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HUMAN
RESOURCES
POLICIES
AND PROCEDURES
Business Ethics
Striking a balance
between integrity, professionalism and sensibility, client loyalty and
personal responsibility, our company adheres to a set of business and
ethics guidelines that it hopes will increase confidence in the company
and in its service agents by making it easier for our customers,
service providers and the public to understand what constitutes
unethical behavior, and for the company to fulfill its moral and legal
obligations.
Among the desires that we believe will enhance our
services is the fact that we self regulate our business and have
implemented very stringent requirements for our agents and
representatives in addition to the regulations stated herein. We
are very serious about these issues and enforce these policies and
regulations daily.
Considering your thoughts and our agents
vast opportunities, compiling the right staff is critical. When preparing
information or a list of professional references, we put our selves in
the shoes of a perspective client. In these paranoid times, with
liability law suits and other legal actions commonplace, companies must
protect themselves by hiring upstanding, trouble-free and competent
staff. At a minimum, we select people to provide professional services
to you from references that will be open to confirming their ethics and
background. They are also investigated thoroughly and asked other questions about their background,
including their level of responsibility and performance. In addition to
this, we also consider a
potential agent's personal issues and beliefs regarding many subjects.
These
regulations control those agents and representatives who provide services through our
company and accomplishes several things. It (a) requires certain
disclosures, (b) prohibits certain misstatements, (c) defines the
minimum kinds of services that must be provided by one who provides services through Florida
Homestead Services, LLC, (d) rigorously limits the statutory or other
fees that can be charged, and (e) requires agents to act in the best
interests of the client, to be truthful and factual, and to act at all
times beyond reproach in all communications and matters regarding
clients, potential clients, licensees, representatives or agents and
(e) requires agents and officers to act in the best interests of the
company, to be truthful and factual, and to act at all times beyond
reproach in all communications and matters to the company regarding
clients, and to adhere to all laws of the state and of the United Sates
at all times and be law abiding citizens.
Failure to act in the highest ethical manner, or violations
of any law or court decision will result in the termination of a
representative agent and possible subsequent causes of legal action
against the officer, representative or agent. These
rules are not all-inclusive, and the company has the right to act, as
it deems fit, in the best interests of the company and of our clients
at all times.
Below
is an abbreviated synopsis of our rules, regulations and standards of
practice...
Why Were These Regulations
Initiated, Drafted and Adopted by Florida Homestead Services, LLC?
These
regulations were adopted because some individuals providing improper or
non-licensed homestead
services were misrepresenting the company, the need for, or the
character of our services. A common misrepresentation is that a person
is an agent or employee of our company or that a recorded declaration
of homestead protects against enforcement measures by any and all creditors. In fact, filing a homestead declaration does not
protect against creditors whose claims are secured by a mortgage on the
property, or against businesses that have a ‘contractor’s’ lien on the
property as a result of providing services or improvements, or for
non-payment of property taxes and assessments. Also, a judgment lien against a
homestead is no 'removed', it is simply invalid against a home's
equity. Some unscrupulous
individuals and professionals alike, conceal the existence of the legal requirements of
homestead protection stating that it is automatic in order to sell
other legal services to those who do not really need them.
A brief excerpt of the company’s
stringent regulations follow:
Social Responsibility: The company can have a substantial impact
on the lives and well-being of all residents and citizens and therefore avoids doing
business with agents, representatives or partners who participate in illegal or unfair
labor or business practices, including illegal labor or child labor,
the payment of low wages, unsafe work environments, or ethnic, racial,
gender or sexual discrimination.
Executive Responsibility:
The company's officers shall be directly and wholly responsible for the
company's employees, agents, and actions, including but not limited to
financial activities and statements, extra-corporate agreements, and
product or service claims. The company will at all times adhere to, and
uphold the regulations provided to its officers and agents initiated
and published by the company.
Board of Directors:
The company's board of directors, acting in its fiduciary capacity on
behalf of all, shall be liable for all financial statements and ethics practices emanating
from the company.
Financial Deception: Purposely concealing or
misrepresenting the company's public information, or
misappropriating corporate funds for personal gain, is unethical and
will be punishable by law.
Investigatory Response: Employees or officers of
the company , if under criminal or civil investigation by any agency or
of the US, shall not destroy documents or data that could be construed
as pertinent to that investigation. Such
individuals shall be suspended or terminated from the company
based on the level of investigation or cause of action.
Defective or Deceptive Products, Services, Practices:
The company shall not knowingly produce or provide a defective product
or services so as not to be in material breach of ethical and legal
standards, causing the company or its clients to suffer appropriate
negative consequences. Agents will at all times practice business
beyond reproach and will adhere to the highest ethical standards
possible in all actions and communications with clients and in
representing the company. Agents shall not provide legal advice in any
communication with clients nor engage in any misrepresentation
whatsoever. Officers and agents will at all times uphold all legal and
fiduciary duties required by law and will at all times practice sound
business principles.
Unfair Trade Practices:
Any company that participates in unfair or deceptive trade, including
but not limited to coercing partners, suppliers, agents or distributors
into signing unethical agreements, forcing customers or clients to use
unwanted company products or services, or underselling in the market in
an attempt to starve out internal competition, shall be guilty of
anticompetitive practices and the company will not do business with
them.
Whistle-blowers: Employees who make allegations of illegality or indiscretion
against the company are protected by law and must not be harassed or
made to suffer economically or psychologically for their actions.
Standards of Practice - Representatives and Agents
Health and
Safety: Company and its agent's certify that workers will be
provided a safe and healthy working environment to prevent accidents
and injury to health arising out of, linked with, or occurring in the
course of work or as a result of the operation of agent facilities.
Environmental
Responsibility: The company has a moral and
legal obligation to protect and preserve the environment and should
ensure that our operations, and those of our partners, agents,
subsidiaries, and licensees, adhere to environmentally safe
practices.
Freedom of Association: Company certifies that employee' rights
to freedom of association will be recognized and respected.
Wages and Benefits: Company certifies that eligible
employees will be paid at least the minimum wage required by local law,
or the prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher.
Hours of Work/Overtime: Company certifies that it complies with
regulations concerning work hours mandated by local laws and uses
overtime only when employees are compensated according to local law.
Company further certifies that it won't allow employees to exceed the
maximum number of overtime hours provided by local law.
Environment: Company certifies that it complies with
applicable country, state, county and city environmental regulations.
Harassment
or Abuse: Company
certifies every employee, agent and customer or client shall be treated
respectfully
and dignity. No employee shall be subject to harassment or abuse.
Nondiscrimination: Company certifies that no person shall
be subject to any discrimination in employment, including hiring,
salary, benefits, advancement, discipline, termination or retirement,
on the basis of race, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual
orientation, nationality, political opinion, or social or ethnic origin.
Forced
Labor: Company
certifies that it will not use any forced labor - prison, indentured,
bonded or otherwise.
Child
Labor: Company
certifies that no person shall be employed at an age younger than the
law allows or younger than the age for completing compulsory education.
Documentation
and Inspection:
Company agrees to:
(A) Certify on an annual basis that each of the above listed Standards
are met.
(B) Consent to and permit annual inspections of each business by
company representatives.
(C) Maintain on file such documentation as may be needed to demonstrate
compliance with the company Standards of Practice.
(D) Make these documents available for audit inspection upon request.
(E) Provide employees with the opportunity to report noncompliance with
workplace standards & free from punishment or prejudice for so
doing.
(F) Post the Regulatory Standards in a common area accessible by all
employees.
Who is Subject
to this Regulation?
This
regulation controls the provision of homestead filing services and
applies to anyone who provides homestead filing services as an officer,
agent, licensee, referral agent or other service provider as defined by
the company. However, this regulation does not apply
to attorneys, law firms or to those who work under the direct
supervision of attorneys, with respect to paid legal services that are
provided to a client who has retained the attorney to provide those
services. Hence, once a homeowner hires an attorney to advise them
regarding a homestead, neither the kind of services that are furnished
by an attorney, nor the charges for those services are covered by this
regulation and we no longer represent that client.
What
Protections Does This Regulation Provide?
This regulation
may require that a homestead filing service agent or licensee, in the
event that the home office cannot accomplish the task, to handle the
entire task of completing and filing the homestead paperwork, including payment of all notary and county recording
fees as required. The regulation requires that the declaration of
homestead must be recorded in the appropriate county within 10 days
after it is signed before a notary public.
The regulation
limits the notary and recording fees that can be charged in addition to
the service fees. The fees may not be requested until after the
homestead declaration contract and limited power of attorney are
executed. This may mean that the amount that a client pays for a
homestead declaration will be paid to a company escrow, which will
disburse the funds to the homestead filing service provider only after
the homestead is executed or recorded.
To help assure
that homeowners are not mislead about the need for filing a homestead
declaration or the enormous protections that it provides, a homestead
filing service agent must include a prescribed disclosure in every
advertisement, promotional material and other offer made before the
time when the owner is obligated to pay for the service. In the case of
an oral solicitation or broadcast ad, the disclosure should be recited
at the beginning of the presentation. In the case of a printed ad or
other promotional material, the required disclosure must be printed.
This
regulation also prescribes the procedures by which someone who provides
homestead filing services is paid. The provider may not charge, demand,
or collect any money from the homeowner until after the homestead
contract and power of attorney is executed. Also,
the total amount charged, demanded, or collected by the provider for
all filing fees and notarization fees, may not
exceed the specified amount in addition to any service fee.
All officers,
agents and employees have
hereby agreed in writing to implement, abide by, adhere to and
maintain the rules, regulations and standards enumerated herein.
Read the full text of
this particular regulation
HERE.
Sources and
Enforcement
The homestead law
covers both tax related homesteads and declared homesteads. The law
that regulates homestead tax filing is regulated under Florida
Statutes, Title XIV and XV and any violation is a misdemeanor
punishable by up to one year in prison and or a five thousand dollar
fine. In addition, the attorney general or a district attorney, and
certain county attorneys, may recover a civil penalty for each
violation. Suits for an injunction prohibiting violations, and securing
restitution of amounts paid by client victims, may be maintained by
both law enforcement agencies and private parties. Agents are fully
responsible for any consequences of a tort or damages.
Should You File A Homestead Declaration?
The filing
of a declared homestead does indeed enormously add to the homestead and equity protection that the law
provides to all homeowners. While the typical homeowner need not file a
declared homestead to enjoy basic homestead protection, homeowners who
may be or are in financial trouble, or who expect to be in financial
trouble, probably should file a homestead declaration, just to be on the safe side.
Precautionary measures should always be taken by homeowners, especially
those with any amount of equity. The exemption of a homestead from ad
valorem taxation is quite a different thing from the exemption of a
homestead from seizure and sale for debts, and therefore homestead
issues and court decisions for tax purposes are not necessarily
relevant to issues and decisions for forced sale purposes, the
statutory provisions being entirely different.
The
following are some of the reasons that a homeowner who is or expects to
be in financial trouble should file a declared homestead and not rely
exclusively on the homestead tax exemption:
• The owner
who files a declared homestead can choose which of several different
residences will be protected.
• The
protection that is provided by a
declared homestead will continue to apply to that residence even if
the owner becomes deceased.
It will not apply to rental properties. If a declared homestead has not been recorded, the
homestead protection may be lost if the owner moves, rents or becomes
deceased.
• The
protection that is provided by a
declared homestead will apply to the proceeds
of a voluntary sale. If no declared homestead has
been recorded, the protection of the owner’s equity in a home may be
lost in the event of a voluntary or forced sale of the home or if a
judgment or lien exists. (This means that the proceeds of the voluntary
or forced sale of the home will go to the judgment creditor or
creditors rather than the owner).
• If a
declared
homestead has
been recorded, the law is clear
that the proceeds of sale can be used to purchase another house as a
homestead or be used for living expenses until purchase and the
property will be unencumbered.
• Only if a
declared homestead
has been
recorded will the proceeds of a voluntary sale assuredly be protected
after they are used to purchase another house; only then will the
protection given to the first house be carried over to the second in
regards to purchase funds.
• If a
declared
homestead has
been recorded, the law is clear
that the property cannot be forcefully sold to pay a debt, judgment,
levy or lien (if not a mortgage, tax or mechanic’s/construction lien),
and can be sold or contracted against within 45 days after filing the
declaration up to 180 days afterwards.
• If a
declared
homestead has
been recorded, the law is clear
that the home is protected unless abandoned (The legal definition of
abandonment consists of rental or moving to a new homestead).
Neither the
homestead tax exemption nor the declared homestead will protect a
homeowner against the loss of his or her home to a secured creditor --
such as the lender who has financed the original purchase, or a lender
who extended a second mortgage loan, or to a contractor, subcontractor
or laborer who has filed a valid claim of mechanic's lien for
improvements to the homestead or to a property tax lien or assessment.
The protections of both the declared and tax homesteads, however,
extend to most other kinds of creditors.
Homeowners who
are in financial trouble or those who expect that they may encounter
financial trouble should consult a qualified attorney for legal advice
on how to protect their home, as agents of Florida Homestead Services
cannot and shall not render any legal advice or engage in the practice
of law whatsoever.
Florida
Homestead Services,
LLC
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BECOME AN AGENT, PLEASE
CONTACT US!
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