The Short And Tricky Statute Of Limitations Framework For Claims Under ILSA

The federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act ("ILSA") can fairly be described as a possible "land mine" for condominium developers, owing to the statute's poorly understood exemption provisions which can be and are subject to competing judicial interpretations. The ILSA exemption morass has been at least partly responsible for the large number of lawsuits which have been filed in recent months in Florida courts by buyers alleging claims under the statute in an effort to recover deposits paid under condo purchase agreements. However, ILSA is not just potentially treacherous from the developer's point of view. Indeed, the statute poses some significant perils for buyers who may have viable claims, and these pitfalls stem from ILSA's unusually short statute of limitations. In judicial parlance, a statute of limitations can sound a "death knell" to the claims of an unwitting plaintiff. See, e.g., Helton v. Clements, 832 F.2d 332, 336 (5th Cir. 1987).
Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:11:58 -0600