Florida
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Taxing Times: A Primer on Your Florida Property Tax Bill
Florida, with its beautiful weather and sandy beaches, attracts not only tourists but also residents seeking a permanent paradise. Paradise comes with a price tag, though, and a significant portion of that tag is property taxes. As a Florida real estate attorney, I get many questions from clients about property taxes, especially deadlines, discounts, and…
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Selling Your Florida Home? Don’t Skip That HOA Payment!
As a real estate attorney handling closings right here in Florida, specifically in the Sarasota, Bradenton, and Lakewood Ranch area, I get this question a lot from sellers: “Should I pay my upcoming HOA assessment if I’m selling my house?” I understand why the question comes up. You’re focused on packing, finding your next home,…
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You Wouldn’t Sit On a One-Legged Stool
Preventing Wire Fraud in Real Estate Closings, Three Legs at a Time. In today’s digital age, the convenience and speed of electronic transactions have revolutionized many industries, and the real estate closing and title industry is no exception. However, this convenience has also opened the door to a growing number of scams, particularly wire fraud.…
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No Realistic Alternative
License plate readers, Article I, Section 23, and a question Florida answered in 19891 Most lawyers get them: the questions from friends and family at the weekend backyard barbecue, asking us to weigh in on whatever story is making headlines. Lately I’m getting a lot of questions about the license plate cameras that have been…
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How to Stop Junk Mail Addressed to a Deceased Loved One
When someone passes away, the family takes on a long list of tasks, and mail is usually near the top. You file a change of address, forward their mail to your own home, or ask the post office to hold it. Then the forwarded mail starts arriving, and it becomes clear how much of it…
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Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Means Test Median Family Income Levels By State, For Cases Filed On or After July 15, 2026
Below you will find the median family income levels utilized by the United States Trustee Program for means testing individuals who have filed for bankruptcy relief. Median income information is used in the means test utilized by bankruptcy courts when determining whether or not individuals qualify for relief under chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.…
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Dear Grads (2026): I Want to Believe
“Dear Grads” is a series I publish each spring for high school graduates. Consider it unsolicited advice from a lawyer who has been around long enough to know a few things — and young enough to still remember what it felt like not to. Growing up in the 1990s, Friday nights had a shape to…
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Article X, Section 4(c): The “Actually” Guy of Florida Real Estate Law
A version of this article appeared in the April 2026 issue of Elevate, the official newsletter of the Realtor Association of Sarasota Manatee. We all know an Actually Guy. He’s the one who corrects your pronunciation of “pho” and reminds you it’s just sparkling wine if it’s not from France. Florida real estate law has…
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Florida SB 1616: A Gift from Florida Legislators to The AI Industry
March 13, 2026 Update After this blog post was published, Senate Bill 1616 “died in judiciary” and so it was never voted on, and, of course, never became law. Good. Nevertheless, I’ve left the original blog post up as a reminder of what they tried to do. Remember When I Said We Need AI Regulation?…
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Why I’ve Stopped Feeding the Machines
If you’ve been a regular reader here, you’ve probably noticed my posting cadence has changed. Where I used to publish multiple times a month, it’s now sporadic at best—mostly thoughts on AI and what it’s doing to the world we used to know. This is a deliberate choice, and I feel that maybe I owe…