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
Our firm won an interesting HOA election case two weeks ago in arbitration before the DBPR. I think the case makes for some good precedent here in Florida and deals with an issue that has been plaguing HOAs for all eternity. As we know, each and every year, we get complaints from people that live in HOAs…
Read more → We already blogged about a new law that will bring further chaos and confusion to the association election process, and that is the law that now allows voting via the internet if a plethora of conditions are met. The Florida Legislature passed some other association laws as well this year. Let’s see what…
Read more → On Friday, I had the pleasure of being invited to attend a meeting of many representatives from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, including arbitrators and the Condominium Ombudsman. The purpose of the meeting was to hear from the public in regards to the new condominium statute that…
Read more → You have all heard the saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Apparently, The Florida Legislature overlooked this concept when it recently passed a bill which authorizes owners in community associations to vote by e-mail in their elections and for other unit owner votes. In condos, H.O.A.s and co-ops,…
Read more → Every now and then, the courts of our state issue an opinion in a case involving a condo or HOA that is very important and certainly worth mention. On June 1st, the 4th District Court of Appeals issued a decision in Pundit 2 Joint Venture v. Westwood Gardens HOA that does not bode too well for some…
Read more → Sometimes the exceptions to the rule swallow the rule, rendering the rule virtually meaningless. Mandatory competitive bidding is a fine example. The Florida Condominium Act provides: If a contract for the purchase, lease, or renting of materials or equipment, or for the provision of services, requires…
Read more → As the weather begins heating up, our thoughts inevitably turn to the hurricane season that we deal with each and every year. Associations all across the state hope and pray that they’re able to escape the wrath of a storm for another year and that luck remains on their side. They have their fingers…
Read more → This is a story about John and Jane. John lives in a condominium in Miami and Jane lines in an H.O.A. in Central Florida. Election season is approaching quickly in both of their communities. While it may seem at first glance that all things are equal…….that is certainly not the case. The election in John’s…
Read more → We often times blog about how a Board member or a manager stole a few thousand dollars from the association and how they should be prosecuted for it. If someone should be prosecuted for stealing a few thousand dollars, what should happen to the people that steal 16 million dollars from condo owners over the…
Read more → It seems like no matter how early, or on what day of the week we hold our Board Certification seminars for both condominium and HOA members, the classes are packed to the rafters. There’s often times complaints about communities going to hell because of unit owner apathy. When you see a room full of…
Read more → Last week’s blog spoke yet again about the rise in condo and HOA crime. It’s escalating and people are tired of it. The number of responses to the blog and “hits”were overwhelming. In fact, JanisLentz said: Help is on the way! The proposed FL House and Senate versions of HOA Reform 2015 bills… will…
Read more → We certainly blogged in the past about Board members and managers getting arrested for stealing association funds. I’m on record as previously saying that I didn’t think this area was more prone to arrests than say lawyers, doctors or politicians. I may have been wrong. I don’t know what’s going on, but…
Read more → It’s the end of the summer. I watched my kids suck it up this week, pack their school bags and head off to school to return for another year of learning. Millions of kids across our state did the exact same thing. And if they can do it five days a week for the next ten months, each of you can do it for a…
Read more → So you want to be on the Board of Directors. Did you ever wonder whether or not by being on the Board, you are subjecting yourself to loss of your personal assets should your association get sued. Unless you’re truly a bad guy or gal, you have little to worry about. Getting personal liability against an…
Read more → Funny how things work sometimes. Over the past 23 years, I have noticed an interesting pattern in Florida community associations. When money is tight and foreclosures are soaring, associations are far less likely to engage in litigation. Suddenly, nobody really cares what color someone painted their house…
Read more → Over the last several years, the issue of delinquencies in our Florida community associations became worse and worse. The more people didn’t pay, the more the good paying owners had to pay. The more bank foreclosures, the less the association was receiving in badly needed revenue. The real solution to the…
Read more → Here we go. It’s election time again in your community association. Year after year, we see some of the same mistakes, so let’s just review some of the laws and rules the too often get violated and may wind up causing your election to be deemed invalid in your condominium association. How many Board…
Read more → It’s true what they say……as you get older the years seem to go by quicker. This week, we stop and we take a moment to breathe. We are not blogging about any specific condo or HOA topic because the three bloggers need to do something much more important. And that is to thank each of you for continuing to…
Read more →Read it. Then watch it.
