Question 1

Is Florida still charging sales tax on commercial rent?

Accepted Answer

No. It is repealed, and most competitor pages have not caught up. HB 7031, signed on June 30, 2025, repealed section 212.031, the sales tax on commercial rent, effective October 1, 2025, county discretionary surtax included. The repeal keys to the occupancy period, so rent for occupancy before that date remains taxable whenever it is paid. For a bridge borrower this is not trivia. It removes a line from every Florida commercial tenant's total occupancy cost, which changes what the market will bear on gross rent and therefore what a stabilised NOI can support at takeout. If your model still carries the rent tax, it is understating what the asset can do. Three concordant law-firm analyses back the effective date. Have your Florida CPA confirm your own lease periods.

Question 2

What does a Florida bridge loan cost to record?

Accepted Answer

0.55 percent of the loan amount, uncapped, at recording. Mortgage stamps at 35 cents per $100 under section 201.08 plus the nonrecurring intangible tax at 2 mills under section 199.133. On a $6,000,000 Florida bridge that is $33,000 due at closing (6,000,000 x 0.55% = 33,000). Two consequences specific to bridge debt. First, the $2,450 cap you may have read about covers notes, not recorded mortgages, so it does not help you at size. Second, the tax is on the instrument, not on time outstanding: a 24-month bridge pays the same rate as a 30-year permanent loan, and then the takeout mortgage pays it again. That is a real argument for sizing the bridge tightly and for deciding the takeout channel before you record. Subject to underwriting.

Question 3

Is there a rate ceiling on a Florida commercial bridge loan?

Accepted Answer

Yes, 25 percent above $500,000, and there is no entity carve-out. Chapter 687 caps by loan size rather than borrower type: section 687.03(1) sets 18 percent at or below $500,000, and above that the ceiling is the section 687.071 rate of 25 percent. Titling in an LLC does not lift it the way it does in some states. Section 687.071(2) makes 25 to 45 percent a second-degree misdemeanour and 687.071(7) provides that credit extended in violation is not an enforceable debt, so this is a hard boundary rather than a pricing consideration. Points and fees count under section 687.03(3), valued at receipt and spread across the stated term. We have not verified how Florida case law treats default interest in that computation, so we will not publish a default-rate ceiling.

Question 4

How does judicial foreclosure change the risk picture on a Florida bridge?

Accepted Answer

Slower to start, cleaner to finish. Chapter 702 makes every Florida foreclosure judicial, with no commercial exception and no power of sale. We will not publish a Florida day count, because no reliable series exists, but the process is materially slower than a deed-of-trust state. Three things run the other way. Section 45.0315 allows a cure only until the certificate of sale is filed or the date the judgment sets, and otherwise there is no right of redemption. Section 702.10 provides an order-to-show-cause track, with its payment-into-court remedy expressly not applying to an owner-occupied residence. And under section 702.06 the fair-market-value ceiling on a deficiency applies only to owner-occupied residential property, so an investment-property deficiency carries no statutory value cap. Speed at the front, finality at the back.

Question 5

Does Florida lending law reach a commercial bridge loan to my LLC?

Accepted Answer

It can, and this is where the Texas rule misleads people. Section 494.001(25)(b) reaches a loan on commercial real property if the borrower is an individual or the lender is a noninstitutional investor, and limb (c) reaches five-plus-unit property on the same terms. Neither limb has a purpose test, so business purpose alone does not take a Florida commercial loan outside Chapter 494. Section 494.001(14) defines institutional investor broadly, and section 494.001(28) makes everyone else a noninstitutional investor. Our licensing is handled. The one instruction that follows for you is title Florida commercial deals in an entity, not personally. Note also that "commercial real property" is not defined anywhere in section 494.001, so we do not claim that non-owner-occupied 1-4 unit lending sits outside the chapter. Ask your attorney.

Question 6

Do I need the balloon legend on a Florida bridge mortgage?

Accepted Answer

On a first-position bridge, no, and the exemption is worth understanding. Section 697.05 requires a conspicuous legend on a Florida mortgage whose final payment exceeds twice a regular periodic payment, at the top of page one and above the mortgagor's signature. If it is omitted, the maturity date automatically extends until paid and the loan becomes prepayable without penalty, which is an accidental term extension no bridge lender wants. Subsection (4) exempts first mortgages, interest-only mortgages with principal due at maturity, terms of five years or more, and credit exceeding $500,000. An interest-only first-position bridge above $500,000 is exempt three times over. The exposure case is a second-position Florida loan under $500,000 with amortising payments and a short balloon. If that is your structure, get counsel on the legend before recording.

Question 7

Which Florida commercial markets are you seeing bridge demand in?

Accepted Answer

Market conditions are metro work and the metro pages carry them. Vacancy, absorption, and cap rates move by submarket; the tax and foreclosure regime does not. For local conditions, read Miami commercial bridge, Tampa, Orlando, or West Palm Beach. What follows you into all of them: the commercial rent tax is gone as of October 1, 2025; the 10 percent assessment cap in section 193.1555 covers everything other than nine-or-fewer-unit residential but excludes school district levies; and that cap resets on the cumulative transfer of more than 50 percent of the ownership of the owning entity, not just on a deed. Bring the rent roll and the trailing financials and we will size it.

Question 8

What credit score do I need for a Florida bridge loan?

Accepted Answer

There is no minimum score on this program. Bridge is asset-based, so we run credit but it carries far less weight than it would at a bank. The file turns on the asset, the business plan, and the exit. Weaker credit is usually answered with lower leverage rather than a decline, and there is no hard credit pull to start. On residential bridge, expect 5 to 7 days. Subject to underwriting.

Question 9

How much equity do I need on a Florida commercial bridge?

Accepted Answer

Twenty-five percent, because we go up to 75% LTV. On a $4,000,000 Florida asset that is $3,000,000 from us and $1,000,000 from you (4,000,000 x 75% = 3,000,000). The facility runs to $10,000,000, interest-only, on terms out to 24 to 36 months. Add the Florida recording tax of 0.55 percent on the loan, which on that $3,000,000 is $16,500 (3,000,000 x 0.55% = 16,500). Subject to underwriting.

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