Bill Text: FL H0927 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Adverse Possession

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-03 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see SB 1142 (Ch. [H0927 Detail]

Download: Florida-2011-H0927-Introduced.html

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HB 927

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to adverse possession; amending s. 95.18,
3	F.S.; specifying that occupation and maintenance of
4	property satisfies the requirements for possession for
5	purposes of gaining title to property via adverse
6	possession without color of title; requiring a person
7	seeking property by adverse possession to use a uniform
8	adverse possession return provided by the Department of
9	Revenue; requiring the property appraiser to notify the
10	owner of record of an adverse possession claim; requiring
11	that a person claiming adverse possession attest to the
12	truthfulness of the information provided in the return
13	under penalty of perjury; authorizing the Department of
14	Revenue to adopt emergency rules; requiring that the
15	property appraiser add certain information related to the
16	adverse possession claim to the parcel information on the
17	tax roll and prescribing conditions for removal of that
18	information; prescribing procedures and requirements for
19	adverse possession claims against a portion of an
20	identified parcel or against property to which the
21	property appraiser has not assigned a parcel number;
22	requiring the property appraiser to include a notation of
23	an adverse possession filing in any searchable property
24	database maintained by the property appraiser; amending s.
25	197.212, F.S.; excluding property subject to adverse
26	possession claims without color of title from provisions
27	authorizing the tax collector not to send a tax notice for
28	minimum tax bills; creating s. 197.3335, F.S.; requiring
29	the tax collector to determine whether a duplicate tax
30	payment is made by an adverse possessor; providing for
31	priority of tax payments made by an owner of record who is
32	subject to an adverse possession claim; providing for a
33	refund of tax payments under certain conditions; providing
34	for retroactive application of certain provisions
35	governing procedures for administering a claim of adverse
36	possession and establishing tax priority for owners of
37	record; providing an effective date.
38
39	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
40
41	Section 1.  Section 95.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to
42	read:
43	95.18  Real property actions; adverse possession without
44	color of title.-
45	(1)  When the occupant has, or those under whom the
46	occupant claims have, been in actual continued occupation of
47	real property for 7 years under a claim of title exclusive of
48	any other right, but not founded on a written instrument,
49	judgment, or decree, the property actually occupied is shall be
50	held adversely if the person claiming adverse possession made a
51	return, as required under subsection (3), of the property by
52	proper legal description to the property appraiser of the county
53	where it is located within 1 year after entering into possession
54	and has subsequently paid, subject to s. 197.3335, all taxes and
55	matured installments of special improvement liens levied against
56	the property by the state, county, and municipality.
57	(2)  For the purpose of this section, property is shall be
58	deemed to be possessed if the property has been in the following
59	cases only:
60	(a)  When it has been Protected by substantial enclosure;.
61	(b)  When it has been usually Cultivated or improved in a
62	usual manner; or.
63	(c)  Occupied and maintained.
64	(3)  A person claiming adverse possession under this
65	section must make a return of the property by providing to the
66	property appraiser a uniform return on a form provided by the
67	Department of Revenue. The return must include all of the
68	following:
69	(a)  The name and address of the person claiming adverse
70	possession.
71	(b)  The date that the person claiming adverse possession
72	entered into possession of the property.
73	(c)  A full and complete legal description of the property
74	that is subject to the adverse possession claim.
75	(d)  A notarized attestation clause that states:
76	UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I DECLARE THAT I HAVE READ
77	THE FOREGOING RETURN AND THAT THE FACTS STATED IN IT
78	ARE TRUE AND CORRECT.
79	(e)  A description of the use of the property by the person
80	claiming adverse possession.
81	(f)  A receipt to be completed by the property appraiser.
82
83	The property appraiser shall refuse to accept a return if it
84	does not comply with this subsection. The executive director of
85	the Department of Revenue is authorized, and all conditions are
86	deemed met, to adopt emergency rules under ss. 120.536(1) and
87	120.54(4) for the purpose of implementing this subsection. The
88	emergency rules shall remain in effect for 6 months after
89	adoption and may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to
90	adopt rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules.
91	(4)  Upon the submission of a return, the property
92	appraiser shall:
93	(a)  Send, via regular mail, a copy of the return to the
94	owner of record of the property that is subject to the adverse
95	possession claim, as identified by the property appraiser's
96	records.
97	(b)  Inform the owner of record that, under s. 197.3335,
98	any tax payment made by the owner of record before April 1
99	following the year in which the tax is assessed will have
100	priority over any tax payment made by an adverse possessor.
101	(c)  Add a notation at the beginning of the first line of
102	the legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession
103	claim has been submitted.
104	(d)  Maintain the return in the property appraiser's
105	records.
106	(5)(a)  If a person makes a claim of adverse possession
107	under this section against a portion of a parcel of property
108	identified by a unique parcel identification number in the
109	property appraiser's records:
110	1.  The person claiming adverse possession shall include in
111	the return submitted under subsection (3) a full and complete
112	legal description of the property sufficient to enable the
113	property appraiser to identify the portion of the property
114	subject to the adverse possession claim.
115	2.  The property appraiser may refuse to accept the return
116	if the portion of the property subject to the claim cannot be
117	identified by the legal description provided in the return, and
118	the person claiming adverse possession must obtain a survey of
119	the portion of the property subject to the claim in order to
120	submit the return.
121	(b)  Upon submission of the return, the property appraiser
122	shall follow the procedures under subsection (4), and may not
123	create a unique parcel identification number for the portion of
124	property subject to the claim.
125	(c)  The property appraiser shall assign a fair and just
126	value to the portion of the property, as provided in s. 193.011,
127	and provide this value to the tax collector to facilitate tax
128	payment under s. 197.3335(3).
129	(6)(a)  If a person makes a claim of adverse possession
130	under this section against property to which the property
131	appraiser has not assigned a parcel identification number:
132	1.  The person claiming adverse possession must include in
133	the return submitted under subsection (3) a full and complete
134	legal description of the property which is sufficient to enable
135	the property appraiser to identify the property subject to the
136	adverse possession claim.
137	2.  The property appraiser may refuse to accept a return if
138	the property subject to the claim cannot be identified by the
139	legal description provided in the return, and the person
140	claiming adverse possession must obtain a survey of the property
141	subject to the claim in order to submit the return.
142	(b)  Upon submission of the return, the property appraiser
143	shall:
144	1.  Assign a parcel identification number to the property
145	and assign a fair and just value to the property as provided in
146	s. 193.011;
147	2.  Add a notation at the beginning of the first line of
148	the legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession
149	claim has been submitted; and
150	3.  Maintain the return in the property appraiser's
151	records.
152	(7)  A property appraiser must remove the notation to the
153	legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession
154	claim has been submitted and shall remove the return from the
155	property appraiser's records if:
156	(a)  The person claiming adverse possession notifies the
157	property appraiser in writing that the adverse possession claim
158	is withdrawn;
159	(b)  The owner of record provides a certified copy of a
160	court order, entered after the date the return was submitted to
161	the property appraiser, establishing title in the owner of
162	record;
163	(c)  The property appraiser receives a certified copy of a
164	recorded deed, filed after the date of the submission of the
165	return, from the person claiming adverse possession to the owner
166	of record transferring title of property along with a legal
167	description describing the same property subject to the adverse
168	possession claim; or
169	(d)  The owner of record or the tax collector provides to
170	the property appraiser a receipt demonstrating that the owner of
171	record has paid the annual tax assessment for the property
172	subject to the adverse possession claim during the period that
173	the person is claiming adverse possession.
174	(8)  The property appraiser shall include a clear and
175	obvious notation in the legal description of the parcel
176	information of any public searchable property database
177	maintained by the property appraiser that an adverse possession
178	return has been submitted to the property appraiser for a
179	particular parcel.
180	Section 2.  Section 197.212, Florida Statutes, is amended
181	to read:
182	197.212  Minimum tax bill.-On the recommendation of the
183	county tax collector, the board of county commissioners may
184	adopt a resolution instructing the collector not to mail tax
185	notices to a taxpayer if when the amount of taxes shown on the
186	tax notice is less than an amount up to $30. The resolution
187	shall also instruct the property appraiser that he or she may
188	shall not make an extension on the tax roll for any parcel for
189	which the tax would amount to less than an amount up to $30. The
190	minimum tax bill so established may not exceed an amount up to
191	$30. This section does not apply to a parcel of property that is
192	subject to an adverse possession claim pursuant to s. 95.18.
193	Section 3.  Section 197.3335, Florida Statutes, is created
194	to read:
195	197.3335  Tax payments when property is subject to adverse
196	possession; refunds.-
197	(1)  Upon the receipt of a subsequent payment for the same
198	annual tax assessment for a particular parcel of property, the
199	tax collector must determine whether an adverse possession
200	return has been submitted on the particular parcel. If an
201	adverse possession return has been submitted, the tax collector
202	must comply with subsection (2).
203	(2)  If a person claiming adverse possession under s. 95.18
204	pays an annual tax assessment on a parcel of property before the
205	assessment is paid by the owner of record, and the owner of
206	record subsequently makes a payment of that same annual tax
207	assessment before April 1 following the year in which the tax is
208	assessed, the tax collector shall accept the payment made by the
209	owner of record and refund within 60 days any payment made by
210	the person claiming adverse possession. Such refunds do not
211	require approval from the department.
212	(3)  For claims of adverse possession for a portion of a
213	parcel of property as provided in s. 95.18(5), the tax collector
214	may accept a tax payment, based upon the value of the property
215	assigned by the property appraiser under s. 95.18(5)(c), from a
216	person claiming adverse possession for the portion of the
217	property subject to the claim. If the owner of record makes a
218	payment of the annual tax assessment for the whole parcel before
219	April 1 following the year in which the tax is assessed, the tax
220	collector shall refund within 60 days any payment previously
221	made for the portion of the parcel subject to the claim by the
222	person claiming adverse possession.
223	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011, and
224	applies to adverse possession claims in which the return was
225	submitted on or after that date, except for the procedural
226	provisions governing the property appraiser's administration of
227	adverse possession claims included in s. 95.18(4)(c) and (d) and
228	(7), Florida Statutes, and the provisions governing the payment
229	of taxes included in s. 197.3335, Florida Statutes, as created
230	by this act, which apply to adverse possession claims for which
231	the return was submitted before, on, or after that date.

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