Bill Text: FL S0966 | 2024 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

Florida Senate Bill 966

Bill Title: Builder Warranties

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 3-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-06 - Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/HB 623 [S0966 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S0966-Comm_Sub.html

       Florida Senate - 2024                CS for CS for CS for SB 966
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Rules; Commerce and Tourism; and Banking
       and Insurance; and Senator Burgess
       
       
       
       
       595-03790-24                                           2024966c3
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to builder warranties; creating s.
    3         553.837, F.S.; defining terms; requiring a builder to
    4         provide certain warranties for a newly constructed
    5         home for a specified period; requiring the builder to
    6         comply with the warranty requirement even if the newly
    7         constructed home is sold or transferred; requiring the
    8         builder to remedy at the builder’s expense certain
    9         defects and work damaged; requiring the builder to
   10         restore any work damaged in certain circumstances;
   11         authorizing a builder to purchase a warranty from a
   12         home warranty association under certain circumstances;
   13         providing construction; authorizing a builder to
   14         provide a warranty that is broader in scope or longer
   15         in duration if certain criteria are met; providing
   16         that enforcement of the act is limited to a private
   17         civil cause of action; providing an effective date.
   18          
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Section 553.837, Florida Statutes, is created to
   22  read:
   23         553.837 Mandatory builder warranty.—
   24         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   25         (a) “Builder” has the same meaning as in s. 553.993.
   26         (b) “Newly constructed home” means any residential real
   27  property, or manufactured or modular home, which is a single
   28  family dwelling, duplex, triplex, or quadruplex that has not
   29  been previously occupied.
   30         (2) A builder shall warrant a newly constructed home for
   31  all construction flaws caused by defects of equipment, material,
   32  or workmanship furnished by the builder or any subcontractor or
   33  supplier resulting in noncompliance with standards of quality as
   34  measured by acceptable trade practices for a period of 1 year
   35  from the date of original conveyance of title to the initial
   36  purchaser or from the date of full completion of each of any
   37  items completed after conveyance of title. The builder must
   38  comply with the requirement to warrant a newly constructed home
   39  for the duration required under this subsection even if the
   40  newly constructed home is sold or transferred and is no longer
   41  owned by the initial purchaser. The builder shall remedy, at the
   42  builder’s expense, any such defects and shall restore any work
   43  damaged in fulfilling the terms and conditions of the warranty.
   44  A builder may purchase a warranty from a home warranty
   45  association provided for under chapter 634 to cover the
   46  warranties required in this section.
   47         (3) This section may not be construed to require the
   48  builder’s warranty that is mandated under subsection (2) to
   49  cover any of the following:
   50         (a) Normal wear and tear of the newly constructed home.
   51         (b) Normal house settling within generally acceptable trade
   52  practices.
   53         (c) Any object or part of the newly constructed home that
   54  has been substantially modified by the initial purchaser or a
   55  subsequent purchaser.
   56         (d) Damage to the newly constructed home, whether caused by
   57  the initial purchaser, a subsequent purchaser, a third party, or
   58  an act of God over which the builder has no control, such as a
   59  natural disaster or a fire caused by lightning.
   60         (4) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, a
   61  builder may provide a purchaser with a warranty that is broader
   62  in scope or that is for a period longer than the 1-year warranty
   63  required in subsection (2) if the builder’s warranty explicitly
   64  states all of the following:
   65         (a) The builder is providing a warranty that is longer than
   66  is required under subsection (2) and the length of time for
   67  which the warranty is granted.
   68         (b) Whether the warranty is transferable for the duration
   69  of the warranty and any terms under which the warranty may be
   70  transferred.
   71         (5) Enforcement of this section is limited to a private
   72  civil cause of action by a purchaser against any builder that
   73  fails to comply with this section.
   74         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.