Bill Text: FL S1142 | 2011 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Adverse Possession
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-04 - Ordered enrolled -SJ 851 [S1142 Detail]
Download: Florida-2011-S1142-Enrolled.html
ENROLLED 2011 Legislature SB 1142 20111142er 1 2 An act relating to adverse possession; amending s. 3 95.18, F.S.; specifying that occupation and 4 maintenance of property satisfies the requirements for 5 possession for purposes of gaining title to property 6 via adverse possession without color of title; 7 requiring a person seeking property by adverse 8 possession to use a uniform adverse possession return 9 provided by the Department of Revenue; requiring the 10 property appraiser to notify the owner of record of an 11 adverse possession claim; requiring that a person 12 claiming adverse possession attest to the truthfulness 13 of the information provided in the return under 14 penalty of perjury; authorizing the Department of 15 Revenue to adopt emergency rules; requiring that the 16 property appraiser add certain information related to 17 the adverse possession claim to the parcel information 18 on the tax roll and prescribing conditions for removal 19 of that information; prescribing procedures and 20 requirements for adverse possession claims against a 21 portion of an identified parcel or against property to 22 which the property appraiser has not assigned a parcel 23 number; requiring the property appraiser to include a 24 notation of an adverse possession filing in any 25 searchable property database maintained by the 26 property appraiser; amending s. 197.212, F.S.; 27 excluding property subject to adverse possession 28 claims without color of title from provisions 29 authorizing the tax collector not to send a tax notice 30 for minimum tax bills; creating s. 197.3335, F.S.; 31 requiring the tax collector to determine whether a 32 duplicate tax payment is made by an adverse possessor; 33 providing for priority of tax payments made by an 34 owner of record who is subject to an adverse 35 possession claim; providing for a refund of tax 36 payments under certain conditions; providing for 37 retroactive application of certain provisions 38 governing procedures for administering a claim of 39 adverse possession and establishing tax priority for 40 owners of record; providing an effective date. 41 42 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 43 44 Section 1. Section 95.18, Florida Statutes, is amended to 45 read: 46 95.18 Real property actions; adverse possession without 47 color of title.— 48 (1) When the occupant has, or those under whom the occupant 49 claims have, been in actual continued occupation of real 50 property for 7 years under a claim of title exclusive of any 51 other right, but not founded on a written instrument, judgment, 52 or decree, the property actually occupied isshall beheld 53 adversely if the person claiming adverse possession made a 54 return, as required under subsection (3), of the property by 55 proper legal description to the property appraiser of the county 56 where it is located within 1 year after entering into possession 57 and has subsequently paid, subject to s. 197.3335, all taxes and 58 matured installments of special improvement liens levied against 59 the property by the state, county, and municipality. 60 (2) For the purpose of this section, property isshall be61 deemed to be possessed if the property has beenin the following62cases only: 63 (a)When it has beenProtected by substantial enclosure;.64 (b)When it has been usuallyCultivated or improved in a 65 usual manner; or.66 (c) Occupied and maintained. 67 (3) A person claiming adverse possession under this section 68 must make a return of the property by providing to the property 69 appraiser a uniform return on a form provided by the Department 70 of Revenue. The return must include all of the following: 71 (a) The name and address of the person claiming adverse 72 possession. 73 (b) The date that the person claiming adverse possession 74 entered into possession of the property. 75 (c) A full and complete legal description of the property 76 that is subject to the adverse possession claim. 77 (d) A notarized attestation clause that states: 78 UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I DECLARE THAT I HAVE READ 79 THE FOREGOING RETURN AND THAT THE FACTS STATED IN IT 80 ARE TRUE AND CORRECT. 81 (e) A description of the use of the property by the person 82 claiming adverse possession. 83 (f) A receipt to be completed by the property appraiser. 84 85 The property appraiser shall refuse to accept a return if it 86 does not comply with this subsection. The executive director of 87 the Department of Revenue is authorized, and all conditions are 88 deemed met, to adopt emergency rules under ss. 120.536(1) and 89 120.54(4) for the purpose of implementing this subsection. The 90 emergency rules shall remain in effect for 6 months after 91 adoption and may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to 92 adopt rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules. 93 (4) Upon the submission of a return, the property appraiser 94 shall: 95 (a) Send, via regular mail, a copy of the return to the 96 owner of record of the property that is subject to the adverse 97 possession claim, as identified by the property appraiser’s 98 records. 99 (b) Inform the owner of record that, under s. 197.3335, any 100 tax payment made by the owner of record before April 1 following 101 the year in which the tax is assessed will have priority over 102 any tax payment made by an adverse possessor. 103 (c) Add a notation at the beginning of the first line of 104 the legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession 105 claim has been submitted. 106 (d) Maintain the return in the property appraiser’s 107 records. 108 (5)(a) If a person makes a claim of adverse possession 109 under this section against a portion of a parcel of property 110 identified by a unique parcel identification number in the 111 property appraiser’s records: 112 1. The person claiming adverse possession shall include in 113 the return submitted under subsection (3) a full and complete 114 legal description of the property sufficient to enable the 115 property appraiser to identify the portion of the property 116 subject to the adverse possession claim. 117 2. The property appraiser may refuse to accept the return 118 if the portion of the property subject to the claim cannot be 119 identified by the legal description provided in the return, and 120 the person claiming adverse possession must obtain a survey of 121 the portion of the property subject to the claim in order to 122 submit the return. 123 (b) Upon submission of the return, the property appraiser 124 shall follow the procedures under subsection (4), and may not 125 create a unique parcel identification number for the portion of 126 property subject to the claim. 127 (c) The property appraiser shall assign a fair and just 128 value to the portion of the property, as provided in s. 193.011, 129 and provide this value to the tax collector to facilitate tax 130 payment under s. 197.3335(3). 131 (6)(a) If a person makes a claim of adverse possession 132 under this section against property to which the property 133 appraiser has not assigned a parcel identification number: 134 1. The person claiming adverse possession must include in 135 the return submitted under subsection (3) a full and complete 136 legal description of the property which is sufficient to enable 137 the property appraiser to identify the property subject to the 138 adverse possession claim. 139 2. The property appraiser may refuse to accept a return if 140 the property subject to the claim cannot be identified by the 141 legal description provided in the return, and the person 142 claiming adverse possession must obtain a survey of the property 143 subject to the claim in order to submit the return. 144 (b) Upon submission of the return, the property appraiser 145 shall: 146 1. Assign a parcel identification number to the property 147 and assign a fair and just value to the property as provided in 148 s. 193.011; 149 2. Add a notation at the beginning of the first line of the 150 legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession 151 claim has been submitted; and 152 3. Maintain the return in the property appraiser’s records. 153 (7) A property appraiser must remove the notation to the 154 legal description on the tax roll that an adverse possession 155 claim has been submitted and shall remove the return from the 156 property appraiser’s records if: 157 (a) The person claiming adverse possession notifies the 158 property appraiser in writing that the adverse possession claim 159 is withdrawn; 160 (b) The owner of record provides a certified copy of a 161 court order, entered after the date the return was submitted to 162 the property appraiser, establishing title in the owner of 163 record; 164 (c) The property appraiser receives a certified copy of a 165 recorded deed, filed after the date of the submission of the 166 return, from the person claiming adverse possession to the owner 167 of record transferring title of property along with a legal 168 description describing the same property subject to the adverse 169 possession claim; or 170 (d) The owner of record or the tax collector provides to 171 the property appraiser a receipt demonstrating that the owner of 172 record has paid the annual tax assessment for the property 173 subject to the adverse possession claim during the period that 174 the person is claiming adverse possession. 175 (8) The property appraiser shall include a clear and 176 obvious notation in the legal description of the parcel 177 information of any public searchable property database 178 maintained by the property appraiser that an adverse possession 179 return has been submitted to the property appraiser for a 180 particular parcel. 181 Section 2. Section 197.212, Florida Statutes, is amended to 182 read: 183 197.212 Minimum tax bill.—On the recommendation of the 184 county tax collector, the board of county commissioners may 185 adopt a resolution instructing the collector not to mail tax 186 notices to a taxpayer ifwhenthe amount of taxes shown on the 187 tax notice is less than an amount up to $30. The resolution 188 shall also instruct the property appraiser that he or she may 189shallnot make an extension on the tax roll for any parcel for 190 which the tax would amount to less than an amount up to $30. The 191 minimum tax bill so established may not exceed an amount up to 192 $30. This section does not apply to a parcel of property that is 193 subject to an adverse possession claim pursuant to s. 95.18. 194 Section 3. Section 197.3335, Florida Statutes, is created 195 to read: 196 197.3335 Tax payments when property is subject to adverse 197 possession; refunds.— 198 (1) Upon the receipt of a subsequent payment for the same 199 annual tax assessment for a particular parcel of property, the 200 tax collector must determine whether an adverse possession 201 return has been submitted on the particular parcel. If an 202 adverse possession return has been submitted, the tax collector 203 must comply with subsection (2). 204 (2) If a person claiming adverse possession under s. 95.18 205 pays an annual tax assessment on a parcel of property before the 206 assessment is paid by the owner of record, and the owner of 207 record subsequently makes a payment of that same annual tax 208 assessment before April 1 following the year in which the tax is 209 assessed, the tax collector shall accept the payment made by the 210 owner of record and refund within 60 days any payment made by 211 the person claiming adverse possession. Such refunds do not 212 require approval from the department. 213 (3) For claims of adverse possession for a portion of a 214 parcel of property as provided in s. 95.18(5), the tax collector 215 may accept a tax payment, based upon the value of the property 216 assigned by the property appraiser under s. 95.18(5)(c), from a 217 person claiming adverse possession for the portion of the 218 property subject to the claim. If the owner of record makes a 219 payment of the annual tax assessment for the whole parcel before 220 April 1 following the year in which the tax is assessed, the tax 221 collector shall refund within 60 days any payment previously 222 made for the portion of the parcel subject to the claim by the 223 person claiming adverse possession. 224 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011, and 225 applies to adverse possession claims in which the return was 226 submitted on or after that date, except for the procedural 227 provisions governing the property appraiser’s administration of 228 adverse possession claims included in s. 95.18(4)(c) and (d) and 229 (7), Florida Statutes, and the provisions governing the payment 230 of taxes included in s. 197.3335, Florida Statutes, as created 231 by this act, which apply to adverse possession claims for which 232 the return was submitted before, on, or after that date.