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New Year, New Laws, Old Form Documents? Exhibit A: Changes in Florida’s Real Estate Contracts

Client Alert
January 18, 2022

Settling into a New Year often brings renewed energy into setting and pushing new goals of building business relationships, increasing sales, and moving Letters of Intent and negotiations into final, signed agreements.

It’s all too easy to grab a form document off the Internet (Google, anyone?), or to pull the last document in your files as a template for your next agreement.

However, changes in the law can take effect at the beginning of the calendar year, as well as mid-year or fiscal new year, and sometimes on a random date in between. 

Your awareness – or lack of awareness – in changes in the law can mean the difference between keeping you and your business operating within the law or putting you at great financial and legal risk for not complying with the law. It can also result in financial and time savings or additional burden in time and costs.

Major Changes to Florida’s Form Contracts: FR/BAR “As Is” and Residential Contracts

Florida’s real estate market has been among the hottest markets to buy, sell, lease, and otherwise invest.  Much of the state’s real estate market is driven by the residential market, namely the sale and purchase of single, family homes.  These buyers and sellers are not always individuals. They also include individuals and investment companies, some based locally, others from out of state or out-of-country, who may not be familiar with Florida-specific laws and customs.

In Florida, there are form contracts you easily find online. However, the ones that are generally accepted form contracts, those widely used and accepted by professionals within the industry, are the purchase and sale agreements for residential real estate contracts, issued and approved by the joint committee of Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar, including the (i) FR/BAR Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase and the (ii) FR/BAR “As Is” Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase.

These FR/BAR contracts are not typically updated on a yearly basis, as they take significant collaboration between both professional organizations. The most recent changes took effect as of November 1, 2021, among them, a few highlights summarized:

“Loan Approval” and “Appraisal”

The definitions of “Loan Approval” and “Appraisal” have been expanded.

If the financing contingency box is checked, then in addition to obtaining approval for financing, the Buyer’s lender must also receive a satisfactory appraisal (or alternative valuation of the Property) prior to the expiration of the Loan Approval Period. This revision was made to expedite the receipt of the appraisal, as the prior form contract allowed the lender’s appraisal to come in right before Closing, and a deal could fall apart right before the Closing Day. Under the new revision, if the appraisal does not meet lender approval within the Loan Approval Period, the parties could terminate sooner than previously allowed and the property could return to the market sooner for other potential buyers.

Delivery Notice Methods

In addition to providing notice by mail or personal delivery, notices by fax or email are allowed. However, other electronic media delivery previously allowed is prohibited, so no texts or social media messages.

Occupancy Clause

The occupancy clause has expanded to include disclosure of existing seasonal or short-term vacation rentals and future tenancies.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN REAL PROPERTY TAX ACT (“FIRPTA”)

FIRTPA withholding and reporting costs are now explicitly designated as a Seller.

Time Calculations

Calendar days are now based on the Property’s location, and if a date or time period ends on a Saturday or Sunday, or a day that is a national legal public holiday (as defined by U.S.C. Sec. 6103(a)), or a day on which a national legal public holiday is observed because it fell on a weekend, that date or time period extends to the next calendar date which is not a Saturday, Sunday, national legal public holiday, or a day in which a national legal public holiday is observed.

Force Majeure (Pandemic now included)

The definition of “Force Majeure” expanded under the new form contracts to include “governmental actions and mandates, government shutdowns, epidemics or pandemics.” This section allows

Understanding Changes in the Law, Changes in the Forms

The foregoing summaries are just some of the changes to the new form Florida “As Is” and Residential Purchase and Sale Contracts. There are many other changes that were added, deleted, or modified. 

Although you may be able to find one of the new forms online, very likely the older forms will pop up. Further, if the forms do not originate directly from the Florida Realtors or The Florida Bar or a licensed Realtor, Broker, or Attorney, you may not know if you have a form contract that is fully updated or if the correct Riders are being properly used.   

It is worth paying the extra money for a professional to work with you in preparing or responding to a contract, even a form contract that appears to be blessed by professional organizations.  The cost of “free” and fast forms can amount to an expensive and long process of fixing versus hiring a professional to prepare an agreement that’s specific, clear, and current or hiring an attorney to litigate for or against a not-so-current or compliant contract.

To learn more about the recent changes in Florida’s real estate contracts or other areas of residential or commercial real estate, please contact BMD Attorney Christine M. Berk (cmberk@bmdpl.com) – (407) 214-8395.

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Client Alert

Employer Liability for COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects

June 9, 2021As employers encourage or require employees to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine, they should be aware of OSHA recording obligations and potential workers’ compensation liability. Though OSHA has yet to revise its COVID-19 guidance in response to the latest CDC recommendations, OSHA has revised its position regarding the recording of injury or illness resulting from the vaccine. Until now, OSHA required an employer to record an adverse reaction when the vaccine was required for employees and the injury or illness otherwise met the recording criteria (work-related, a new case, and meets one or more of the general recording criteria). OSHA has reversed course and announced that it will not require recording adverse reactions until at least May 2022, irrespective of whether the employer requires the vaccine as a condition of employment. In its revised COVID-19 FAQs, OSHA states:Client Alert

The New Rule 1.510 - Radical Change for Summary Judgement Procedure in Florida

June 8, 2021In civil litigation, where both sides participate actively, trial is usually required at the end of a long, expensive case to determine a winner and a loser. In federal and most state courts, however, there are a few procedural shortcuts by which parties can seek to prevail in advance of trial, saving time, money and annoyance. The most common of these is the “motion for summary judgment”: a request to the court by one side for judgment before trial, generally on the basis that the evidence available reflects that a win for that party is legally inevitable and thus required. Effective May 1, 2021, summary judgment procedure in Florida has radically changed.Client Alert

Vacating, Modifying or Correcting an Arbitration Award Under R.C. 2711.13: Three-Month Limitation Maximum; Not Guaranteed Amount of Time

June 8, 2021In a recent decision, the Supreme Court of Ohio held that neither R.C. 2711.09 nor R.C. 2711.13 requires a court to wait three months after an arbitration award is issued before confirming the award. R.C. 2711.13 provides that “after an award in an arbitration proceeding is made, any party to the arbitration may file a motion in the court of common pleas for an order vacating, modifying, or correcting the award.” Any such motion to vacate, modify, or correct an award “must be served upon the adverse party or his attorney within three months after the award is delivered to the parties in interest.” In BST Ohio Corporation et al. v. Wolgang, the Court held the three-month period set forth in R.C. 2711.13 is not a guaranteed time period in which to file a motion to vacate, modify, or correct an arbitration award. 2021-Ohio-1785.Client Alert

EEOC Provides Updated Guidance Regarding Employer COVID-19 Vaccine Policies

June 3, 2021On May 28, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its guidance regarding employer COVID-19 vaccination policies. The new guidance provides much-needed clarification of expectations for employers seeking to promote workplace safety and prevent the spread of COVID-19, including discussion of mandatory vaccination policies, voluntary vaccination incentives, and accommodation of employees based on disability or sincerely held religious beliefs. The full text of the update is found in Section K of the EEOC’s COVID Q&A document. You can also learn more about these and other developments from BMD's Bryan Meek and Monica Andress through the Employment Law After Hours YouTube channel, available here.Client Alert

What Telemedical Barriers Practices Face and How They Can Manage Them

May 28, 2021The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to many businesses and industries having to rapidly adapt new practices in order to stay profitable, and the healthcare industry is no exception. Although telehealth tools and practices have existed and been used since the Vietnam War, the pandemic has caused many individual healthcare practices to heavily rely on telehealth as a large portion of their service mix in order to continue to provide care for patients. Because of this rapid adoption of telehealth practices in order to combat the restrictions of COVID-19, the telemedicine industry’s revenue has exploded in the last year. Experts predict that telehealth will continue to grow in use beyond the current pandemic, estimating the industry’s worth to be $25 billion by 2025. However, this rapid adoption of telehealth was prompted out of need and has not been without its own barriers that practices now face.
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