Q: I manage a residential property for a landlord. The landlord entered into a written lease with a tenant, which prohibits the tenant from having pets in the dwelling. Recently, the landlord informed me that the tenant has a dog and cat and the landlord wants to terminate the lease. May he do so?
A: It depends. The Residential Landlord/Tenant Act, specifically Section 83.56(2)(b), outlines the procedures that the landlord must follow before terminating the lease (other than for tenant’s non-payment of rent). Keeping unauthorized pets is considered a “noncompliance” with the terms of the lease, but the tenant should be given an opportunity to get rid of the animals. Therefore, the tenant must be given written notice that specifies the noncompliance and offers the tenant an opportunity to correct it within seven days from the date that notice is delivered. If the tenant fails to remove the pets within the period or if the same noncompliance occurs within 12 months, then the landlord may terminate the rental agreement by giving the tenant a second notice specifying the noncompliance and stating that the lease is terminated and the tenant has seven days to vacate.
Q: I’ve agreed to sponsor a NASCAR team in this month’s Daytona races in exchange for placement of my advertisement on their race car. Must I include the address of my brokerage firm in the ad?
A: No. Rule 61J2-10.025, Florida Administrative Code, provides that the name of the brokerage firm is required, but there is no requirement to include the address.
Q: Is a cooperating broker who procures a buyer entitled as a matter of law to half of the commission that the listing broker receives?
A: No. There is no law entitling a cooperating broker to half of the commission received by a listing broker.
Q: My husband recently retired, and we would like to split our time between Florida and Colorado. I have a Florida sales associate’s license. Does Florida’s real estate license law prohibit me from having a Colorado real estate sales associate license, too?
A: No. Florida’s real estate license law does not prohibit an individual who has a Florida sales associate license from being licensed in any other state.
Q: I know that the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act requires a lender, as well as mortgage brokers in some instances, to provide a “Good Faith Estimate” to all applicants for a federally related mortgage loan. Do the charges appearing on the Good Faith Estimate have to be exact?
A: No. Under RESPA, the Good Faith Estimate must include the amount of or range of charges for settlement services the borrower is likely to incur in connection with the settlement. Each estimate must be made in good faith and bear a reasonable relationship to the charge a borrower is likely to be required to pay at or before settlement.
Q: I’m the listing agent for bank-owned property. I want the bank to fill out the FAR Seller Real Property Disclosure Statement; however, a bank representative says this disclosure isn’t required by law since the bank never occupied the home. Is that true?
A: It’s true that the bank isn’t required to fill out the FAR Seller Real Property Disclosure Statement or any similar form because there is no legal requirement for a seller to give a buyer a written seller property disclosure statement.
However, a seller of a residential property, whether a bank or an individual and regardless of whether the seller occupied the property, is obligated under Florida law to disclose to a buyer all known facts that materially affect the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer. The disclosure obligation can be fulfilled via either a verbal or written disclosure.
Q: I represent a buyer who’s interested in making an offer to a for sale by owner who’s selling the home “as is.” I asked the seller to disclose any latent defects in the property, and he said he didn’t have to because the home is being sold “as is.” Does the seller have an obligation to disclose known latent defects if he is selling the home “as is?”
A: Yes. In Johnson vs. Davis, the Florida Supreme Court held that “where the seller of a home knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer.” The disclosure can be made in writing or verbally. In addition, in Rayner vs. Wise Realty Co. of Tallahassee, the First District Court of Appeal provided that this same disclosure requirement applies to residential properties that are being sold as is.