Florida § 517.141 - Payment from the fund.

§ 517.141. Payment from the fund.

(1) As used in this section, the term: (a) “Claimant” means a person determined eligible for payment under s. 517.131 that is approved by the office for payment from the Securities Guaranty Fund. (b) “Final judgment” includes an arbitration award confirmed by a court of competent jurisdiction. (c) “Specified adult” has the same meaning as in s. 517.34(1). (2) A claimant is entitled to disbursement from the Securities Guaranty Fund in the amount equal to the lesser of: (a) The unsatisfied portion of the claimant’s final judgment or final order of restitution, but only to the extent that the final judgment or final order of restitution reflects actual or compensatory damages, excluding postjudgment interest, costs, and attorney fees; or (b)1. The sum of $15,000; or 2. If the claimant is a specified adult or if a specified adult is a beneficial owner or beneficiary of the claimant, the sum of $25,000. (3) Regardless of the number of claims or claimants involved, payments for claims are limited in the aggregate to $250,000 against any one person. If the total claim filed by a receiver on behalf of multiple claimants exceeds the aggregate limit of $250,000, the office must prorate the payment to each claimant based upon the ratio that each claimant’s individual claim bears to the total claim filed. (4) If at any time the balance in the Securities Guaranty Fund is insufficient to satisfy a valid claim or portion of a valid claim approved by the office, the office must satisfy the unpaid claim or portion of the valid claim as soon as a sufficient amount of money has been deposited into or transferred to the Securities Guaranty Fund. If more than one unsatisfied claim is outstanding, the claims must be paid in the sequence in which the claims were approved by final order of the office, which final order is not subject to an appeal or other pending proceeding. (5) All payments and disbursements made from the Securities Guaranty Fund must be made by the Chief Financial Officer, or his or her designee, upon authorization by the office. The office shall submit such authorization within 30 days after the approval of an eligible person for payment from the Securities Guaranty Fund. (6) Individual claims filed by persons owning the same joint account, or claims arising from any other type of account on which more than one name appears, must be treated as the claims of one eligible claimant with respect to payment from the Securities Guaranty Fund. If a claimant who has obtained a final judgment or final order of restitution that qualifies for disbursement under s. 517.131 has maintained more than one account with the person who is the subject of the claims, for purposes of disbursement of the Securities Guaranty Fund, all such accounts, whether joint or individual, must be considered as one account and entitle such claimant to only one distribution from the fund. To the extent that a claimant obtains more than one final judgment or final order of restitution against a person arising out of the same transactions, occurrences, or conduct or out of such person’s handling of the claimant’s account, the final judgments or final orders of restitution must be consolidated for purposes of this section and entitle the claimant to only one disbursement from the fund. (7) If the final judgment or final order of restitution that gave rise to the claim is overturned in any appeal or in any collateral proceeding, the claimant must reimburse the Securities Guaranty Fund all amounts paid from the fund to the claimant on the claim. If the claimant satisfies the final judgment or final order of restitution, the claimant must reimburse the Securities Guaranty Fund all amounts paid from the fund to the claimant on the claim. Such reimbursement must be paid to the Department of Financial Services within 60 days after the final resolution of the appellate or collateral proceedings or the satisfaction of the final judgment or order of restitution, with the 60-day period commencing on the date the final order or decision is entered in such proceedings. (8) If a claimant receives payments in excess of that which is permitted under this chapter, the claimant must reimburse the Securities Guaranty Fund such excess within 60 days after the claimant receives such excess payment or after the payment is determined to be in excess of that permitted by law, whichever is later. (9) A claimant who knowingly and willfully files or causes to be filed an application under s. 517.131 or documents supporting the application, any of which contain false, incomplete, or misleading information in any material aspect, forfeits all payments from the Securities Guaranty Fund and commits a violation of s. 517.301(1)(c). (10) The Department of Financial Services may institute legal proceedings to enforce compliance with this section and with s. 517.131 to recover moneys owed to the Securities Guaranty Fund, and is entitled to recover interest, costs, and attorney fees in any action brought pursuant to this section in which the department prevails.