Bill Text: FL S0566 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Unlawful Detention by a Transient Occupant
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2018-03-26 - Chapter No. 2018-83 [S0566 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S0566-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Unlawful Detention by a Transient Occupant
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2018-03-26 - Chapter No. 2018-83 [S0566 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S0566-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2018 SB 566 By Senator Young 18-00472B-18 2018566__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to unlawful detention by a transient 3 occupant; amending s. 82.045, F.S.; revising factors 4 that establish a person as a transient occupant of 5 residential property; specifying circumstances when a 6 transient occupancy terminates; providing that a 7 transient occupancy is not extended by the presence of 8 personal belongings of a former transient occupant; 9 requiring the party entitled to possession of a 10 dwelling to allow a former transient occupant to 11 recover personal belongings at certain reasonable 12 times and under reasonable conditions; authorizing a 13 party entitled to possession of the dwelling, under 14 certain circumstances, to impose additional conditions 15 on access to the dwelling or personal belongings; 16 providing a presumption of when a former transient 17 occupant has abandoned his or her personal belongings; 18 specifying a reasonable time to recover personal 19 belongings and circumstances that may extend or 20 shorten the time; authorizing a former transient 21 occupant, under certain circumstances, to bring a 22 civil action for damages or recovery of personal 23 belongings; requiring a court to award the prevailing 24 party reasonable attorney fees and costs; providing 25 construction; providing an effective date. 26 27 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 28 29 Section 1. Section 82.045, Florida Statutes, is amended to 30 read: 31 82.045 Remedy for unlawful detention by a transient 32 occupant of residential property.— 33 (1) As used in this section, the term “transient occupant” 34 means a person whose residency in a dwelling intended for 35 residential use has occurred for a brief length of time, is not 36 pursuant to a lease, and whose occupancy was intended as 37 transient in nature. 38 (a) Factors that establish that a person is a transient 39 occupant include, but are not limited to: 40 1. The person does not have an ownership interest, 41 financial interest, or leasehold interest in the property 42 entitling him or her to occupancy of the property. 43 2. The person does not have any property utility 44 subscriptions. 45 3. Within the previous 12 months, the person diddoesnot 46 use the property address as an address of record with any 47 governmental agency, including, but not limited to, the 48 Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or the 49 supervisor of elections. 504. The person does not receive mail at the property.51 4.5.The person pays minimal or no rent for his or her stay 52 at the property. 53 5.6.The person does not have a designated space of his or 54 her own, such as a room, at the property. 55 6.7.The person has minimal, if any, personal belongings at 56 the property. 57 7.8.The person has an apparent permanent residence 58 elsewhere. 59 (b) Minor contributions made for the purchase of household 60 goods, or minor contributions towards other household expenses, 61 do not establish residency. 62 (2) A transient occupant unlawfully detains a residential 63 property if the transient occupant remains in occupancy of the 64 residential property after the party entitled to possession of 65 the property has directed the transient occupant to leave. A 66 transient occupancy terminates when a transient occupant begins 67 to reside elsewhere, surrenders the key to the dwelling, or 68 agrees to leave the dwelling when directed by a law enforcement 69 officer, the party entitled to possession, or a court. A 70 transient occupancy is not extended by the presence of personal 71 belongings of a former transient occupant. 72 (3) Any law enforcement officer may, upon receipt of a 73 sworn affidavit of the party entitled to possession that a 74 person who is a transient occupant is unlawfully detaining 75 residential property, direct a transient occupant to surrender 76 possession of residential property. The sworn affidavit must set 77 forth the facts, including the applicable factors listed in 78 paragraph (1)(a), which establish that a transient occupant is 79 unlawfully detaining residential property. 80 (a) A person who fails to comply with the direction of the 81 law enforcement officer to surrender possession or occupancy 82 violates s. 810.08. In any prosecution of a violation of s. 83 810.08 related to this section, whether the defendant was 84 properly classified as a transient occupant is not an element of 85 the offense, the state is not required to prove that the 86 defendant was in fact a transient occupant, and the defendant’s 87 status as a permanent resident is not an affirmative defense. 88 (b) A person wrongfully removed pursuant to this subsection 89 has a cause of action for wrongful removal against the person 90 who requested the removal, and may recover injunctive relief and 91 compensatory damages. However, a wrongfully removed person does 92 not have a cause of action against the law enforcement officer 93 or the agency employing the law enforcement officer absent a 94 showing of bad faith by the law enforcement officer. 95 (4) A party entitled to possession of a dwelling has a 96 cause of action for unlawful detainer against a transient 97 occupant pursuant to s. 82.04. The party entitled to possession 98 is not required to notify the transient occupant before filing 99 the action. If the court finds that the defendant is not a 100 transient occupant but is instead a tenant of residential 101 property governed by part II of chapter 83, the court may not 102 dismiss the action without first allowing the plaintiff to give 103 the transient occupant the notice required by that part and to 104 thereafter amend the complaint to pursue eviction under that 105 part. 106 (5) The party entitled to possession of a dwelling shall 107 allow a former transient occupant to recover his or her personal 108 belongings at reasonable times and under reasonable conditions. 109 (a) A reasonable time for the recovery of the former 110 transient occupant’s personal belongings includes a convenient 111 time when the party entitled to possession of the dwelling or a 112 trusted third party can be present at the dwelling to supervise 113 the recovery of the belongings. 114 (b) If the party entitled to possession of the dwelling 115 reasonably believes that the former transient occupant has 116 engaged in misconduct or has a history of violence or drug or 117 alcohol abuse, it is reasonable for the party entitled to 118 possession of the dwelling to impose additional conditions on 119 access to the dwelling or the personal belongings. These 120 conditions may include, but are not limited to, the presence of 121 a law enforcement officer, the use of a mover registered with 122 the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, or the use 123 of a trusted third party to recover the personal belongings. For 124 purposes of this paragraph, misconduct includes, but is not 125 limited to: 126 1. Intentional damage to the dwelling, to property owned by 127 the party entitled to possession of the dwelling, or to property 128 owned by another occupant of the dwelling; 129 2. Physical or verbal abuse directed at the party entitled 130 to possession of the dwelling or another occupant of the 131 dwelling; or 132 3. Theft of property belonging to the party entitled to 133 possession of the dwelling or property of another occupant of 134 the dwelling. 135 (c) The person entitled to possession of a dwelling may 136 presume that the former transient occupant has abandoned 137 personal belongings left at the dwelling if the former transient 138 occupant does not seek to recover them within a reasonable time 139 after the transient occupant surrenders occupancy of the 140 dwelling. A reasonable time to recover personal belongings is 141 deemed to be 5 days after the termination of the transient 142 occupancy, but may be longer or shorter depending on the 143 specific circumstances. Circumstances that may extend the time 144 include an agreement to hold the property for longer than 5 days 145 or the unavailability of the party entitled to possession of the 146 dwelling to supervise the recovery of the personal belongings. 147 Circumstances that may shorten the time include, but are not 148 limited to, the poor condition of or the perishable or hazardous 149 nature of the personal belongings, the intent of the former 150 transient occupant to abandon or discard the belongings, or the 151 significant impairment of the use of the dwelling by the storage 152 of the former transient occupant’s personal belongings. 153 (d) If the person entitled to possession of the dwelling 154 unreasonably withholds access to a former transient occupant’s 155 personal belongings, the former transient occupant may bring a 156 civil action for damages or the recovery of the property. The 157 court shall award the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees 158 and costs. 159 (6) This section is construed in recognition of the right 160 to exclude others as one of the most essential components of 161 property rights. 162 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.