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Florida Lease Signature Requirements

If you have any questions, please contact real estate lawyer Amanda Tullidge at 941.748.0100 or atullidge@blalockwalters.com. Under Florida law, a lease is real estate. Prior to the new law going into effect, Florida required two undersigned witnesses to validate the owner`s signature for leases longer than one year. This requirement applied to commercial and residential leases. The stated purpose of the obligation to engage witnesses in a lease was to protect the landlord in the event of a dispute over the validity of the landlord`s signature. According to the amended version of section 689.01(1), leases[5] do not require witnesses to be signed at all, as leasing agreements are expressly excluded from the obligation to sign witnesses for the transfer of financial interests (changes are underlined and, if necessary, indicated by a cross): the obligation to subscribe to witnesses no longer significantly promotes their initial fraud prevention policy. It has become a « gotcha » requirement that provides a formality that can be used by a party trying to cancel an agreement that they no longer wanted to honor. It has also become tedious to close deals, especially in this time of pandemic, when social distancing makes it problematic for a landlord and two witnesses to sign a lease in the presence of each other. Finally, asking for two subscribed witnesses has been a major obstacle to the electronic enforcement of leases, which is the modern trend. Ah, here`s the heart of the matter. The party wishing to withdraw from the lease and the legal concept of legal forfeiture are important in these cases. Estoppel is when a party is prevented from doing something, such as breaking a lease.

In general, landlords and tenants are discouraged from breaking an otherwise valid lease, even if two subscribed witnesses are missing when the lease is executed. The reason for authorizing electronic signatures was to speed up the process of executing a lease. However, the additional demand for witnesses essentially defeats the purpose of authorizing electronic signatures. What happens if the tenant`s signature is attested? It doesn`t matter; it has no influence on the validity of the rental agreement. The law does not require the tenant`s signature to be attested, but you can do so if you wish (or if you have done so in the past). Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 469 on June 27, 2020. A change welcomed by Florida landlords removes the requirement under section 689.01 of Florida laws that a landlord must have two witnesses when signing a lease for more than one year. HB 469 provides that no witnesses subject to signature are required for the rental of real estate, thus eliminating the requirement of the presence of two subscribed witnesses if the lessor signs a lease for a period of more than one year. The lease can still be valid even if the lease lasts more than a year and the landlord`s signature has not been attested by two subscribed witnesses. If the landlord wants to break the lease, the tenant can assert a breach of contract claim against the landlord, depending on the facts. The courts have ruled that the landlord is prevented from breaking the lease.

Over the years, landlords have long wondered their lawyers if witnesses are really needed when executing a lease. With Florida now allowing electronic signatures on leases, the burden of monitoring a lease had become an even greater issue, resulting in many hours of delay in obtaining a lease start to ensure that the required number of witnesses were available simultaneously to the landlord and tenants to execute the lease. The new law will save landlords a lot of time, as a lease only needs two parties instead of six (owners, tenants and two witnesses for each party). Florida House Bill 469, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on June 27, 2020, went into effect on July 1, 2020. Prior to the passage of the act, section 689.01 of Florida`s laws required two subscribed witnesses to be present if a landlord signed a lease for more than one year. The amended law now removes the requirement for two subscribed witnesses to rent real estate. This change applies to commercial and residential leases and is expected to greatly simplify the lease enforcement process. Since Florida has long recognized the validity of electronic signatures, as there is no longer a witness requirement, landlords and tenants can execute leases by digital or electronic signature. However, the repeal of the obligation to testify by the amended Act applies only to leases. Other instruments that convey an interest in real estate, such as deeds and easements, always require two witnesses subscribed to the licensor, either by physical presence or electronically by audio-video technology. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted almost every aspect of daily life, including the need to keep a safe distance from others. We have adapted by developing solutions to limit human contact and promote health and safety, such as.B.

Grocery delivery services, virtual happy hours and virtual workouts at home, to name a few. Tenants and their landlords, who have been particularly affected by the pandemic, are also looking for solutions. Fortunately, some recent revisions to Florida`s regulations offer landlords and tenants some desired solutions by facilitating the lease execution process during this period of necessary social distancing. Similar witness requirements also prevailed in the early United States in the form of state laws. [14] Florida§689.01 was such a law and in fact older than the State of Florida. [15] [21] Reed v. Moore, 109 Sun. 86, 88-89 (Fla.

1926). See also Skylake Insurance Agency, Inc.c. NMB Plaza, LLC, 23 So.3d 175 (Fla.3d DCA 2009), in which the Third District Court of Appeals expressly refused to allow the owner to benefit from its own non-compliance with the witness` formality by declaring that the unexpired lease, although invalid as a transfer, was binding as a contract for which the owner was liable for damages for its breach. In today`s fast-paced and often digital world, finding witnesses can be time-consuming. Landlords faced the dilemma of delaying their lease or having a technically invalid lease. House Bill 469 eliminates this stumbling block and allows the parties to effectively bind a lease without witnesses to the signature of one of the parties, regardless of the length of the lease. This bill will come into force on July 1, 2020. Please note that while the House bill removes 469 witnesses from leases as a legal requirement, parties may still wish to employ witnesses to assist with the case in the event of a lease dispute. Florida`s signature requirement for two witnesses is well known, but is not well understood by Florida owners and some lawyers. This article clarifies the requirement to sign two witnesses from Florida.

The new law simplifies the process of executing leases by reducing the number of people who must be present at the signing. While this is a small step, the overall reduction in homeowners` burden is expected to be significant when multiplied by the number of leases signed each year in Florida. Michael A. Muñoz is a partner in the West Palm Beach office of Shutts & Bowen, LLP, where he is a member of the business litigation practice Group. He focuses his practice on general and commercial litigation, including commercial leasing disputes. Many may be pleased with this change in the law, as landlords no longer have to win two witnesses to sign a lease (which, since COVID-19, may involve coordinating a video conference where the landlord and witnesses sign electronically). This saves owners valuable time and perhaps money. Please note that there is an exception for business transfers. Owners who are businesses (as opposed to LLCs or partnerships) can enter into a lease of more than two years without the need for certified signatures. No sealing shall be required to give validity to a device designed in accordance with this Article. Companies may make all transfers in accordance with the provisions of this section or ss. .

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