Jedprest, LLC; Attorney at Law

Jedprest, LLC; Attorney at Law Area of Practice: ADA Issues, Business Law, Construction Law, Property Rights and Development, and Family Law

At jedprest, LLC we never forget our practice is all about you. We are here to help you find a successful, productive, and cost effective solution to your needs. Jed Prest is a licensed architect and attorney in the State of Florida.

12/31/2013

Happy New Year!

11/01/2013

Area of Practice: ADA Issues, Business Law, Construction Law, Property Rights and Development, and Family Law

07/22/2013

Effective Monday July 1 a new H.O.A. reform bill goes into effect essentially ending the run of so called H.O.A “dictatorships” in Florida.

An estimated 2 million homes are currently run by some form of Home Owners Association but until now those HOA’s have never registered with the State.

Under the new law every H.O.A. in the state must register with the Dept. of Business and Professional Regulation by November 22.

Some of the key concerns addressed include : A home owners right to HOA documents, HOA officers with a criminal past, HOA officers with a financial interest in certain bids and state investigation of complaints against HOA officers and managers.

07/04/2013

Happy Independence Day!

07/01/2013

Is Downzoning an Eminent Domain Taking?

In Florida, many municipalities are considering “downzoning” properties, often for conservation purposes. In downzoning, a property is re-zoned by a government body to prevent certain types of uses, often high-density, high-value uses are targeted. The goal is to protect an area by stopping the spread of urban sprawl that depends on dense development.

When downzoning occurs, the value of your property is significantly impacted. Does this loss in value constitute an eminent domain taking of your property? In most cases, no. The current standard is that a zoning board or entity must only show that the zoning change is “fairly debatable,” meaning that there is reasonable support for it, even if not a preponderance of evidence. And the perception is that the downzoning also benefits the landowner with compensatory givebacks in terms of protecting the area from urban sprawl.

To receive eminent domain compensation for a downsizing action, you must demonstrate that:

•The downzoning is unreasonable
•You (and perhaps your neighbors) are unfairly impacted by the action
•You (and perhaps your neighbors) do not receive reasonable giveback from the change.

Getting compensation in this type of case can be very difficult, but in some cases you may be able to receive compensation for property value lost to downzoning.

05/14/2013

Your liability insurance policy has the obvious value of indemnifying you (up to the policy limit) in the event you are held liable for a covered loss. However, liability insurance policies like commercial general liability and professional liability policies have significant value beyond that principal purpose. Beyond that primary benefit, your liability insurance carrier might also be obligated to pay for an attorney to represent you in a lawsuit that involves a claim that might be covered under your policy. That would not only relieve you of that financial responsibility, but those defense costs might also be paid in addition to the policy limit, depending on the terms of your policy.

05/10/2013

How Long Should Construction Professionals Keep Records? Florida's Recent Construction Defect Notice Procedure as a Reminder.

Many businesses establish records retention policies to comply with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements; three (3) years for individuals and three to seven (3-7) years for a business.1 However, that is less than half as long as might be required if you are sued in connection with a construction claim in the State of Florida. For claims under a written contract, Florida’s Statute of Limitations is five (5) years.2 The Statute of Limitations for construction defects is four (4) years from the date of possession by the owner, issuance of a certificate of occupancy, or the date of termination or completion of the contract, whichever is latest.3 If the defect is latent and not obvious, the four (4) years begins to run upon discovery of the defect.4 In virtually all cases, the statute of repose makes it impossible to maintain an action for a construction defect more than fifteen (15) years after the date of possession by the owner, issuance of a certificate of occupancy, or the date of termination or completion of the contract, whichever is latest.5 There is a bill pending before the Florida legislature, which may shorten that period from fifteen (15) to ten (10) years. Simply put, construction professionals cannot be sure that they are safe from prosecution for breach of contract for five (5) years after completion of the contract and in reference to construction defects, the exposure could last up to fifteen (15) years for latent defects.

05/08/2013

One common misconception regarding Florida Land Trusts is that they provide asset protection. To obtain asset protection from a trust the trust must be irrevocable i.e., you can not modify or cancel the trust after it is created, your interaction with the trust assets are severely restricted, and you cannot be a trust beneficiary. A land trust does not fall into the irrevocable category. The land trust is in fact just the opposite – revocable. It has been a fundamental fact of English and U.S. common law for hundreds of years that a person cannot protect his assets from his creditors by putting property into a trust that the person fully controls. Further, the person is not protected from the trust’s creditors i.e., if harm occurs with the trust the trust owner is responsible. Face it, a land trust by itself will not protect the investor.

05/03/2013

On April 24, 2013, Governor Rick Scott approved Senate Bill 286, which will effectively abrogate the holding of Witt and permit business entities providing professional services to limit by contract the liability of their individual employees or agents. Under the newly created Florida Statute 558.0035, effective July 1, 2013, an individual design professional (identified in the new statute as an architect, interior designer, landscape architect, engineer, surveyor or geologist) can be protected from individual liability for negligence under each of the following circumstances:

1. the contract is made between the business entity and a claimant or with another entity for the provision of professional services to the claimant

2. the contract does not name as a party to the contract the individual employee or agent who will perform the professional services

3. the contract includes a prominent statement, in uppercase font that is at least five point sizes larger than the rest of the text, that, pursuant to this section, an individual employee or agent may not be held individually liable for negligence

4. the business entity maintains any professional liability insurance required under the contract

5. any damages are solely economic in nature and the damages do not extend to personal injuries or property not subject to the contract

The effect of this new legislation is that, under the plain language of the statute, if a professional services contract complies with the newly enacted statutory requirements, those contracting with design professional entities will not be able to hold the individual professionals liable for their negligence. Moreover, under the language of subsection (a), the limitation of liability may extend to claims brought by third parties if the underlying contract was for the provision of professional services to that third party.

Those contracting with design professionals should expect to see new limitation of liability provisions being proposed in contracts for professional services from this point forward to comply with the new statute.

05/01/2013

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