You may have heard that there was recently an election held on November 3, 2020. As you reviewed your ballot in the state of Florida, you also noticed several amendments to be voted on. In particular, Amendment 5 has a direct impact on real estate. The exact amendment read as follows:
Limitations on Homestead Property Tax Assessments; increased portability period to transfer accrued benefit Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution, effective January 1, 2021, to increase, from 2 years to 3 years, the period of time during which accrued Save-Our-Homes benefits may be transferred from a prior homestead to a new homestead.
| A “yes” vote supports extending the period during which a person may transfer Save Our Homes benefits to a new homestead property from two years to three years. |
| A “no” vote opposes extending the period during which a person may transfer Save Our Homes benefits to a new homestead property from two years to three years. |
What were the results?
Florida voters overwhelmingly voted to support Amendment 5. Going into the election, if a person moved to a new home, they had two years to transfer their “Save our Homes” benefit to have the new home assessed “at less than just value.” The amendment was designed to increase that time period to three years rather than two. The final results were as follows:
Summary
In closing, this is a positive result for homeowners in Florida. In addition, the National Association of Realtors and Florida Association of Realtors were also in support of the amendment. It is critically important that homeowners that consider Florida as their primary residence, apply for the Homestead Exemption. We will cover this topic in a separate article.
