Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...between homestead property rights and the assignment of post-loss insurance benefits. The trial court found that assigned insurance benefits are “imbued with the same [homestead protections] as the property itself,” thereby requiring compliance with sections 689.01 and 689.111, Florida Statutes (2019), for proper sale, alienation or devise. Appellant raises several arguments on appeal. Finding merit in Appellant’s arguments that sections 689.01’s and 689.111’s homestead protections are inapplicable to an assignment of post-loss insurance benefits, we reverse. Background  In early 2019, Edwin and Milena Masabanda’s (“the Insureds”) real property sustained damage from a covered peril....

...and cannot be divested by a homeowner through an unsecured agreement.” Insurer further contended, “[d]espite the lack of a secured agreement, the alleged [AOB was] not a proper conveyance of homestead property” because it did not comply with sections 689.01 and 689.111, Florida Statutes (2019). In response, Appellant filed an amended memorandum of law. According to Appellant, Quiroga was distinguishable “because it involved a charging lien imposed on proceeds from an insurance policy [and] not, like here, a voluntary transfer of benefits on the part of the [I]nsured[s].” Additionally, Appellant contended that sections 689.01 and 689.111 had “nothing to do with the assignment of benefits provided to [Appellant] by the Insureds ....

...trial court stated that such insulation could be “stripped or avoided only by proper procedure to create a secured interest in the insurance proceeds in favor of [Appellant].” And, because the Insureds did not execute the AOB in the manner which sections 689.01 and 689.111 prescribe, the trial court found dismissal appropriate....

...the benefit of the Citrus Contracting or Speed Dry decisions. Accordingly, because we find Speed Dry particularly persuasive, and because the former decisions are nonprecedential, we decline to follow those former decisions. B. Sections 689.01 and 689.111 Having determined that homestead exemptions have no application to the assignment of post-loss insurance benefits, we next address the applicability of sections 689.01 and 689.111, Florida Statutes (2019). Section 689.01 provides in pertinent part: No estate or interest of freehold, or for a of term of more than 1 year, or any uncertain interest of, in, or out of any messuages, lands, tenements,...

...oss insurance benefits. Further, while a statute’s title alone is not determinative, Fitts v. Furst, 283 So. 3d 833, 837 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019), section 689.01’s title is “How real estate [is] conveyed.” § 689.01, Fla. Stat. (2019). As for section 689.111, both that statute’s title and plain language clearly reference a conveyance of homestead realty. See § 689.111, Fla. Stat....

...Because “[a]n assignment of post-loss insurance benefits does not transfer title of real property . . . [but is instead] an assignment of contract rights that places a third party in the shoes of the homeowner and in privity with the insurance company,” Speed Dry, 302 So. 3d at 466, section 689.111 is inapplicable. Thus, whatever infirmities may or may not have existed with Appellant’s compliance with sections 689.01 and 689.111, because the AOB did not involve a transfer of real property or of homestead realty, Appellant was not required to comply with such statutes as part of the assignment of benefits at issue. Conclusion Pursu...

...not to be treated as impediments to the assignment of post-loss insurance benefits. Because those homestead protections are inapplicable and do not involve a transfer of real property, we further hold that Appellant’s purported noncompliance with sections 689.01 and 689.111 was immaterial....

...with the ownership of real property. For instance, Ch. 689, pertaining to conveyances of land and declarations of trust, expressly provides that a conveyance of land may be made by a duly authorized attorney or agent. See , s 689.06 , F.S. Section s 689.111 , F.S., provides that homestead realty owned by an unmarried person may be conveyed or mortgaged by virtue of a power of attorney, and that homestead realty owned by a married person or owned as an estate by the entirety may, with certain lim...

...It seems evident that the act of filing an application for homestead exemption is not as peculiarly personal in nature as the act of conveying the homestead property, which latter action may be executed by virtue of a power of attorney pursuant to express statutory authority. Section 689.111 , F.S....