CS/HB 1167 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1167-01-c1
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to attorney fees and costs in property 2
rights disputes; creating s. 57.106, F.S.; defining 3
terms; authorizing courts to award reasonable attorney 4
fees and costs to a prevailing defendant in certain 5
civil actions under specified circumstance s; providing 6
applicability; providing an effective date. 7
8
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9
10
Section 1. Section 57.106, Florida Statutes, is created to 11
read: 12
57.106 Recovery of attorney fees and costs in certain 13
disputes regarding property rights. — 14
(1) For the purposes of this section, the term: 15
(a) "Improvement" means an act done to increase the value 16
or benefit of real property. 17
(b) "Property rights" means zoning, future land use 18
designations, easement rights, ingre ss and egress rights, 19
environmental resource and impact permits, and those rights 20
incident to land bordering upon navigable waters as described in 21
s. 253.141. 22
(2) In a civil action brought against the owner of a 23
parcel of real property to resolve a dispu te concerning property 24
rights, the court may award reasonable attorney fees and costs 25
CS/HB 1167 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1167-01-c1
Page 2 of 2
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
to the prevailing defendant if the improvements made to the 26
property by the defendant property owner were made in 27
substantial compliance with, or in reliance on, environm ental or 28
regulatory approvals or permits issued by a political 29
subdivision of the state or a state agency. 30
(3) This section does not apply if the environmental or 31
regulatory approval or permit was issued due to a material 32
mistake of fact or law or was no t issued in compliance with law. 33
Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 34