Boating Industry Intelligence You Can Profit From
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After months of lobbying by the Florida Yacht Brokers Association, the Marine Industries association of South Florida, and the Marine Industries Association of Florida, the Florida Legislature agreed Saturday not to repeal the Florida Yacht & Ship Brokers Act.
“The Licensing and regulations that have successfully protected buyers, sellers and brokers since 1988 remain intact,” the Florida Yacht Brokers Association said in a statement. “Customer’s escrow accounts will continue to be protected by licensed and bonded Florida Yacht and Ship Brokers.”
The arguments made by the groups in support of the act were as follows:
— The Florida Yacht & Ship Brokers Act protects buyers, sellers and brokers by insuring that all Florida Yacht Brokers are licensed, bonded and adhere to the highest professional standards.
— The Florida Yacht & Ship Brokers Act has consistently run annual surpluses, costing the state and taxpayers nothing to operate while Yacht Brokers funnel millions of tax dollars each year to state coffers.
— Florida’s Yacht Brokerage industry supports more 202,000 jobs and generates an estimated $16.8 billion in total marine product sales throughout Florida’s marine industry.
— Like realtors, Yacht Brokers also regularly work with other brokers across the state, nation and internationally, sharing commissions in the process. They also collect, hold and distribute large sums of money from clients, which are held in escrow accounts and are controlled by individual Yacht Brokerage offices.
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