2023 Florida Statutes › Title XIX - Public Business › Chapter 286 - Public Business: Miscellaneous Provisions › 286.23 - Real Property Conveyed to Public Agency; Disclosure of Beneficial Interests; Notice; Exemptions.

286.23 Real property conveyed to public agency; disclosure of beneficial interests; notice; exemptions.—
(1) Any person or entity holding real property in the form of a partnership, limited partnership, corporation, trust, or any form of representative capacity whatsoever for others, except as otherwise provided in this section, shall, before entering into any contract whereby such real property held in representative capacity is sold, leased, taken by eminent domain, or otherwise conveyed to the state or any local governmental unit, or an agency of either, make a public disclosure in writing, under oath and subject to the penalties prescribed for perjury, which shall state his or her name and address and the name and address of every person having a beneficial interest in the real property, however small or minimal. This written disclosure shall be made to the chief officer, or to his or her officially designated representative, of the state, local governmental unit, or agency of either, with which the transaction is made at least 10 days prior to the time of closing or, in the case of an eminent domain taking, within 48 hours after the time when the required sum is deposited in the registry of the court. Notice of the deposit shall be made to the person or entity by registered or certified mail before the 48-hour period begins.
(2) The state or local governmental unit, or an agency of either, shall send written notice by registered mail to the person required to make disclosures under this section, prior to the time when such disclosures are required to be made, which written request shall also inform the person required to make such disclosure that such disclosure must be made under oath, subject to the penalties prescribed for perjury.
(3)(a) The beneficial interest in any entity registered with the Federal Securities Exchange Commission or registered pursuant to chapter 517, whose interest is for sale to the general public, is hereby exempt from the provisions of this section. When disclosure of persons having beneficial interests in nonpublic entities is required, the entity or person shall not be required by the provisions of this section to disclose persons or entities holding less than 5 percent of the beneficial interest in the disclosing entity.
(b) In the case of an eminent domain taking, any entity or person other than a public officer or public employee, holding real property in the form of a trust which was created more than 3 years prior to the deposit of the required sum in the registry of the court, is hereby exempt from the provisions of this section. However, in order to qualify for the exemption set forth in this section, the trustee of such trust shall be required to certify within 48 hours after such deposit, under penalty of perjury, that no public officer or public employee has any beneficial interest whatsoever in such trust. Disclosure of any changes in the trust instrument or of persons having beneficial interest in the trust shall be made if such changes occurred during the 3 years prior to the deposit of said sum in the registry of the court.
(4) This section shall be liberally construed to accomplish the purpose of requiring the identification of the actual parties benefiting from any transaction with a governmental unit or agency involving the procurement of the ownership or use of property by such governmental unit or agency.
History.—ss. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ch. 74-174; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 72, ch. 86-186; s. 7, ch. 91-56; s. 212, ch. 95-148.