Florida Senate - 2024 CS for SB 756 By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Perry 590-02633-24 2024756c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to timeshare properties; amending s. 3 695.03, F.S.; revising that a commissioner of deeds is 4 appointed by the Secretary of State, rather than by 5 the Governor, for a certain acknowledgement or proof 6 taken, administered, or made outside this state but 7 within the United States or within a foreign country; 8 amending s. 721.13, F.S.; providing that the board of 9 any timeshare condominium has certain powers regarding 10 the accommodations or facilities of a timeshare plan 11 without the approval of the members of the owners 12 association; providing that the managing entity of any 13 timeshare project has all the rights and remedies of 14 an operator of any public lodging establishment or 15 public food service establishment for certain 16 purposes; authorizing such managing entities to have 17 law enforcement take certain actions; amending s. 18 721.15, F.S.; requiring the managing entity of certain 19 timeshares to provide a specific certificate in lieu 20 of an estoppel certificate; amending s. 721.97, F.S.; 21 conforming a provision to changes made by the act; 22 providing an effective date. 23 24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25 26 Section 1.Subsections (2) and (3) of section 695.03, 27 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 28 695.03Acknowledgment and proof; validation of certain 29 acknowledgments; legalization or authentication before foreign 30 officials.To entitle any instrument concerning real property to 31 be recorded, the execution must be acknowledged by the party 32 executing it, proved by a subscribing witness to it, or 33 legalized or authenticated in one of the following forms: 34 (2)OUTSIDE THIS STATE BUT WITHIN THE UNITED STATES.An 35 acknowledgment or a proof taken, administered, or made outside 36 of this state but within the United States may be taken, 37 administered, or made by or before a civil-law notary of this 38 state or a commissioner of deeds appointed by the Secretary of 39 State Governor of this state; by a judge or clerk of any court 40 of the United States or of any state, territory, or district; by 41 or before a United States commissioner or magistrate; or by or 42 before any notary public, justice of the peace, master in 43 chancery, or registrar or recorder of deeds of any state, 44 territory, or district having a seal, and the certificate of 45 acknowledgment or proof must be under the seal of the court or 46 officer, as the case may be. If the acknowledgment or proof is 47 taken, administered, or made by or before a notary public who 48 does not affix a seal, it is sufficient for the notary public to 49 type, print, or write by hand on the instrument, I am a Notary 50 Public of the State of ...(state)..., and my commission expires 51 on ...(date).... 52 (3)OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES OR WITHIN FOREIGN 53 COUNTRIES.An acknowledgment, an affidavit, an oath, a 54 legalization, an authentication, or a proof taken, administered, 55 or made outside the United States or in a foreign country may be 56 taken, administered, or made by or before a commissioner of 57 deeds appointed by the Secretary of State Governor of this state 58 to act in such country; before a notary public of such foreign 59 country or a civil-law notary of this state or of such foreign 60 country who has an official seal; before an ambassador, envoy 61 extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary, minister, commissioner, 62 charge daffaires, consul general, consul, vice consul, consular 63 agent, or other diplomatic or consular officer of the United 64 States appointed to reside in such country; or before a military 65 or naval officer authorized by 10 U.S.C. s. 1044a to perform the 66 duties of notary public, and the certificate of acknowledgment, 67 legalization, authentication, or proof must be under the seal of 68 the officer. A certificate legalizing or authenticating the 69 signature of a person executing an instrument concerning real 70 property and to which a civil-law notary or notary public of 71 that country has affixed her or his official seal is sufficient 72 as an acknowledgment. For the purposes of this section, the term 73 civil-law notary means a civil-law notary as defined in 74 chapter 118 or an official of a foreign country who has an 75 official seal and who is authorized to make legal or lawful the 76 execution of any document in that jurisdiction, in which 77 jurisdiction the affixing of her or his official seal is deemed 78 proof of the execution of the document or deed in full 79 compliance with the laws of that jurisdiction. 80 Section 2.Subsection (8) of section 721.13, Florida 81 Statutes, is amended, and subsection (14) is added to that 82 section, to read: 83 721.13Management. 84 (8)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in s. 718.110, 85 s. 718.113, s. 718.114, or s. 719.1055, the board of 86 administration of any owners association that operates a 87 timeshare plan, including a timeshare condominium pursuant to s. 88 718.111, or a timeshare cooperative pursuant to s. 719.104, 89 shall have the power to make material alterations or substantial 90 additions, or any deletion, to the accommodations or facilities 91 of such timeshare plan condominium or timeshare cooperative 92 without the approval of the members of the owners association. 93 However, if the timeshare condominium or timeshare cooperative 94 contains any residential units that are not subject to the 95 timeshare plan, such action by the board of administration must 96 be approved by a majority of the owners of such residential 97 units. Unless otherwise provided in the timeshare instrument as 98 originally recorded, no such amendment may change the 99 configuration or size of any accommodation in any material 100 fashion, or change the proportion or percentage by which a 101 member of the owners association shares the common expenses, 102 unless the record owners of the affected units or timeshare 103 interests and all record owners of liens on the affected units 104 or timeshare interests join in the execution of the amendment. 105 (14)With regard to any timeshare project as defined in s. 106 509.242(1)(g), the managing entity or manager has all of the 107 rights and remedies of an operator of any public lodging 108 establishment or public food service establishment as set forth 109 in ss. 509.141, 509.142, 509.143, and 509.162 and is entitled to 110 have a law enforcement officer take any action, including arrest 111 or removal from the timeshare property, against any purchaser, 112 including a deeded owner, or guest or invitee of such purchaser 113 or owner who engages in conduct described in s. 509.141, s. 114 509.142, s. 509.143, or s. 509.162 or conduct in violation of 115 the timeshare instrument. 116 Section 3.Paragraph (b) of subsection (7) of section 117 721.15, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 118 721.15Assessments for common expenses. 119 (7) 120 (b)Within 30 days after receiving a written request from a 121 timeshare interest owner, an agent designated in writing by the 122 timeshare interest owner, or a person providing resale transfer 123 services for a consumer timeshare reseller pursuant to s. 124 721.17(3), a managing entity must provide a certificate, signed 125 by an officer or agent of the managing entity, to the person 126 requesting the certificate, that states the amount of any 127 assessment, transfer fee, or other moneys currently owed to the 128 managing entity, and of any assessment, transfer fee, or other 129 moneys approved by the managing entity that will be due within 130 the next 90 days, with respect to the designated consumer resale 131 timeshare interest, as well as any information contained in the 132 books and records of the timeshare plan regarding the legal 133 description and use plan related to the designated consumer 134 resale timeshare interest. The managing entity of a timeshare 135 condominium or timeshare cooperative must provide such a 136 certificate in lieu of the estoppel certificate required by s. 137 718.116(8) or s. 719.108(6). 138 1.A person who relies upon such certificate shall be 139 protected thereby. 140 2.A summary proceeding pursuant to s. 51.011 may be 141 brought to compel compliance with this paragraph, and in such an 142 action the prevailing party may recover reasonable attorney fees 143 and court costs. 144 3.The managing entity may charge a fee not to exceed $150 145 for the preparation and delivery of the certificate. The amount 146 of the fee must be included on the certificate. 147 Section 4.Subsection (1) of section 721.97, Florida 148 Statutes, is amended to read: 149 721.97Timeshare commissioner of deeds. 150 (1)The Secretary of State Governor may appoint 151 commissioners of deeds to take acknowledgments, proofs of 152 execution, or oaths in any foreign country, in international 153 waters, or in any possession, territory, or commonwealth of the 154 United States outside the 50 states. The term of office is 4 155 years. Commissioners of deeds shall have authority to take 156 acknowledgments, proofs of execution, and oaths in connection 157 with the execution of any deed, mortgage, deed of trust, 158 contract, power of attorney, or any other writing to be used or 159 recorded in connection with a timeshare estate, personal 160 property timeshare interest, timeshare license, any property 161 subject to a timeshare plan, or the operation of a timeshare 162 plan located within this state; provided such instrument or 163 writing is executed outside the United States. Such 164 acknowledgments, proofs of execution, and oaths must be taken or 165 made in the manner directed by the laws of this state, 166 including, but not limited to, s. 117.05(4), (5)(a), and (6), 167 Florida Statutes 1997, and certified by a commissioner of deeds. 168 The certification must be endorsed on or annexed to the 169 instrument or writing aforesaid and has the same effect as if 170 made or taken by a notary public licensed in this state. 171 Section 5.This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.