(1) A commission notice made by a broker with respect to a commission claimed under this part shall be in writing, shall be signed and sworn to or affirmed by the broker under penalty of perjury before a notary public, and shall include the following:

(a) The name of the owner of the commercial real estate who is obligated to pay the claimed commission.

Terms Used In Florida Statutes 475.705

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
  • Broker: means a person who, for another, and for a compensation or valuable consideration directly or indirectly paid or promised, expressly or impliedly, or with an intent to collect or receive a compensation or valuable consideration therefor, appraises, auctions, sells, exchanges, buys, rents, or offers, attempts or agrees to appraise, auction, or negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, or rental of business enterprises or business opportunities or any real property or any interest in or concerning the same, including mineral rights or leases, or who advertises or holds out to the public by any oral or printed solicitation or representation that she or he is engaged in the business of appraising, auctioning, buying, selling, exchanging, leasing, or renting business enterprises or business opportunities or real property of others or interests therein, including mineral rights, or who takes any part in the procuring of sellers, purchasers, lessors, or lessees of business enterprises or business opportunities or the real property of another, or leases, or interest therein, including mineral rights, or who directs or assists in the procuring of prospects or in the negotiation or closing of any transaction which does, or is calculated to, result in a sale, exchange, or leasing thereof, and who receives, expects, or is promised any compensation or valuable consideration, directly or indirectly therefor; and all persons who advertise rental property information or lists. See Florida Statutes 475.01
  • Brokerage agreement: means a written contract entered into on or after the effective date of this act between an owner of commercial real estate and a broker that obligates the owner to pay a commission to the broker for licensed services provided by the broker relating to the sale or disposition of the commercial real estate as specified in the contract. See Florida Statutes 475.701
  • Closing: means the delivery, exchange, and release of documents and funds for the completion of a transaction for the disposition of commercial real estate. See Florida Statutes 475.701
  • Closing agent: means the person who receives documents and funds for recording and disbursement in closing a transaction for the disposition of commercial real estate. See Florida Statutes 475.701
  • Commercial real estate: means a fee simple interest or other possessory estate in real property, except an interest in real property that is:
    (a) Improved with one single-family residential unit or one multifamily structure containing one to four residential units;
    (b) Unimproved and the maximum permitted development is one to four residential units under any restrictive covenants, zoning regulations, or comprehensive plan applicable to that real property; or
    (c) Improved with single-family residential units such as condominiums, townhouses, timeshares, mobile homes, or houses in a subdivision that may be legally sold, leased, or otherwise conveyed on a unit-by-unit basis, regardless of whether these units may be a part of a larger building or parcel containing more than four residential units. See Florida Statutes 475.701
  • Commission: means any fee or other compensation that an owner agrees to pay a broker for licensed services as specified in a brokerage agreement. See Florida Statutes 475.701
  • Commission notice: means the written notice claiming a commission made by a broker under…. See Florida Statutes 475.701
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Days: means calendar days, but if a period would end on a day other than a business day, then the last day of that period shall instead be the next business day. See Florida Statutes 475.701
  • Disposition: means a voluntary conveyance or transfer of the title to or other ownership interest in any commercial real estate specified in a brokerage agreement. See Florida Statutes 475.701
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Owner: means a person that is vested with fee simple title or a possessory estate in commercial real estate. See Florida Statutes 475.701
  • real estate: means any interest or estate in land and any interest in business enterprises or business opportunities, including any assignment, leasehold, subleasehold, or mineral right; however, the term does not include any cemetery lot or right of burial in any cemetery; nor does the term include the renting of a mobile home lot or recreational vehicle lot in a mobile home park or travel park. See Florida Statutes 475.01
  • writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) The legal description of the commercial real estate.
(c) The name, mailing address, telephone number, and license number of the broker.
(d) The effective date of the brokerage agreement.
(e) The amount of the commission claimed by the broker, which may be stated in a dollar amount or may be stated in the form of a formula determining the amount, such as a percentage of the sales price.
(f) A statement under penalty of perjury that the broker has read the commission notice, knows its contents, believes the same to be true and correct, and makes the commission claim pursuant to the brokerage agreement described in the notice.
(g) A statement that the commission notice or a copy thereof has been delivered to the owner and that the commission notice may be recorded in the public records of the county or counties where the commercial real estate is located.
(h) A statement that this part provides that if the owner disputes the claimed commission the owner shall notify the closing agent of such dispute not later than 5 days after the closing, or the owner will be deemed to have confirmed the commission and this part will require the closing agent to pay the commission to the broker from the owner’s net proceeds from the disposition of the commercial real estate.
(2) A commission notice in substantially the following form shall be sufficient for purposes of subsection (1):

BROKER’S COMMISSION NOTICE UNDER
FLORIDA COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE
SALES COMMISSION LIEN ACT

Notice is hereby given pursuant to the Florida Commercial Real Estate Sales Commission Lien Act, part III of chapter 475, Florida Statutes (the “act”), that the undersigned real estate broker is entitled to receive a sales commission in the amount set forth below from the owner named below pursuant to the terms of a written brokerage commission agreement regarding the commercial real estate described below, and the undersigned broker claims a lien under the act against the owner’s net proceeds from the disposition of the commercial real estate. The act and this commission notice do not create a lien against the commercial real estate itself, but only against the owner’s net proceeds.

1. Name of the owner who is obligated to pay the commission:  

2. Legal description of the commercial real estate:  

3. Name, mailing address, telephone number, and Florida broker license number of the undersigned broker:    

4. Effective date of the written brokerage commission agreement between the owner and the broker under which the commission is or will be payable:      ,     .

5. Amount of commission claimed by the undersigned broker:

$    , or    percent of sales price, or

[specify other formula for determination of commission amount]:
      .

6. The undersigned broker, under penalty of perjury, hereby swears or affirms that the undersigned broker has read this commission notice, knows its contents and believes the same to be true and correct, and that the undersigned broker is making this commission claim pursuant to the written brokerage commission agreement described in this commission notice.

7. The undersigned broker confirms that this commission notice or a copy thereof has been delivered to the owner.

Signed:   (broker)  

Signed and sworn to or affirmed under penalty of perjury before me, a notary public, this      day of      ,    ,
by           .

Signed:   (notary public)  

WARNING TO OWNER: The act provides that if you dispute the commission claimed in this commission notice, you must notify the closing agent of the dispute no later than 5 days after the closing. If you fail to notify the closing agent before that date that you dispute the commission, you will be deemed to have confirmed the commission and the act will require the closing agent to pay the commission to the broker from your net proceeds from the disposition of the commercial real estate.

This commission notice may be recorded in the public records of the county or counties where the commercial real estate is located.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), if a broker wishes to enforce a lien for a commission under this part, the broker shall, within 30 days after a commission is earned by the broker pursuant to s. 475.703(2) and at least 1 day before the closing, deliver a copy of the commission notice to:

(a) The owner of the commercial real estate specified in the brokerage agreement.
(b) The closing agent designated to close the transaction for the disposition of the commercial real estate, if the broker then knows the identity of the closing agent. If the identity of the closing agent thereafter becomes known to the broker, then the broker shall deliver a copy of the commission notice to the closing agent within 3 days after the broker acquires such knowledge and at least 1 day before the closing.
(4) Except as provided in this subsection, a broker who fails to deliver a copy of a commission notice as required under subsection (3) within the period specified therein may not enforce a lien for the commission under this part. If a broker fails to deliver a copy of the commission notice within said period solely because the owner entered into a contract for the disposition of the commercial real estate without the knowledge of the broker, the broker may enforce a lien for the commission under this part if:

(a) The copy of the commission notice is delivered to the owner and the closing agent before the closing agent disburses the owner’s net proceeds to the owner.
(b) The broker executes and delivers to the closing agent a sworn affidavit stating that the copy of the commission notice was not delivered within the time period specified in subsection (3) solely because the owner entered into a contract for the disposition of the commercial real estate without the knowledge of the broker.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, a broker who fails to deliver a copy of a commission notice to the owner and the closing agent before the disbursement of the owner’s net proceeds may not enforce a lien for the commission under this part, and the delivery of a copy of a commission notice after such disbursement is ineffective under this part.

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