FREEDOM PROPERTIES, D/B/A UNIVERSITY VILLAGE AND THE FOLLOWING RESIDENTS OF UNIVERSITY VILLAGE: INA ABBOUD, ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
RONALD ALDERMAN, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISER, APPELLEE
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Freedom Properties and University Village residents appealed a dismissal of their declaratory relief action seeking homestead exemptions on property at a for-profit continuing care retirement facility. The court affirmed the dismissal, holding that residents lack legal or equitable title to real estate necessary to claim homestead exemptions under the Florida Constitution.
The court held that the residents of University Village do not have legal or equitable title to any real estate necessary to qualify for homestead exemptions under article VII, section 6 of the Florida Constitution. Even assuming section 196.041(2) provides a more generous exemption for beneficial interests for life, nothing in the residents' agreement or allegations entitled them to claim such an exemption.
[1] A resident of a retirement center operating under a life-care residency agreement, which grants only a license to occupy a room and disclaims any proprietary interest in…
[2] A "beneficial interest for life" under a statute permitting homestead exemptions does not encompass a mere license to occupy property without any legal or equitable title…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The Resident shall not have any proprietary (ownership) interest in the University Village Property, or other assets or properties of University Village by virtue of this Agreement”
Establishes that the contract explicitly denied residents any ownership interest in the property
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceUniversity Village is a for-profit retirement center that enters into Life-Care Residency and Care Agreements with residents. Under these continuing c…
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ALTENBERND, Judge.
The plaintiffs, Freedom Properties, d/b/a University Village, and various resi dents of University Village, appeal the dismissal of their complaint for declaratory relief against the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser. We affirm because the various residents of this retirement center do not have legal or equitable title to any real estate for which they are entitled to homestead exemptions under article VII, section 6, Florida Constitution (1980).
University Village is a retirement center which enters into “Life-Care Residency and Care Agreements” with its numerous residents. These agreements are continuing care contracts under chapter 651, Florida Statutes. University Village operates for profit. Cf. § 196.1975, Fla.Stat. (1989) (providing an exemption for property used by a nonprofit home for the aged). Although some continuing care facilities provide residents with a transferable membership or ownership right in the facility, it is undisputed that the residents of University Village have no such right. See § 651.-055(l)(g), Fla.Stat. (1989).
Under the standard contract between University Village and its residents, a resident does not have a legal or equitable life estate in any portion of the University Village real property. The agreement specifically states that: “The Resident shall not have any proprietary (ownership) interest in the University Village Property, or other assets or properties of University Village by virtue of this Agreement” (emphasis original). The resident is merely given a “license to occupy a room within the University Village Property.” This right is subject to termination by University Village for many reasons in addition to the resident’s death.
The plaintiffs argue that the legislature has provided an exemption more generous than that contained in the constitution because section 196.041(2), Florida Statutes (1989), permits an exemption for a “beneficial interest for life.” Assuming, merely for the sake of argument, that the legislature intended this statute to be more extensive than the constitution and further assuming that the legislature had such authority, we find nothing in the agreement or within the plaintiffs’ allegations which would entitle the residents under the language of the statute to claim a homestead exemption on any portion of this property.
Affirmed.
FRANK, A.C.J., and PARKER, J„ concur.
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Ribaya v. The Bd. of Trs. of the City Pension Fund for Firefighters & Police Officers in the City of Tampa, 162 So. 3d 348 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015)…by the statute. . Unlike a summary judgment, it may be possible for a trial court to make a discretionary decision to dismiss an action for lack of a bona fide dispute or need even if some factual dispute exists. . Freedom Properties v. Alderman, 589 So. 2d 424 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), is a case in which the trial court appropriately ordered dismissal based on well-established law. In Alderman, this court affirmed the dismissal of a complaint seeking a declaration of entitlement to homestead exemptions where th…