Legislative Proposal Could Wipe Out Common Area Warranties

Reacting to the Fifth District Court of Appeal's decision in Lakeview Reserve Homeowners v. Maronda Homes, 48 So. 3d 902 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010), discussed here, the legislature may consider a bill next year to prohibit implied warranties of fitness and merchantability from applying to streets, roads, sidewalks, drainage areas, utilities, or any other improvements that are not located on or under the lot on which a new home is constructed.  Senate Bill 1196 is the legislative bill that was proposed and can be found here.  The Lakeview case was appealed to the Florida Supreme Court and the oral argument was made just last week but the legislature may be moving forward without waiting for the court to rule. The bill is a bad deal for homeowner's for a number of reasons.  First, the proposed statute is not limited to Chapter 720 homeowner’s associations. As worded the limitations would negatively impact homeowner associations, condominiums, co-ops, timeshares and mobile home parks as the term...