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
So things are coming back to normal little by little. Although, I still need a dam haircut. If I wait another week or two, I figure my dog and I can go together. To his groomer. The ”emergency powers” given to Boards of Directors expire today. The Governor is allowing public places to slowly re-open.…
Read: TO OPEN OR NOT TO OPEN → On May 20th, 2020 the Secretary of the DBPR entered an Order putting an end to the Emergency Powers that were temporarily granted to directors and officers of community associations, effective June 1st, 2020. So what does that mean? It means, back to the strict requirements of the statutes regarding…
Read: BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL → Iwas admitted to The Florida Bar in 1992. In nearly 30 years, it’s amazing how technology has and continues to change both my job as an attorney and yours, as officers and directors. On Thursday, I was a mediator, mediating a dispute between owners and their association. What usually takes place in several…
Read: WOW – THINGS HAVE CERTAINLY CHANGED → No doubt we have been in unchartered waters for the past few weeks now. Boards have been uncertain about how, when and where they can hold board meetings. Unit owners are upset that they have heard that their Board is actually having meetings that they cannot attend. Decisions are being made at meetings…
Read: IT'S TIME FOR SOME NEW LEGISLATION → My how we love to gamble. For some, you don’t even have to leave the community. Perhaps the most common form of gambling in our condos and HOAs is running a Bingo game. Before starting bingo in your community however, here’s what you need to know: 4) The right of a condominium association, a cooperative…
Read: BINGO! → Most weeks we blog about particular statutes, laws, cases or regulations. This week we’re going to blog about something that may be more important than all of those things. Our behavior. Our interaction with each other. How we treat each other. I think this blog is going for about a decade now. You can…
Read: I'M NOTICING AN UNUSUAL TREND → Last week we suggested that now was a good time to consider spending some time reviewing your declaration and finally trying to amend those provisions that need amending. I hope you listened. Since we’re not quite back to life being normal, keep busy and now think about amending your rules. Some general…
Read: AND DON'T FORGET YOUR RULES → Wow what a difference a week makes! The world became different this week, like nothing most of us have ever seen or lived through before. For the time being, this Corona Virus has changed life as we know it, requiring us not to stay inside and hide, but not to tempt fate, while staying smart and taking…
Read: SO WHAT DO WE DO NOW? → Ican’t hold it in any longer. I must tell someone. I have been less than honest with the readers of this blog and the listeners to the Condo Craze and HOAs Radio Show. I’m a fake and a fraud. The truth is…………despite the fact that I urge all of you out there to get involved in your community, to run for…
Read: I MUST CONFESS → One bill sailed through The Florida Legislature and waiting for a signature by Governor DeSantis. Once signed, it becomes law effective immediately. Florida Statute 718, 719 and 720 have all been amended to include language that states that: An association may not prohibit a law enforcement officer, as…
Read: NEW LAW PROTECTS LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES → For a time, directors had to be careful about keeping their emotions in check while at Board meetings. When a director said “I had enough, I quit” that actually meant they were gone. That outburst was enough to be treated as an effective resignation. See: See Dehne v. Ocean Club II Condo. Ass’n Inc., Arb.…
Read: WHEN DOES "I QUIT" REALLY TAKE EFFECT? → Hope everyone had both a happy and a healthy new year. I also hope you are all well rested and are now ready to stand-up and protect yourselves by demanding new laws that benefit our community associations. For the next few weeks, we will let you know what community association law bills have been filed in…
Read: SO WHAT MAY BE IN STORE FOR 2020-PART 1? → We all know that the condo and HOA statutes contain differences that often times don’t make any sense. Let’s review two more instances of there being no real justification for differences among the statutes. In an HOA, before the Board files suit, there is a statute they need to consider: 720.303(1): Before…
Read: OTHER LAWSUIT ISSUES → Last week we discussed how the expenses of your condominium or HOA get divided among all of the owners. The blog ended by warning you that there is one type of expense that is not subject to the standard rules, and that’s when it comes to your association’s bulk cable and internet bill. In both a condo and…
Read: BE CAREFUL ABOU THE CABLE BILL → So why is it that in some condos and HOAs the bigger the unit or the bigger the home does not necessarily mean the bigger the monthly assessment payment? For condominiums built before 1992, the developer was able to create a set of documents where anything goes when it comes to what a particular unit will…
Read: WHY DO THEY PAY LESS THAN I DO? → To keep it simple……in a condominium, when the board sends out its budget, that budget SHALL include reserve accounts for pavement, painting and roofing and anything else expected to cost $10,000.00 to repair or replace. However, the statute says…. This subsection does not apply to an adopted budget in which…
Read: THE OWNERS NEED TO VOTE TO WAIVE RESERVES BEFORE THE BOARD VOTES TO WAIVE RESERVES → Sometimes I have to write a lot in order to get my point across. Maybe it’s because the law is not clear. There are exceptions to the rule. There are extenuating circumstances. This is not one of those times. So let me say this as clear as clear can be: If the governing documents or even board made rule…
Read: THE KEY TO HAPPINESS MAY BE IN PROVIDING ONE → It’s been a while since I blogged about me, or more specifically, attorneys that represent community associations. I’m curious to know what are the most important factors that go into a Board’s decision to hire counsel. I’ll list a few and it would be great if you respond to the blog by putting each…
Read: SO WHAT ABOUT THE ATTORNEY →Read it. Then watch it.
