[RPPTL-constructionlaw] FW: Legislative Committee Report

Mon Jan 9 15:12:05 PST 2012

Re-sending as I appeared to have addressed it incorrectly in my earlier
email:

Folks,

This shall serve as the report of the Legislative Subcommittee for
today's call.

First, we adopt the report of the Construction Regulatino Subcommittee
as it relates to the 84 (essentially 42x2) construction-related bills
that have been filed for consideration during the 2012 legislative
sessin that begins tomorrow.

Second, we are tracking two bills (well, 2x2 = 4) of particular
interest:

HB 897 / SB 1202 - relating to construction liens and bonds (copies
attached).

Summary:  Rep. Moraitis and Sen. Bogdanoff have submitted companion
bills to make a numbers of changes to Chapters 255 and 713, including:
(1) requiring additional information be added to a request for sworn
statement of account served by an owner to assist a lienor in
identifying the account to which the request pertains; (2) providing
that deadlines for serving the notice to contractor, notice of
nonpayment and payment bond lawsuit run from time the lienor is
"notified in writing" of the existence of the bond, in the event the
bond is not recorded in the official records before commencement of
construction; (3) the burden of serving a notice of contest of lien or a
notice of contest of payment bond claim is shifted from the Clerk to the
owner or the general contractor, respectively; (4) the class of persons
protected by a payment bond and the effective duration of the payment
bond may not be shortened from what is provided in the statute (and any
provisions in the bond to the contrary would be unenforceable); and (5)
a request for sworn statement of account could be served by a lienor
whether or not the lineor has recorded a claim of lien.  Note:  CLC
members have discussed with the supporters of this bill merging the
CLC's lien law proposed changes approved last year with this bill, and
the response was very receptive.  The Section's lobbyist is working on
getting these added to the bill along with changes to the existiing bill
requested by our committee.

HB 1013 / SB 1196 - relating to residential construction warranties
(copies attached).

Summary:  Rep. Artiles and Sen. Bennett have filed companion bills -
which are identical - which target the decision of the Fifth DCA in the
Maronda Homes decision and seek to overturn it.  In Maronda Homes, the
Fifth DCA held that the implied warranty of habitability extends to the
construction of roads, stormwater drainage systems and retention ponds.
However, the bills, as currently drafted, go significantly further than
overturning Maronda Homes by adopting a severely restrictive definition
of the term "habitability" which would effectively overturn much of the
existing caselaw under Gable v. Silver and its progeny.  Further, the
bill would apply retroactively.  Note:  The RPPTL section's lobbyist has
met with the bills' sponsors to discuss the Section's concerns with the
bill and initial reports were that the sponsors were receptive to
amendments.  It is not known as of this writing whether RPPTL will take
a legislative position on this bill.

Finally, attached for everyone's review and consideration are the
following:

HB 963 / SB 1458 - adoption of Revised Uniform Arbitration Code

This is the bill prepared and submitted on behalf of the Business Law
Section of The Florida Bar and contains a substantial re-write of the
Florida Arbitration Code.  The changes are too voluminous to summarize
here.  All persons whose practice encompasses the use of ADR are
strongly encouraged to review the provisions of this bill and
familiarize themselves with the very substantial changes they would
bring.

Reese

Reese J. Henderson, Jr.
Shareholder
GrayRobinson, P.A.
50 North Laura Street, Suite 1100
Jacksonville, Florida 32202
Main: 904-598-9929 | Fax: 904-598-9109
Email: Reese.Henderson at gray-robinson.com

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