The first of several bills amending Florida’s condominium, cooperative and homeowners association statutes was signed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott. Senate Bill 398 was signed into law by the governor on June 14. Senate Bill 398 addresses estoppel certificates and expands the scope of the current statutory provisions relating to the issuance of estoppel certificates by condominium, cooperative and homeowners associations. The legislation expands the methods allowed for requesting estoppel certificates and limits the amount of time an association has to respond to a request for an estoppel certificate. In addition, the amount of information required to be included in an estoppel certificate is greatly expanded and must be provided substantially in the form provided for in the legislation itself. Highlights of some of the new requirements for estoppel certificates are as follows:
• The time period for responding to a request for an estoppel certificate is reduced from 15 days to 10 business days, and if not delivered within 10 business days then no fee can be charged for the estoppel certificate.
