Florida condo & HOA news
Plain-English Florida condo and HOA law updates for owners, volunteer board members, managers, and everyone navigating community-association life.
Read the latest articles ↓From the front lines
Written by Eric M. Glazer · Florida attorney
et’s start discussing the new condominium laws that go into effect on July 1st. We won’t cover them all in one week, so look forward to next week’s blog as well. IF YOU HAVE A MANAGEMENT COMPANY the statute says: If a community association manager or a community association management firm has a contract…
Read: THE NEW CONDO LAWS ---- MANDATORY INSPECTIONS – PART ONE → Iknow that the intent of Memorial Day is to honor those who have previously fought and died for this country. I certainly proudly honor all of these brave men and women. This Memorial Day however, I feel that the 98 victims at Surfside need to be remembered as well. You can’t tell me that they didn’t die…
Read: A DIFFERENT KIND OF MEMORIAL DAY – AT LEAST FOR ME → The term “proxy” is often thrown around incorrectly. In simple English, if you can’t make it to a meeting to actually cast your vote or appear in person, you sign a document called a “proxy” which allows someone else to appear on your behalf. They act in your place. The proxy form may give the proxy holder…
Read: PROXIES: WHAT ARE THEY AND WHEN CAN WE USE THEM? → Ireally hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I have never been more afraid of an economic collapse in Florida, especially South Florida, as I do now. I couldn’t care less about the statistics that get reported about whether foreclosures are going up or not. I’m telling you that they are. I know because process…
Read: THE HOUSING NUMBERS JUST DON’T ADD UP → Ilike to re-publish this article every few years because it is so important. As we get closer to summer we are simultaneously getting closer to lots and lots of empty condominium units because many owners are returning up north for a few months. Just because you leave your Florida condominium for a few…
Read: OUT OF SIGHT DOES NOT MEAN OUT OF MIND → Iremember as a kid growing up in Brooklyn, Red Buttons would do a commercial that aired in New York, promoting Century Village. You were promised beautiful spacious apartments, amazing views, golf courses, endless entertainment and simply the perfect dream place to retire to. So forty years later, we learn…
Read: WERE WE SUCKERED IN BY FALSE ADVERTISING? → As we know, The Florida Legislature is having trouble fixing the problems of allowing condominium buildings to waive reserves, who the reserve studies should be performed by and how often the buildings should require safety certification by local building officials. The issue of course is how hard are we…
Read: ANOTHER FIRESTORM IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER → We got three extra days this year to pay up. Three extra days to turn in our income tax forms and pay Uncle Sam. Instead of April 15th being the day, it is April 18th. We see it come out of our paycheck each week, we complain. We fill out the necessary forms during tax season and we hope we don’t receive a…
Read: THE TAX MAN COMETH TODAY → (We blogged about this nearly 3 years ago, but in light of recent events, it bears repeating.) Here’s an issue that comes up every week in my practice for the past 30 years or so. I get a call from someone on a Board of Directors. And they tell me that they have a President on the Board who is a real…
Read: WHEN THE PRESIDENT THINKS THEY’RE THE KING → Now that Covid is basically and finally in the rear view mirror, most associations are having their annual elections in person and providing the owners the opportunity to see the annual meeting through ZOOM. This week, I attended an annual meeting where for the first time in my 30 year career, I saw the…
Read: ELECTION CONFUSION – WHO CAN BE A DIRECTOR AND/OR AN OFFICER? → Re-Running a Column I wrote years ago, because boards need a refresher on where we are I always thought that the dry part of the Board Certification Course was teaching about budgets and reserves. The material simply doesn’t lend itself to any interesting side stories or provide much room for jokes or even…
Read: SO NOW THAT THE LEGISLATURE DID NOTHING WHERE DO WE STAND? → Even after the death of 98 innocent people at The Champlain Towers in Surfside, the fact is…….The Florida Legislature did not pass a single law regarding the need for more building inspections, mandatory funding of reserves, mandatory education for board members or anything whatsoever to prevent another…
Read: MAYBE IT’S TIME TO BRING BACK AND OLD LAW → Today, I feel sadness for the victims in Surfside and their families. I said a million times on the air and in columns that they did not die in vain. I swore that as a result of their deaths, The Florida Legislature would ensure that at least some forms of reserves would be mandatory, that inspections by…
Read: MY APOLOGIES TO THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS → When I started practicing law in 1992, condominiums and HOAs had it a lot easier when it came to collecting their unpaid dues. If someone was thirty days late, you were able to file a lien on their home or unit right away. And if they didn’t pay within thirty days, foreclose on their unit. I don’t remember…
Read: IT’S GETTING TOUGHER TO COLLECT THOSE UNPAID ASSESSMENTS → It’s almost a dream, but a year ago things were certainly different in the condo world than they are today. I was dealing with fights about mandatory masks in the common areas, fights to re-open the pool and gym, meetings only being held by Zoom and all sorts of other issues all related of course to the…
Read: WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES → Florida Statute states: 120.565 Declaratory statement by agencies.— (1) Any substantially affected person may seek a declaratory statement regarding an agency’s opinion as to the applicability of a statutory provision, or of any rule or order of the agency, as it applies to the petitioner’s particular set of…
Read: BEFORE YOU HIT THAT "SEND" BUTTON → Ihave been lucky over the past two weeks, having won a few condominium arbitration cases. One of the cases involved a demand by a condominium association for entry into a unit in order to verify the existence of a Jacuzzi, loft and fire pit. The owner refused and asserted many defenses. In the end, the…
Read: THE RIGHT OF ENTRY INTO A CONDOMNIUM UNIT → As if condos didn’t have enough problems, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have just come out with new guidelines that condos must follow. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored agencies that purchase large quantities of home loans to keep money circulating throughout the home mortgage economy. They…
Read: IT MAY BECOME IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A NEW MORTGAGE IN MANY CONDOS →Read it. Then watch it.
