Opinion ID: 2542857
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: What Are the Benefits?

Text: Section 222.25(4) expressly states that the benefits are those of the homestead exemption of article X, section 4 of this state's constitution. As we have previously stated, with three express exceptions this constitutional homestead exemption protects a person's homestead against forced sale and levy. See art. X, § 4, Fla. Const. Thus, the protection of the homestead from creditors constitutes the only benefits of the article X homestead exemption. See In re Abbott, 408 B.R. at 908 (The benefits contemplated under the statute are those derived from the constitutional homestead exemption, i.e., protecting the home from forced sale by creditors.). The express limitation of benefits to this constitutional provision necessarily excludes other constitutional or statutory tax exemptions related to one's homestead, see art. VII, § 6, Fla. Const., and any other advantages of owning or occupying a home. See Moonlit Waters Apartments, Inc. v. Cauley, 666 So.2d 898, 900 (Fla.1996) (stating statutory construction principle of expressio unius est exclusio alterius, i.e., the mention of one thing implies the exclusion of another). Several of the federal bankruptcy courts reached this same conclusion based on the limiting language within the statute. See, e.g., In re Bennett, 395 B.R. at 788 (Whether a debtor has equity in the property, lives in the home, or enjoys any other types of tax benefits has no relevance to the question of whether a debtor receives the benefits of the Florida Homestead Exemption.); In re Hernandez, 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. at B300 (If the legislature meant to exclude from the Statutory Personal Property Exemption all homeowners who owned homes on the petition date which met the constitutional definition of a homestead, the statute could have plainly and easily been written to exclude all individuals owning homes eligible for the constitutional exemption. That, of course, is not what the statute says. Rather, it excludes only those who receive the benefits of the constitutional exemption.); In re Gatto, 380 B.R. 88, 93 (Bankr.M.D.Fla. 2007) ([The Trustees] point to benefits that are incidental to the ownership of a home such as the acquisition of owner's equity, the ability to deduct mortgage interest, and the exemption and cap on real estate taxes. None of these benefits derive from the exemption for a homestead from the reach of creditors under section 4, article X of the Florida Constitution.).