Property Owners And The 2018 Legislative Session By Barry Grooms So here we are half way through the 2018 legislative session and we are left wondering if anything is going to get done. Floridians are asking themselves what have the elected officials done to help property owners in our area. The answer is not as simple as one may think, you see the hundreds of bills that are filed are filled with special interest and “pork”. 2018 is an election year. Couple that with defect years because of the 2017 hurricanes and you come up with a conservative session. You […]
A Business World Massacre – What Can Happen When Government Needs A Scapegoat By Larry Katzen It remains one of the greatest travesties in the history of American business: In 2001, the 85,000 employees of one of the world’s largest accounting firms began losing their jobs in droves. Their employer had become tainted by its loose association with Enron Corp., a financial house of cards that was imploding and taking with it billions of dollars in employee pensions and shareholder investments. In 2002, accounting firm Arthur Andersen was convicted of charges related to Enron’s fraudulent practices. The charges had nothing […]
You Should Be Afraid, Very Afraid! By Barry Grooms Under all is the land and private property rights are considered the “American Dream”. The 5th Amendment protects property by stating, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, with out just compensation.” Our rights are something that most of citizens take for granted until it affects them directly and very few monitor the machine called legislation in Tallahassee. Year after year law makers and special interest strategize on legislation that may have adverse effect […]
Expert Witnesses And Causality By William Henry, PhD And Joellen Gill What is Causality and how do Expert Witnesses deal with it? The term refers to the reason something happened – the cause for it. Determining cause is like peeling an onion. For example, in a case were someone trips and falls and is injured there can be many contributors to the equation and different causes for different effects. For instance, who is the person injured and what are his or her characteristics? Old or young? Light or heavy? Good or not-so-good eye sight? Subject to seizures? Subject to losing […]
Taxing Matters For Non-Residents Who Own U.S. Real Estate By Patricia Tan What season Is it? Some might say “Spring” as temperatures are in the 70s, others may say “Tourist Season” as they sit patiently in heavy traffic, but as I write this article I am working on my annual accounts, so I would say “It’s Tax Season!” It is this time of year when I get questions from some of my overseas customers who are working on their tax returns too, and I thought it might be useful to spend a few minutes looking at how foreign real estate […]
ADA Testers And A Congressional Response By William Henry, PhD The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has spawned a cottage industry of testers and their lawyers who travel from site to site looking for nonconformities. The ADA is a Federal civil rights act, creating the right to bring discrimination suits with regard to persons encountering real or perceived barriers preventing them from fully using facilities. When issues are found they file suit. As with any activity of this type, some of the suits are legitimate and some are not. Florida and California are the two hottest spots in the Country […]
Less Is Better In The Housing World By William Henry, PhD Compare the 1959 Cadillac to the models of 2016. The name is the same but that’s about it. The new ones are much smaller and more sophisticated than the 1959 behemoth. Housing is following the same path. Smaller homes are becoming attractive to buyers and developers, and for some of the same reasons. There are over 70 million Baby Boomers in this country with their successors close on their heels. And then there are the young, first time home buyers – together these two demographic groups seem to be […]
The Architect’s Role In Construction By William Henry, PhD The public’s perception of an architect is often quite simple. Of course the real world can be quite different than traditional perceptions. The simplest perception of an architect is a person hired to design a structure by the future structure’s owner, who also hires a contractor to undertake its construction. There are situations in which this perception is totally accurate, but generally only in the simplest situations such as a party desiring to build a home or place of business. However, many projects are much more complex. Commercial projects can involve […]
Required Procedures In Florida For Dealing With Design And Construction Defects By William Henry, PhD The Florida Legislature has created a mandatory method to resolve construction disputes with idea that it would reduce the need for litigation as well as protect the rights of property owners. It requires that a property owner file a notice of claim with the contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or design professional that he or she asserts is responsible for design or construction defects. It provides the contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or design professional, and their insurers an opportunity to resolve the claim through confidential settlement negotiations without […]
Just How Litigious Is The State Of Florida? By William Henry, PhD One might look at the title of this article and see the question only as asking how many cases of a given type are filed in the State of Florida each year. While that is a valid interpretation, another might see it as asking about Florida’s overall environment for filing certain lawsuits and the price it pays for its legal system. To begin, perhaps a comparison of two states having similar populations and location – Florida and Texas – might be of help. A website entitled The Last […]
The ADA – Americans With Disabilities Act Making Life Better And More Complex By William Henry, PhD The Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) is an “equal opportunity” law for people with disabilities. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H.W. Bush. The ADA is one of America’s most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation. It prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life – to enjoy employment opportunities, to purchase goods and services, and to participate in State and […]
Can An Expert Help You Assess The Causes Of A Fall? By William Henry, PhD In many slip and fall cases there are multiple aspects of a site that contribute to the accident and resulting injury. Can an expert help you assess how the physical conditions contributed to the accident? The answer is, YES. Consider a typical hypothetical fact situation. Let us assume that a young lady and her husband go to see a movie at the local multiplex. As she climbs the stairway to her seat her foot slips off the front edge of a step and she falls […]
Collection Of Accident Scene Evidence By William Henry, PhD In a perfect world no one would ever be injured as the result of the negligence of another person. In a nearly perfect world one who is injured would always have the presence of mind to instantly collect all of the relevant information immediately after being injured – even before leaving the scene. The dilemma is this: someone is hurt on someone else’s property; the injured party is in pain and not thinking clearly and is certainly not thinking about preserving and collecting evidence; and those responsible for the property where […]
Does Title Insurance Really Protect a Property Owner from Zoning Issues? By William Henry, PhD Title Insurance is a policy to protect and/or indemnify against loss or damage resulting from defects in the title and deed to the property. What does Title insurance cover? The basic title insurance policy that is not “overly endorsed” includes the following: 1) Representation as to the actual owners of the property, 2) Representation that the property is free of encumbrances, i.e. other mortgage liens, mechanics liens, and potential claims that have not been recorded, and 3) Representation that there is access to the property […]
Regulation Of Florida Water Parks Are You At Risk For Injury? By William Henry, PhD Florida is the home of a large number of water parks. Given its name– the entity that regulates water parks may seem surprising to you. How does the regulation of Florida recreational theme parks that feature water oriented rides impact safety or lack thereof and –ultimately personal injury? The Florida Legislature has recognized in Section 616.242 of the Florida Statutes the necessity of regulating amusement rides within the State. Exempt from the statute for inspection purposes are: Permanent facilities that employ at least 1,000 full-time […]
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
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