Author Archives: Tanishia Stokes

Disclosures

Section (b) contains the permits disclosure. The disclosure states that excluding what has already been disclosed in writing to the Buyer, the Seller is unaware of any improvements that were made to the Property that require permits  or were made with permits which have not been property closed.

Disclosures

Florida law requires that the Seller disclose to a potential Buyer all of the facts of all defects in the property that are known to the Seller, that will materially affect the property’s value. Section (a) contains the radon gas disclosure. Radon is a natural occurring radioactive gas that can potentially be a health risk to people who are exposed to it when it has accumulated in a building in large enough quantities over time. Radon levels must not exceed the quantities found in the federal and state guidelines. Information on testing for radon gas can be found at your community health department.

Closing Cost; Title Insurance; Survey; Home Warranty; Special Assessments

Section (f) indicates the Seller’s obligation to pay the full amount of liens imposed by a public body with the exclusion of those imposed by a condominium or Homeowners association. It also indicates that the Seller must pay the amount of the public body’s most recent estimate or assessment of any improvement which is substantially complete at the Effective date but that has not resulted in a lien being imposed on the Property before Closing. The Buyer must then pay all of the remaining assessments. In the case where there are special assessments that need to be paid in installments, they can be disbursed using one of two options. Option one is the Seller can pay the installments due prior to Closing and the Buyer pay installments due after Closing. The installments prepaid or due for the year of Closing must be prorated. Option two is the Seller shall pay the assessments in full prior to the time of Closing. However, if neither option one or two is selected, the default will be option one. This paragraph does not apply to a special benefit tax lien imposed by the community development district.

Closing Cost; Title Insurance; Survey; Home Warranty; Special Assessments

In section (e), the home warranty plan is identified. The home warranty plan is necessary for providing the means for repairing or replacing the home’s mechanical systems and major built-in appliances in the event of breakdown due to normal wear and tear. Next, the party who is responsible for paying the home warranty plan is indicated here. Lastly, a maximum price point is set for the home warranty plan where the cost of the plan cannot exceed.

Closing Cost; Title Insurance; Survey; Home Warranty; Special Assessments

Section (d) states that the Buyer may, at the Buyer’s own expense, have the property surveyed and certified by a registered Florida Surveyor “Survey” at least 5 days prior to Closing. However, if the Seller already has a survey covering the property, the Seller must give a copy to the Buyer and Closing Agent within 5 days after the Effective Date.

Closing Cost; Title Insurance; Survey; Home Warranty; Special Assessments

In section (c), the time period for when a Seller must deliver a title insurance commitment issued by a Florida licensed title insurer to Buyer prior to Closing is stated. Along with the title insurance commitment, legible copies of instruments listed as exceptions attached to the contract also must be delivered. If a time period is not specified here the default will be 5 days. After Closing, an owner’s policy of title insurance must be obtained and delivered to Buyer. However, if the Seller has an owner’s policy of title insurance covering the property the Seller must then provide Buyer and Closing Agent with a copy of this policy within 5 days following the Effective Date. This section then allows the parties to select how the owner’s title policy premium, title search, municipal lien search and closing services, which all together is called “Owner’s Policy and Charges”, are paid.

Closing Cost; Title Insurance; Survey; Home Warranty; Special Assessments

Section (b) outlines the costs to be paid by the Buyer at closing. These costs are Taxes and recording fees on notes and mortgages, Recording fees for deed and financing statements, Owner’s Policy and Charges, Survey, Lender’s title policy and endorsements, HOA/Condominium Association application/transfer fees, Loan expenses, Appraisal fees, Buyer’s inspections, Buyer’s attorney’s fees, All property related insurance, and Owner’s policy premium. The section entitled Other allows the Buyer and Seller to include an additional cost to be paid by the Buyer that was not expressly mentioned in the list above.

Closing Cost; Title Insurance; Survey; Home Warranty; Special Assessments

Section (a) outlines the costs that are to be paid by the Seller at closing. These costs are the Documentary Stamp taxes and surtax on deed (if any), Owner’s Policy and Charges, Title search charges, HOA/Condominium Association estoppel fees, Recording and other fees needed to cure title, and Seller’s attorney. The section entitled Other allows the Buyer and Seller to include any additional cost to be paid by the Seller that was not expressly mentioned in the list above. This section then allows for the Seller to outline the percentages and cost for the General repair limit, the WDO limit, and the Permit limit. If a percentage or dollar amount is not expressed, the default amount of the category will be 1.5%. This section also makes a provision that allows the maintenance requirement and the repairs, replacements, treatments or permitting costs to be escrowed if the sums are equal to 125% and the Seller is unable to meet these requirements before Closing. However, if the cost of the sums of the maintenance requirement and the repairs, replacements, treatments or permitting costs exceed the applicable escrowed amounts then the Seller will have to pay the actual costs. These actual cost cannot exceed limits detailed above (i.e. General repair limit, the WDO limit, and the Permit limit). The unused escrow amounts will be returned to Seller.

Financing

If the Contract does not close after Buyer delivers written notice of the recipe of the Loan Commitment to Seller, Buyer must pay Seller the deposit unless the failure to close is due to one of four occurrences. The first is a default by the Seller. The second is when conditions of the Loan Commitment that are related to the property have not been met; however, this is only relevant if the conditions were not specifically waived in the Contract. The third is if the appraisal done by Buyers Lender is deemed to be insufficient to meet the terms of the Contract. Lastly, the fourth occurrence is when the loan was not funded because of a financial failure on the part of the Buyers Lender. If these occurrence arise, the deposit must be returned to the Buyer and the Buyer and Seller would therefore be released from any obligations under the Contract.

Financing

The Buyer must provide the Seller with written notice of Loan Commitment as soon as Buyer receive it. However, if Buyer does not receive the Loan Commitment at the time of the Loan Commitment Date specified in the Contract, then either party may cancel the Contract up until the day of the occurrence of either one of two events. The first is the Buyer’s delivery of written notice to Seller that they received the Loan Commitment or decided to waive the financing contingency of the Contract. The second is when the 7 day period before the closing date has been reached. If the Contract is timely canceled and Buyer is not in default according to the terms of the Contract, Buyer will be refunded the deposit and both Buyer and Seller will be released from all further obligations. All financing contingencies will also be deemed waived.