Question 1

Why does a Florida assessment reset hurt more across a portfolio?

Accepted Answer

Because every door you bought in the same year steps up in the same tax year. Sections 193.1554 and 193.1555 cap annual reassessment increases at 10 percent, but both reset the capped value on any sale, foreclosure, or transfer of legal or beneficial title, so the first full year after acquisition is assessed at just value with no carryover from the seller. On one rental that is a line item. On a ten-door pool assembled over two seasons, it is a coordinated jump in debt service coverage. We size Florida portfolio debt on the go-forward assessed bill, not the seller's. Assessment date is January 1 across the state, so the timing is uniform even when the counties are not.

Question 2

Can I bring in a partner at the LLC level without touching the tax basis?

Accepted Answer

Not past the halfway line. Both sections 193.1554 and 193.1555 define the reset trigger to include the cumulative transfer of control, or of more than 50 percent of the ownership of the legal entity, not just a deed. So selling more than half the membership interests in the owning LLC resets the capped value exactly as selling the property would. Section 201.02(1)(b) runs a parallel rule on the transaction tax side: where property is conveyed to a conduit entity and the grantor's interest is later transferred for consideration within three years, deed stamps apply at 70 cents per $100 on that transfer. On a portfolio you plan to syndicate or recapitalise, both of these belong in the model before the term sheet. Take the structure to your Florida attorney and CPA.

Question 3

Does the 10 percent cap protect a Florida rental pool?

Accepted Answer

Partly, and less than the headline suggests. Sections 193.1554(3) and 193.1555(3) both apply the 10 percent limit for all levies other than school district levies, and school millage is usually the single largest component of a Florida tax bill. Across a portfolio that gap is not a rounding error. Note also which section governs which asset: 193.1554 covers residential property with nine or fewer dwelling units, including vacant residentially zoned land, and 193.1555 covers everything else, so a 12-unit building in your pool sits under a different section than the single-family doors. Both cap at 10 percent and both exclude school levies. Millage stacks themselves are county work, so ask us about the counties your parcels sit in.

Question 4

Is there a portfolio-wide way to cut the Florida tax line?

Accepted Answer

Two, and both are calendar discipline rather than strategy. First, section 197.162 discounts the annual bill 4 percent in November, 3 percent in December, 2 percent in January, 1 percent in February, and zero in March. On a pool carrying $60,000 of annual property tax, paying in November instead of March saves $2,400 (60,000 x 4% = 2,400). Write it into the escrow instruction rather than leaving it to a servicer default. Second, section 194.011(3)(d) allows a Value Adjustment Board petition on or before the 25th day following the mailing of the TRIM notice. Across several counties those notices arrive on different days in August, so assign the watch to a person. Unpaid taxes become a tax certificate auctioned under section 197.432, which is not a position to be in on leveraged doors.

Question 5

What changes at closing when a Florida pool spans several counties?

Accepted Answer

Not the title premium, and yes the custom around it. Section 627.782 requires the state to set title insurance premiums and provides that the rates apply throughout Florida, so the premium on a given policy amount is identical everywhere and there is nothing to shop on price. What varies is who customarily pays for the owner's policy, which is county custom rather than law: buyer in Miami-Dade, Broward, Sarasota, and Collier; seller in most of the rest. So doors in Miami and Fort Lauderdale allocate differently from doors in Tampa, Orlando, or Jacksonville on identical contract language. Recording is per parcel at $5.00 for the first page and $4.00 per additional page under section 28.24(13), plus 0.55 percent on the recorded loan.

Question 6

What happens if a Florida portfolio loan goes into default?

Accepted Answer

It goes through the courts, one case, and there is no post-sale redemption. Chapter 702 makes Florida judicial for commercial and investment property alike, with no power of sale, so the front end runs slower than a deed-of-trust state. We will not publish a Florida day count, because no reliable series exists. Section 45.031 then sets a tight back end: the clerk sells not less than 20 and not more than 35 days after final judgment, the winning bidder posts a 5 percent deposit, objections are due within 10 days of the certificate of sale, and title passes. Under section 45.0315 a cure is available only until the certificate of sale is filed or the date the judgment sets, and otherwise there is no right of redemption at all. That finality is the reason a Florida pool prices differently than the slow start suggests.

Question 7

How many Florida doors do I need before a portfolio loan makes sense?

Accepted Answer

Five or more properties. Below that we would write them individually. At five and up, a blanket structure collapses the file into a single consolidated payment, which is the practical reason most Florida holders move to it. Terms are custom, sized to the portfolio rather than read off a rate sheet. Subject to underwriting.

Question 8

Is there a minimum loan size on a Florida portfolio loan?

Accepted Answer

$500,000 and up. That is the whole facility, not a per-property minimum, so a group of modest Florida rentals clears it easily at five or more doors. $500,000 is also the Florida usury line, where the ceiling steps from 18 percent to 25 percent under sections 687.03 and 687.071, so a facility at or above it sits on the other side of that boundary. Subject to underwriting.

Question 9

Can I sell one property out of a Florida blanket loan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Individual property release is part of the structure. You can sell or refinance a single Florida door out of the blanket without unwinding the whole loan. Release terms are set with the rest of the custom term at closing, so raise it before you sign rather than once you have a contract. Remember that each new recorded mortgage on the replacement or refinance pays the 0.55 percent Florida loan tax again. Subject to underwriting.

Portfolio Loans in Florida

How it works

Run your Portfolio Loans numbers.

Portfolio Loans in Florida, answered.

More Portfolio Loans questions, answered on the program page

Guides for Portfolio Loans

Portfolio Loans vs. other options

Other programs in Florida

Funding Florida deals fast.