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Florida guaranty guide

Personal Guaranty Guide for Florida

A borrower-focused guide to Florida guaranty risk, SBA guarantee documents, and homestead-aware collateral review.

Last reviewed: May 26, 2026 by the BizLeaseCheck Editorial Team

General information, not legal or financial advice.

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Overview

Florida guaranties show up in commercial leases, acquisition financing, and SBA loan packages. Review the document for unlimited liability, future advances, waivers of defenses, collateral assignments, and any attempt to shortcut court process.

Florida has strong constitutional homestead protection, but guarantors can still create risk through consensual collateral documents, business assets, bank accounts, non-homestead real estate, and broad fee/collection clauses.

Enforceability topics to check

Confession of judgment / cognovitHigh confidence

Florida Statutes § 55.05 says powers of attorney to confess judgment before an action is brought are null and void. Still, any cognovit-style clause should be removed or reviewed because documents sometimes use adjacent waiver wording.

Florida Statutes § 55.05
Deficiency judgments after collateral saleMedium confidence

Florida deficiency and judgment-collection rules depend on the collateral and proceeding. A guarantor should preserve valuation, commercial-reasonableness, notice, and waiver arguments with Florida counsel.

Florida Statutes Chapter 55 — judgments
Spousal signature and ECOAHigh confidence

Florida is not a community-property state. ECOA / Regulation B limits when a creditor can require a spouse or additional party to sign; spousal signature requests should be tied to credit support or collateral rights, not marital status alone.

CFPB Regulation B / ECOA
Statute of limitationsHigh confidence

Florida generally provides five years for a legal or equitable action on a contract, obligation, or liability founded on a written instrument, subject to exceptions, accrual rules, and guaranty-specific demand language.

Florida Statutes § 95.11
Homestead exemptionHigh confidence

Florida Constitution Article X, Section 4 protects qualifying homestead property from forced sale, with exceptions. This does not make every collateral pledge safe or every judgment uncollectible.

Florida Constitution, Article X, Section 4

Borrower protections to negotiate

  • Refuse or strike any power-of-attorney-to-confess-judgment wording.
  • Do not pledge homestead-adjacent collateral without Florida counsel reviewing constitutional and mortgage documents.
  • Limit guaranty scope to a stated principal amount, date range, or collateral shortfall.
  • Exclude life-insurance collateral assignment unless it is truly required and release mechanics are written.
  • Preserve notice and commercially reasonable sale protections for UCC collateral.

Official resources

SBA Form 148 — Unconditional Guarantee SBA SOP 50 10 — Lender and Development Company Loan Programs 13 CFR § 120.160 — SBA loan conditions CFPB Regulation B / ECOA — 12 CFR Part 1002 Florida Statutes § 55.05 — power of attorney to confess judgment invalid Florida Statutes § 95.11 — limitations Florida Constitution Article X, Section 4 — homestead

Legal-review notes

Guide confidence marker: Medium confidence.

  • Verify Florida homestead collateral exceptions before making any asset-protection claims in ads.
  • Have Florida counsel review deficiency and UCC-sale waiver language before paid promotion.

Frequently asked questions

Can a Florida guaranty use a confession-of-judgment clause?

Florida Statutes § 55.05 invalidates powers of attorney to confess judgment before an action is brought. Treat any similar clause as a red flag and have counsel remove or rewrite it.

Does Florida homestead protection block SBA collection?

Not categorically. Homestead protection is strong but has exceptions, and SBA or lender documents may involve consensual collateral, business assets, or non-homestead assets.

What should Florida borrowers negotiate first?

Start with the guaranty cap, collateral schedule, spouse-signature scope, release/burn-off language, and waiver-of-defenses section.