489.141  Conditions for recovery; eligibility.--

(1)  Any person is eligible to seek recovery from the Construction Industries Recovery Fund after having made a claim and exhausting the limits of any available bond, cash bond, surety, guarantee, warranty, letter of credit, or policy of insurance, if:

(a)  Such person has received final judgment in a court of competent jurisdiction in this state in any action wherein the cause of action was based on a construction contract or the Construction Industry Licensing Board has issued a final order directing the licensee to pay restitution to the claimant based upon a violation of s. 489.129(1)(d), (h), (k), or (l), where the contract was executed and the violation occurred on or after July 1, 1993, and provided that:

1.  At the time the action was commenced, such person gave notice thereof to the board by certified mail; except that, if no notice has been given to the board, the claim may still be honored if the board finds good cause to waive the notice requirement;

2.  Such person has caused to be issued a writ of execution upon such judgment, and the officer executing the writ has made a return showing that no personal or real property of the judgment debtor liable to be levied upon in satisfaction of the judgment can be found or that the amount realized on the sale of the judgment debtor's property pursuant to such execution was insufficient to satisfy the judgment; or

3.  If such person is unable to comply with subparagraph 2. for a valid reason to be determined by the board, such person has made all reasonable searches and inquiries to ascertain whether the judgment debtor is possessed of real or personal property or other assets subject to being sold or applied in satisfaction of the judgment and by his or her search has discovered no property or assets or has discovered property and assets and has taken all necessary action and proceedings for the application thereof to the judgment but the amount thereby realized was insufficient to satisfy the judgment; or

(b)  The claimant has made a diligent attempt, as defined by board rule, to collect the restitution awarded by the board; and

(c)  A claim for recovery is made within 2 years from the time of the act giving rise to the claim or within 2 years from the time the act is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence; however, in no event may a claim for recovery be made more than 4 years after the date of the act giving rise to the claim; and

(d)  Any amounts recovered by such person from the judgment debtor, or from any other source, have been applied to the damages awarded by the court or the amount of restitution ordered by the board; and

(e)  Such person is not a person who is precluded by this act from making a claim for recovery.

(2)  A person is not qualified to make a claim for recovery from the Construction Industries Recovery Fund, if:

(a)  The claimant is the spouse of the judgment debtor or a personal representative of such spouse;

(b)  The claimant is a certificateholder or registrant who acted as the contractor in the transaction which is the subject of the claim;

(c)  Such person's claim is based upon a construction contract in which the certificateholder or registrant was acting with respect to the property owned or controlled by the certificateholder or registrant;

(d)  Such person's claim is based upon a construction contract in which the contractor did not hold a valid and current license at the time of the construction contract; or

(e)  Such person was associated in a business relationship with the certificateholder or registrant other than the contract at issue.

(f)  Such person has suffered damages as the result of making improper payments to a contractor as defined in chapter 713, part I.