Category " FLORIDA"

Recently TRADITION NOTICE SERVICES received a cease and desist letter from the FLORIDA BAR. In the letter, the FLORIDA BAR claims that due to a “Formal Advisory Opinion” they wrote back in 1996 (The Florida Bar reg: Advisory Opinion – Activities of Community Association Managers, 681 So. 2d 1119) a document preparer asking someone (subcontractor or general contractor) what they did for a project, when they completed the project, and how much they are owed and then sending a Claim Of Lien as an agent on their behalf to a county for recording is “practicing law.” Keep in mind – this is not state law in FLORIDA. It is simply the “opinion” of the FLORIDA Bar. The attorney representing the General Contractor who had no interest in paying a legitimate invoice from a Subcontractor on a project in Orlando initiated the fight in a partnership with the FLORIDA Bar.

Attorney’s challenging individuals or document preparation firms who themselves are not fellow attorneys is nothing new. In some cases, the challenge is warranted as people get bad advice or service from a company TRADITION NOTICE SERVICES might compete against. The problem with the FLORIDA Bar’s argument is that while an individual can prepare and record a lien on their own, a document preparation service cannot prepare and record a lien on behalf of an individual. TRADITION NOTICE SERVICES is not in the business of filing suit to foreclose against properties in FLORIDA, clearly the responsibility of an FLORIDA licensed attorney, which is a right afforded contractors and suppliers according to FLORIDA’s statutes after a lien is recorded. Furthermore, companies like TRADITION NOTICE SERVICES know more about basic lien law than most attorneys who might practice divorce, patent, personal injury, or business law.

For now, TRADITION NOTICE SERVICES will halt filing Claim of Liens in FLORIDA until we can sign a partnership agreement with a FLORIDA based attorney to record liens with there. Additionally, TRADITION NOTICE SERVICES will seek out other lien services to pursue a possible class action challenge to the FLORIDA bar “opinion.”

Tradition Notice Services records another Florida Construction Lien – this time in Orange County, Florida. Our customer was not getting paid for the custom miniature golf course they designed and built so they moved forward with a Claim of Lien.

The processes for recording a Lien in Orange County differ in several ways from those in Miami-Dade County. Recording costs are the same ($10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page), however, Orange County does accept out-of-state business checks. Make checks payable to Orange County Comptroller.

Both counties normally record Liens (those received by mail) within 1-3 business days, but Orange County will post Liens on their website the same day they are Recorded.

Heads Up: Florida requires that you furnish a copy of the Recorded Lien within 15 days of the Recordation date. Since the recorded lien can be printed from the website, there is no need to request Certified Copies. Simply print & send.

Tradition Notice Services records Construction Lien in Miami-Dade County, Florida

In Florida, it is optional whether you need to send a Notice of Intent to Lien. It is usually a good idea, and often results in getting you paid. Just be sure you don’t miss the deadline to record the Lien, which is 90 days after you finish a project.

Miami-Dade County has property records on line (https://gisweb.miamidade.gov/PropertySearch/) so it was very easy to look up the Full Legal Description and verify the Property Owner’s name & address.

Heads Up: Florida requires that you furnish a copy of the Recorded Lien within 15 days of the Recordation date. Since it can take up to two weeks for the original Lien document to be returned to you and/or for it to show up on their website, be sure to request a “Certified Copy” of the Lien. Cost is an additional $3.00 & you’ll need to include a self-addressed stamped envelope. They will make a copy of the Lien & return it to you very quickly. Even though Tradition Notice Services is in California, we still had plenty of time to send a copy to the owner before the 15-day deadline.

Following are details for recording in Miami-Dade County: Costs are $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page. They DO NOT accept out-of-state business checks, so send a Cashiers Check or Money Order (payable to Clerk of Courts.) They require the entire Full Legal Description of the property from the website. They normally record Liens (received by mail) within 1-3 business days.