Video Summary

Can I homestead property and two different States? The answer is no for Florida. And that whenever you sign for homestead exempt you’re signing that you are a permanent resident of the state of Florida. And furthermore, that you’re not receiving any benefits as a result of being a resident of any other state. It also, applies to if you’re married, that neither you nor your spouse are receiving those benefits. They consider a husband and wife as one family unit so that one spouse can’t get homestead in one state and the other spouse get homestead in Florida. Sometimes people query as to, well, how do they find out? Well, I don’t know, but I know the property appraiser as hard at it. They’ve found where this one fellow was getting free parking in his town, as a result of being a resident of that town in Massachusetts. How they found out, I don’t know, but they have people working on that to avoid homestead fraud. The penalties for getting homestead and having benefits elsewhere are very severe. I think the interest rates like 15%. The penalties besides the tax that you should have paid is like 50%, it’s sort of like speeding. You don’t want to get caught. So, I suggest don’t do it. When you make application, you state that you’re not getting any benefits from another state. If you have any questions, give me a call (727) 847-2288.

Video Summary

How do I remove a lien from my property if the contractor’s no longer in business? The construction lien statutes provide a couple of ways to have the lien removed. One is you can transfer it to a cash bond and that way you can remove it from the property and proceed with a refinance. The second way, if you’ve already paid them and you wish to remove the lien, you can file a notice of contest of lien in the public records and the contactor has 60 days in which to file a foreclosure action or else the lien is extinguished. Those are two ways to do that.

The other way if you’ve paid the contractor and to track down to try and get him to sign a release, if you’ve done that, you also whenever you’re refinancing or selling the property, you need to terminate your notice of commencement and then also get a contractor’s final affidavit from whoever did the work for you under the notice of commencement in order to be able to ensure that the title against any construction liens.

If you have a problem with a construction lien and problems with your contractor, give me a call. I’ll be glad to help you and see about getting the transaction closed for you or eliminating the claim of lien. Give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Once I receive a homestead exemption, how do I get my mortgage payments to lower? You cannot get your payments lowered once you get your homestead exemption in place. That is a function that your mortgage company does. They review your escrow, and it’ll take them about 18 months after you get your homestead exemption. You get your first tax bill, they will then analyze your escrow to see if they’re collecting too little or too much, and then they will adjust your payments.

You cannot, just because you filed for homestead exemption, get them to lower other than if you call your lender and try and talk to them about it, you may be able to talk to them about it, but I think that you’re going to wind up being somewhat frustrated until they see the actual tax bill. Once you file for homestead exemption, the following November after you file, after the first of the next year, is when the first bill will come out and then after that they will take some time to adjust it. It is a function of your lender, who is obligated by law to review your escrow. I’m not sure just the time period, but I’d give it about 18 months after the first of the year. Big thing is, be sure you file for homestead exemption. If you have any questions about your mortgage, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Hurricane Irma and trees. Well, we’re getting calls about trees that have fallen, either that your tree has fallen on your neighbor’s property, or your neighbor’s tree has fallen on your property, and the question is: who’s responsible for the damage, or the cleanup of the debris of a tree that’s fallen on your property?

Well, the answer is, is that you are responsible for taking care of the cleanup, as far as a tree falling on your property, whether it’s your tree, or your neighbor’s tree, since it is caused by an act of God. Your neighbor is not negligent as a result of hurricane Irma, or possibly hurricane Marie, or any other hurricane or natural disaster coming through, just a small tornado or any other storms that comes through. The damage is caused as a result of an act of nature, or an act of God, and therefore they are not negligent and not responsible for the damage that the tree has caused to your property, and you’re not responsible for any damage that your tree fell on your neighbor’s property.

So, the unfortunate part of it is, is if the tree falls on your property, or even hangs over your property line, looks like it’s about to fall on some of your property, well, you are stuck with having to clean the thing up, particularly with these giant oak trees that can run into thousands of dollars with tree surgeons and hauling out great big oak trees, and having to use certain care so it doesn’t damage any more property. So the cleanup of debris is a particular problem, but your neighbor is not liable for it.

Now, if the tree falls on your house, or damages your property, well then what? Well, you need to call your insurance company, and unfortunately this is gonna be under your policy, most of them have a hurricane deductible of anywhere from three to five … Well, depending on, look at your policy, and that there’s a deductible before they would pick up the damage. So, unless it’s catastrophic your deductible is probably gonna be more than what it’s gonna cost to fix the damage or to remove the tree, depending on the extent of the damage.

There is one exception to the tree falling on your property, your neighbor’s tree; that is if he was negligent, as far ar maintaining the tree. If it was a rotted tree, it’s been sitting there, and you talked to him about it or warned him about it, and said he needs to take care of it, and then if he was negligent and maintained the tree, well then you could possibly have some cause of action against him for these damages.

I have been contacted in the past about a rotted tree on the neighbor’s property and the concern, and I suggested to the person who contacted me that they need to send a letter notifying the neighbor that he would be liable or responsible if that rotted tree fell or caused damaged to your property. So that’s the exception to the not being liable if it’s an act of God; if the neighbor was negligent or you put him on notice that he needed to attend to the matter.

Also, a lot of times, not with hurricanes necessarily but maybe a result of a leaning tree, is that you have the right to trim trees, vertical, if they hang over your property line, where you have the right to trim the tree as of whatever is hanging over your property line. But hopefully you didn’t have too much damage, and unfortunately the cost of removing some of these huge oak trees is very expensive, but you’re probably not going to be able to hold your neighbor responsible, since it was an act of God.

So hopefully you’re safe. And if you have any questions, I don’t purport to be an insurance expert, but that’s just a little quip as far as trees and hurricane Irma, and fortunately we dodged hurricane Marie it looks like. My phone number’s 727-847-2288.