Florida homeowners already face many hurdles when it comes to filing suit against a builder for defective construction. Large builders and lobbyists make it even more difficult with a new bill proposed by Florida Rep. Alex Andrade. In an article published on April 1, 2021, Greg Demers discuss House Bill 21, which adds more hurdles to an already tenuous process and fails to protect Florida homeowners. The authors discuss the specifics of what the proposed bill would change.
“This requirement can only serve to intimidate and bully homeowners with righteous claims into abandoning those claims, in fear that the big builder with deep pockets will seek to put them in jail,” write the authors. “Any reasonable layperson would be reluctant to sign something under penalty of perjury without consulting with a lawyer, which defeats the purpose of this presuit resolution process. Again, this is an attempt to limit owners’ access to justice by driving up the cost of starting a discussion about potential defects.”
To read the story in full, http://bit.ly/FLHouseBill21.