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 → 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! → 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? → 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? → 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 → As many officers and directors of Florida homeowner associations have learned the hard way and now know, the governing documents in a Florida homeowner’s association expire if not properly “preserved” within thirty years of the documents originally being recorded. That’s right. Suddenly, you are living in…
Read: MAJOR NEW RESPONSIBILITY FOR HOA DIRECTORS → As you all know, Florida law currently mandates that condominium “disputes” are mediated before arbitrators who are employed by the DBPR, rather than being litigated in a court of law. Florida Statute 718.1255 states: LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.— (a) The Legislature finds that unit owners are frequently at a…
Read: THE DEATH OF CONDO ARBITRATION MAY BE NEAR → The minute it struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, large scale condominium associations were required by law to have their own website. I’m proud to say I had a hand in getting this law passed. When the law was first drafted, it was only to apply to associations that had 500 or more units. This means less…
Read: IS YOUR CONDO WEBSITE UP AND RUNNING? → The HOA statute does do one thing right. It requires the parties to a dispute to submit that dispute to an arbitrator before going to court. Florida Statute 718.311 states: (2)(a) Disputes between an association and a parcel owner regarding use of or changes to the parcel or the common areas and other…
Read: FIGHTING IN YOUR HOA? DON’T WAIT! MEDIATE! → Last week we blogged about some association bills that were filed in Florida’s Legislature. I thought two were bad but one was good. Here are some more: CS/HB 0623: Provides that if a condominium association’s insurance policy does not provide rights for subrogation against the unit owners in the…
Read: SO WHAT MAY BE IN STORE FOR 2020– PART 2? → Avery interesting courtroom battle was decided at Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeals last month. In The City of Miami v. Air BNB, the facts were that the City of Miami was attempting to enforce provisions of its zoning code which would in effect tailor or prevent the right of residents in certain areas…
Read: AIR BNB UPDATE AND –REQUIRING THAT YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF →Read it. Then watch it.
