🙌 Trust This. Supremes Speak, Rates Peak, and our Family Boutique

• REALTORs and the Florida Apartment Association sued, saying that the ordinance violated a statutory requirement for a housing emergency before an ordinance like it could be passed.

• The trial judge agreed with the county commissioners and let it go on the ballot to see what the voters wanted to do.

• The vote was held, and voters approved.

• The court of appeals said it should never have been on the ballot and sent it back to the trial judge to enter an order to that effect.

• The trial judge then ordered Orange County’s Supervisor of Elections not to certify the results of the vote, nullifying it.

• The county appealed to the Supreme Court, whose justices decided to let the ruling stand without hearing and then stated that no requests for rehearing would be entertained. In other words: “You’re done. Go away.”

• Condo owners’ monthly assessments are increasing astronomically to pay for their association’s buildings and common areas insurance.

• Citizens on fixed incomes take out home equity loans and tap their 401K’s to pay premiums.

• Some are still facing open claims after Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. They have no insurance coverage now that their insurer is insolvent, and they can’t get a new policy because they have an open claim. A Catch-22.

• Others are taking out personal loans to replace their roof so they can maintain coverage, or they’re contemplating leaving Florida.

1. An Osceola County mortgage loan officer is facing 30 years in prison after a federal jury found her guilty of — among other things — forging judges’ signatures on fake court orders to get loans approved. The Legal Description

2. Foreclosures jumped to 65,000 new filings in the first quarter. Is it a sign of a flood to come? REALTOR

3. In Tampa, Millennial homeowners (finally) outnumber renters. Axios Tampa Bay

4. The U.S. has a manufacturing real estate problem because there are too few open spaces where it’s viable to plop down a multi-billion-dollar plant. Reuters

5. Orlando home sales rose 31.1% between February and March, and inventory increased by 22.1% in the same time period. Looks like the Spring sales season has begun. Orlando Sentinel

• Mark wrote the first book on Florida land trusts in 1984, now in its 10th edition, and founded Land Trust Service Corporation in 1998.

• I founded TRSTE, LLC a few years later in 2004.

• We met each other formally during our service on the Florida Bar’s Land Trust Subcommittee of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section in the mid-2000’s.

• We worked together on that committee to help draft and pass the last two major overhauls of the current Florida Statutes that govern land trusts.

• As attorneys with a lot of land trust and LLC experience under our belts, working together is a natural fit.

Mark: Alexandra and I are very thankful for our clients and have been enriched to serve real estate investors, developers, and owners who treasure their anonymity, entrusting us to protect that confidentiality for over 25 years. We are happy to have someone as knowledgeable and experienced as Joe to continue and modernize our services.

Joe: I’m honored that Mark, my land trust guru and sounding board over the years, has the trust and confidence in our crew to handle the daily operations for LTSC’s trust and LLC formation and administration services. We look forward to providing all of our clients world-class, white-glove services for years to come.

• We are happy to execute most documents, including trust agreements, electronically and will sign all purchase contracts and leases on behalf of trusts to protect the beneficiaries’ identities, returning them via e-mail within one business day of receipt.

• We don’t charge extra for signing documents. The annual trustee fee covers the signing of as many documents as requested each year.

• We will accept most e-mail directions to trustee without the need to print a form, complete it, sign it, and scan it back.

• We can record deeds and other official records electronically in our office when requested.

• The combined crew of the new organization is extensively experienced in real estate title and closings. As such, in addition handling all notarizations in-house five days a week for no additional fees, we also “speak their language” and have gotten high marks from title agencies all over Florida for our efficiency and knowledge in coordinating real estate closings involving land trusts. We have great relationships with several title agencies with deep experience in working with land trusts, and we’re happy to coordinate closing services for our Trust and LLC clients.

• We don’t charge extra for receiving and forwarding certified mail, and we will forward most received notices to clients by electronic mail to save time.

• The organization will continue to be powered by attorneys, like Mark, who have extensive experience and deep knowledge of real estate and LLC laws in multiple jurisdictions.

• The company will offer to LTSC clients a trust bank account where funds from closings can be deposited and then wired out to the beneficiaries to protect their anonymity further.

• All of LTSC’s physical files are being scanned into machine-searchable formats so we can locate information more quickly from anywhere over secure encrypted channels.

• Over the next year, we will implement new technology to give clients 24/7 access to their files over encrypted connections through any web browser, together with the ability to order new trusts, text us, and pay invoices online.

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