the degree of freedom, quantity, nature, extent, and duration of his or her rights in the property.

There are 2 types of estates, freehold or nonfreehold. Freehold estatesinvolve ownership by the tenant; nonfreeholdestatesprovide possession and use but not ownership.

most common form of ownership; it is the most desirable and the most complete and comprehensive. It is the least limited form of ownership as it includes all rights of possession, occupancy, use, enjoyment, and disposition.

This estate will descend to the heirs of the titleholder generation after generation unless

right of the original grantor—that is, the person who created the life estate—or his or her heirs to regain the property in fee simple upon the death of the life tenant.

estate in expectancy is one whose title has not yet been received by the party entitled to receive it, such as a remainder estate or reversion estate. An estate in expectancy can be either vested or contingent.

A qualified fee estate (fee simple defeasible)is a fee ownership with limitations imposed by the grantor

if not followed owenership reverts back to grantor

An assessment is a share of the funds required for the payment of common expenses, which from time to time is assessed against a unit owner. These assessments are commonly called maintenance fees or association dues

CONDOS

regulates the development and sale of condominium units.

The purchaser is allowed 15 days from receipt of the documents to either rescind or proceed with the sale

Resale is 3 days

 real estate ownership or use acquired by a deed, lease, or license. Timesharing is commonly used in the sale and purchase or lease of vacation and second-home properties such as condominiums, motels, hotels, and apartment buildings located in resort areas

real estate license is required of anyone who performs a service of real estate in timesharing

Each purchaser is allowed a 10-day cooling off period during

Resale is 3 days

•acquired ownership with equal rights of possession, use, and enjoyment

•equal and undivided interests

•acquired their ownership at the same time

•acquired their rights by the same deed or conveyance (title)

Tenancy in common differs from joint tenancy in nearly every respect. The ownership can be obtained at the same or different times; the interests can be equal or unequal; the rights can be obtained by the same or different deeds or conveyances. The owners must, however, have equal rights of use, possession, and enjoyment.

can pass down in will

The elective share provides that the surviving spouse (widow or widower) is entitled to 30% of the deceased spouse’s personal and real property except for homestead property, which is treated separately.

type of conveyance used to transfer title to real estate from one party to another. Transfer of title by deed or conveyance is the most common method of acquiring title. Title to personal property may be transferred by deed or conveyance.

In Writing

To be valid, a deed (conveyance) must be in writing. It is usually under seal.

 Execution

To be valid, a deed (conveyance) must be signed (executed) by the grantor and witnessed by 2 persons.

 Legal Description

A deed must contain the legal description of the property.

 Consideration

A deed must be accompanied by a valuable or sufficient consideration.

 Delivery and Acceptance

Title transfers when the deed (conveyance) is delivered to and accepted by the grantee.

 The sales price need not appear in the deed.

A general warranty deed is a conveyance in which the grantor (seller) fully warrants or guarantees clear title to the real estate he or she is conveying to the grantee and agrees to warrant or defend the title against any and all claims

Used most and offers greatest protection to the Grantee

which the grantor warrants or guarantees the title he or she is conveying only against claims by him- or herself, or by anyone claiming by, through, or for him or her. One form of special warranty deed is a tax deed, which is used in a tax foreclosure sale. Special warranty deeds are also frequently used for other purposes, such as conveying the property of a decedent.

referee’s deed in partition is used to convey property following a court-ordered partition judgment involving property owned jointly by 2 or more persons who desire to dissolve their joint ownership of the property but who cannot agree on the physical division (partition) of the property.

A deed of trust is used to convey title or an interest in property to a third-party trustee to be held as security for a debt or obligation owed by the trustor (borrower) to the beneficiary (lender). A deed of trust is similar to a mortgage and, in Florida, is treated as a mortgage. When the loan has been paid in full the trustee returns the title to the borrower by means of a reconveyance deed.

enabling declaration (document) that conveys a parcel of real property held under a single deed into a number of individual condominium estates plus an estate for the common areas and elements of a condominium.

A patent deed is a special deed used to convey title of real estate from the United States government to an individual.

The habendum clause is the to have and to hold clause, indicating the legal rights or estate or interest the deed is conveying (e.g., fee simple, life estate, etc.).

The testimonium clause contains the statement “In witness whereof the parties to these presents have hereunto set their hands and seals.” It is the conclusion of a deed.

A warrant of encumbrances is an assurance to the grantee by the grantor that there are no encumbrances or liens against the property being conveyed other than those specifically listed in the deed.

A warranty forever is an assurance to the grantee by the grantor that the grantee shall have possession, completeness, security, and continuance of the title transferred to the grantee.

A warranty against grantor’s acts is a provision in which the grantor transferring title of property from a decedent’s estate warrants or promises that he or she has done nothing to injure or adversely affect the title while he or she was the personal representative of the estate and had control of the property.

legal principle in which title to real property is obtainedby a person who enters, without the consent or agreement of the true owner, into open, adverse, hostile, and exclusive possession of the owner’s property for 7 or more consecutive years and who meets other technical requirements of the Florida Statutes. When the true owner “sleeps on his (or her) rights” and does not eject an open and hostile trespasser, the owner will lose his or her title to the trespasser.

Eminent Domain

The power of eminent domain is the right a government (city, county, state, or federal) retains over real property owners to obtain title to property for public use, such as highway right-of-way and school sites. This right is exercised through a condemnation proceeding in court. The government is required to pay just compensation for the property, which is negotiated with the owner. In the event of a dispute, compensation is determined by a jury trial with costs paid by the government.

When a person dies without a will, or intestate, the state determines the deceased person’s heirs. If no heirs can be found, the property escheats, or becomes the state’s property. In other words, the state is the last heir.

good and marketable title to real property that is free frommaterial defects, encumbrances, and any reasonable doubt as to who is the owner. It is title that the owner can readily sell or mortgage to a well-informed, reasonably intelligent, and prudent buyer or lender (mortgagee).

 condensed history of the title to a parcel of real estate consisting of a compilation of all recorded instruments and notations on the public records—such as deeds, mortgages, easements, marriages, deaths, and divorces—that in any manner affect the title of the property legally described in the caption of the abstract.

deficiency or an imperfection in title to real estate that affects the owner’s rights to possession, use, occupancy, and quiet enjoyment of the property.

Defects are normally cured by the use of:

•a quitclaim deed

•a suit to quiet title, a proceeding to establish the plaintiff’s title to real estate by bringing into court any adverse claimant and compelling him or her to either establish claim or be forever estopped from asserting it

•the Florida Marketable Record Titles to Real Property Act, which eliminates certain defects in title that are more than 30 years old

are filed against real property each year.In Florida, real property is assessed at just value as of January 1; the taxes become a lien as of January 1; due and payable November 1; and become delinquent if not paid by April 1 of the following year. Real estate taxes are paid in arrears.

 judgment lien is rendered by a court in lieu of monetary compensation awarded to a plaintiff against a defendant as a result of a suit.

A vendor’s lien is a right of a vendor (seller of real estate) to subject the property sold as security for any unpaid balance of the purchase price. A vendor’s lien right is waived if he or she has received any other form of security for the debt.