Florida Senate - 2024 CS for CS for SB 756 By the Committees on Rules; and Judiciary; and Senator Perry 595-03106-24 2024756c2 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, under certain circumstances; providing 13 that the managing entity of any timeshare project has 14 all the rights and remedies of an operator of any 15 public lodging establishment or public food service 16 establishment for certain purposes; authorizing such 17 managing entities to have law enforcement take certain 18 actions; amending s. 721.15, F.S.; requiring the 19 managing entity of certain timeshares to provide a 20 specific certificate in lieu of an estoppel 21 certificate; amending s. 721.97, F.S.; conforming a 22 provision to changes made by the act; providing an 23 effective date. 24 25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 26 27 Section 1.Subsections (2) and (3) of section 695.03, 28 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 29 695.03Acknowledgment and proof; validation of certain 30 acknowledgments; legalization or authentication before foreign 31 officials.To entitle any instrument concerning real property to 32 be recorded, the execution must be acknowledged by the party 33 executing it, proved by a subscribing witness to it, or 34 legalized or authenticated in one of the following forms: 35 (2)OUTSIDE THIS STATE BUT WITHIN THE UNITED STATES.An 36 acknowledgment or a proof taken, administered, or made outside 37 of this state but within the United States may be taken, 38 administered, or made by or before a civil-law notary of this 39 state or a commissioner of deeds appointed by the Secretary of 40 State Governor of this state; by a judge or clerk of any court 41 of the United States or of any state, territory, or district; by 42 or before a United States commissioner or magistrate; or by or 43 before any notary public, justice of the peace, master in 44 chancery, or registrar or recorder of deeds of any state, 45 territory, or district having a seal, and the certificate of 46 acknowledgment or proof must be under the seal of the court or 47 officer, as the case may be. If the acknowledgment or proof is 48 taken, administered, or made by or before a notary public who 49 does not affix a seal, it is sufficient for the notary public to 50 type, print, or write by hand on the instrument, I am a Notary 51 Public of the State of ...(state)..., and my commission expires 52 on ...(date).... 53 (3)OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES OR WITHIN FOREIGN 54 COUNTRIES.An acknowledgment, an affidavit, an oath, a 55 legalization, an authentication, or a proof taken, administered, 56 or made outside the United States or in a foreign country may be 57 taken, administered, or made by or before a commissioner of 58 deeds appointed by the Secretary of State Governor of this state 59 to act in such country; before a notary public of such foreign 60 country or a civil-law notary of this state or of such foreign 61 country who has an official seal; before an ambassador, envoy 62 extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary, minister, commissioner, 63 charge daffaires, consul general, consul, vice consul, consular 64 agent, or other diplomatic or consular officer of the United 65 States appointed to reside in such country; or before a military 66 or naval officer authorized by 10 U.S.C. s. 1044a to perform the 67 duties of notary public, and the certificate of acknowledgment, 68 legalization, authentication, or proof must be under the seal of 69 the officer. A certificate legalizing or authenticating the 70 signature of a person executing an instrument concerning real 71 property and to which a civil-law notary or notary public of 72 that country has affixed her or his official seal is sufficient 73 as an acknowledgment. For the purposes of this section, the term 74 civil-law notary means a civil-law notary as defined in 75 chapter 118 or an official of a foreign country who has an 76 official seal and who is authorized to make legal or lawful the 77 execution of any document in that jurisdiction, in which 78 jurisdiction the affixing of her or his official seal is deemed 79 proof of the execution of the document or deed in full 80 compliance with the laws of that jurisdiction. 81 Section 2.Subsection (8) of section 721.13, Florida 82 Statutes, is amended, and subsection (14) is added to that 83 section, to read: 84 721.13Management. 85 (8)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in s. 718.110, 86 s. 718.113, s. 718.114, or s. 719.1055, the board of 87 administration of any owners association that operates a 88 timeshare plan, including a timeshare condominium pursuant to s. 89 718.111, or a timeshare cooperative pursuant to s. 719.104, 90 shall have the power to make material alterations or substantial 91 additions to the accommodations or facilities of such timeshare 92 plan, and deletions to the facilities of such timeshare plan, 93 condominium or timeshare cooperative without the approval of the 94 members of the owners association, provided that the deletion 95 to any facility is approved by a two-thirds vote of the board of 96 administration and the deletion is consistent with the fiduciary 97 duties set forth in subsection (2). However, if the timeshare 98 condominium or timeshare cooperative contains any residential 99 units that are not subject to the timeshare plan, such action by 100 the board of administration must be approved by a majority of 101 the owners of such residential units. Unless otherwise provided 102 in the timeshare instrument as originally recorded, no such 103 amendment may change the configuration or size of any 104 accommodation in any material fashion, or change the proportion 105 or percentage by which a member of the owners association 106 shares the common expenses, unless the record owners of the 107 affected units or timeshare interests and all record owners of 108 liens on the affected units or timeshare interests join in the 109 execution of the amendment. 110 (14)With regard to any timeshare project as defined in s. 111 509.242(1)(g), the managing entity or manager has all of the 112 rights and remedies of an operator of any public lodging 113 establishment or public food service establishment as set forth 114 in ss. 509.141, 509.142, 509.143, and 509.162 and is entitled to 115 have a law enforcement officer take any action, including arrest 116 or removal from the timeshare property, against any purchaser, 117 including a deeded owner, or guest or invitee of such purchaser 118 or owner who engages in conduct described in s. 509.141, s. 119 509.142, s. 509.143, or s. 509.162 or conduct in violation of 120 the timeshare instrument. 121 Section 3.Paragraph (b) of subsection (7) of section 122 721.15, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 123 721.15Assessments for common expenses. 124 (7) 125 (b)Within 30 days after receiving a written request from a 126 timeshare interest owner, an agent designated in writing by the 127 timeshare interest owner, or a person providing resale transfer 128 services for a consumer timeshare reseller pursuant to s. 129 721.17(3), a managing entity must provide a certificate, signed 130 by an officer or agent of the managing entity, to the person 131 requesting the certificate, that states the amount of any 132 assessment, transfer fee, or other moneys currently owed to the 133 managing entity, and of any assessment, transfer fee, or other 134 moneys approved by the managing entity that will be due within 135 the next 90 days, with respect to the designated consumer resale 136 timeshare interest, as well as any information contained in the 137 books and records of the timeshare plan regarding the legal 138 description and use plan related to the designated consumer 139 resale timeshare interest. The managing entity of a timeshare 140 condominium or timeshare cooperative must provide such a 141 certificate in lieu of the estoppel certificate required by s. 142 718.116(8) or s. 719.108(6). 143 1.A person who relies upon such certificate shall be 144 protected thereby. 145 2.A summary proceeding pursuant to s. 51.011 may be 146 brought to compel compliance with this paragraph, and in such an 147 action the prevailing party may recover reasonable attorney fees 148 and court costs. 149 3.The managing entity may charge a fee not to exceed $150 150 for the preparation and delivery of the certificate. The amount 151 of the fee must be included on the certificate. 152 Section 4.Subsection (1) of section 721.97, Florida 153 Statutes, is amended to read: 154 721.97Timeshare commissioner of deeds. 155 (1)The Secretary of State Governor may appoint 156 commissioners of deeds to take acknowledgments, proofs of 157 execution, or oaths in any foreign country, in international 158 waters, or in any possession, territory, or commonwealth of the 159 United States outside the 50 states. The term of office is 4 160 years. Commissioners of deeds shall have authority to take 161 acknowledgments, proofs of execution, and oaths in connection 162 with the execution of any deed, mortgage, deed of trust, 163 contract, power of attorney, or any other writing to be used or 164 recorded in connection with a timeshare estate, personal 165 property timeshare interest, timeshare license, any property 166 subject to a timeshare plan, or the operation of a timeshare 167 plan located within this state; provided such instrument or 168 writing is executed outside the United States. Such 169 acknowledgments, proofs of execution, and oaths must be taken or 170 made in the manner directed by the laws of this state, 171 including, but not limited to, s. 117.05(4), (5)(a), and (6), 172 Florida Statutes 1997, and certified by a commissioner of deeds. 173 The certification must be endorsed on or annexed to the 174 instrument or writing aforesaid and has the same effect as if 175 made or taken by a notary public licensed in this state. 176 Section 5.This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.