The Florida Legal Hotline Explained
The Florida legal hotline benefits the members of Florida Realtors® in the field, providing access to professional legal counsel from knowledgeable attorneys. Our attorneys understand the issues facing you and your clients in Florida. The purpose of the Florida legal hotline is to help with questions and other legal problems that members encounter while operating their real estate businesses. The Florida legal hotline is a free service available to legal hotline subscribers. A legal hotline subscription comes with your Florida Realtors® membership and provides you with immediate advice or assistance when you need it. You can speak with our staff attorneys regarding legal questions you may have or have encountered. If you are not a subscriber, you will first need to register for a subscription to speak with our staff attorneys.
The legal hotline attorneys will not provide you with legal advice for any transaction where they are or represent one of the parties to the transaction . Our attorneys will not provide legal advice or research for members in connection with any broker disciplinary matters; other than the limited advice described below that they may provide to members in connection with filings made against them with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) relating to acts and practices of licensees. Legal advice in DBPR proceedings is limited to general explanations of the procedures and rules of DBPR and the general law, and only to the procedure utilized by DBPR in preparing the investigation report and the complaint process carried on at the DBPR. There may be certain circumstances under which the legal hotline attorneys cannot provide a member with legal advice, such as client conflicts or attorney conflict. In such cases, the matter will be referred to another Florida Realtors® attorney.
Eligibility for the Legal Hotline
To use the Florida legal hotline, you must be a member of the Florida Association of Realtors who is based in Florida. In some instances, out-of-state members of the Florida association are allowed access to the legal hotline. Florida Realtors has a full list of qualifying associations on their website and offers an online membership verification form for anyone who wants to check the eligibility of their associations. In addition, realtors outside Florida still have the option of using the attorney finder offered by Florida Realtors.
The Legal Hotline Services
The Florida Legal Hotline for Realtors® and other staff members of the Florida Association of Realtors® is operated to provide legal advice to Florida Realtors® and other employees, and to other Florida licensed real estate professionals. The Hotline is manned by an attorney who can provide guidance on a variety of legal issues related to real estate transactions and contracts, as well as offer support in the midst of a dispute. Some of the specific areas of focus for most legal hotline queries include:
- Broker duties and responsibilities
- Listings
- Disclosures
- Purchase agreements and other standard contracts
- Closing issues
- Clauses and provisions in Florida real estate contracts
- License law
- Loan fraud prevention and detection
- Agency issues
- Ethics enforcement
- Fair housing requirements and compliance
- Closing procedures
- Sales practices
- Association law
- Advertising requirements
- Environmental law
- Inspections
- Mortgage law
- Home owner association issues
- Legal and ethical problems
- Professional standards
- Preventive and risk management
- Real estate equity
- Taxes
- Tenancy
- Title issues
- Zoning issues
- Homestead exemptions
- Eminent domain
- Leases
- Commissions
How to Reach the Legal Hotline
The FREC’s Legal Hotline is a resource that allows realtors to get answers to legal questions related to Florida real estate law. You can reach the hotline by phone or email, and issues are typically addressed within 24 hours. It is important to note that the hotline does not provide opinions about the application of the law to real estate transaction issues, such as title matters, surveys or engineering issues.
The hotline is staffed by Florida Bar attorneys, and lawyers from the Department of Business & Professional Regulation, along with experts from other Bureau of Real Estate divisions, have also answered questions prior to the October 1st transfer. It is not known at this time if the hotline will continue to be staffed by Florida Bar attorneys or if attorneys from FR/BPR’s Division of Real Estate will take over the responsibility. The hotline can be reached by calling (850) 921-3762 or emailing [email protected].
Legal Hotline Advantages
The legal hotline is a member benefit that helps the member make timely and accurate choices about legal issues with confidence.
Consider the following:
- Cost Savings – Early legal advice helps members avoid costly mistakes. The hotline qualifies as the first half an hour of legal correspondence a member incurs; therefore , questions are typically answered in under 30 minutes. Time spent on the hotline counts toward your RAI credits and earns 2.5 CEUs.
- Peace of Mind – Conversations are confidential and members have a clear understanding of how to proceed.
- Convenience – Members are not charged for an initial consultation and the hotline is available Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM. If you call and an attorney is available, you will be connected immediately. If an attorney is not available, a message can be left and you will be contacted within 4 hours.
Commonly Answered Legal Questions
Realtors can often find themselves balancing on a tight rope as they mitigate a myriad of moving parts with developers, clients, and the law itself. Some of the most common legal issues that arise in the real estate field that are covered by the hotline include:
Contracts
Realtors find themselves answering questions about foreclosures, contracts, disclosures, earnest money deposits, and much more.
Fair Housing
The hotline has addressed more than 350 inquiries related to Fair Housing Law Discrimination in the past year.
Boundary Disputes
Realtors have safely and legally closed numerous real estate transactions and then discovered for the first time that the boundary survey is incorrect and a neighbor encroaches upon their property. Florida Realtors members can feel secure in calling the hotline for assistance to resolve these matters.
Zoning and Land Use Questions
Realtors often have questions about zoning, land use, and building regulations. When seeking an answer, particularly when speaking about investment opportunities with clients, it’s especially important to contact someone who is licensed.
Case Studies and Testimonials
Bob Lee, a Naples-based real estate agent, recalls a heated negotiations session with a buyer and seller who were at an impasse over an easy to overlook easement issue. Bob sent an email to the legal hotline that was answered within minutes but still managed to give both parties much needed insight into how the situation would play out. The client was impressed that Bob was able to get answers to his questions after hours and was so relieved to get legal advice about how to proceed without having to hire an attorney for what was essentially a simple inquiry.
"There wasn’t even a question of whether to call," says Sally Kay, owner of Cape Coral Realty, "we had an HTC lawn maintenance business dispute and the outcome saved our company thousands of dollars, not to mention a huge headache. We call frequently with questions because we are a smaller realty company and can’t afford to have outside counsel on hand." Sally emphasizes that every call is kept confidential, which is important for her clients, including banks and developers.
Joan Richards, a broker in Venice, Florida, calls the legal hotline often. "I was blessed to get an answer from a lawyer who went through the difference between a conventional closing and a short sale. I love it and it has enabled me to be more educated in my interactions with clients and especially lenders. If you deal with REO properties or if you tend to work with paper shuffling or decision making idiots, you NEED this phone number," she advised.
Closing: Optimizing the Legal Hotline
In wrapping up the contents of this article, we again strongly encourage all Florida realtors to take advantage of the legal hotline and use it. It is free, easy, and it can be very important . Referencing the Florida Association of Realtors quote above, it can help you "best serve buyers and sellers as you navigate contractual issues". Please do take full advantage of the service!
