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
Irecently represented an individual who lives in a condominium association in Palm Beach County. He originally lost the election because the following types of votes were not counted: Exterior envelopes that the association said were forged; Ballots returned in envelopes other than envelopes provided by the…
Read: A PRIMER IN RUNNING YOUR CONDO ELECTION → 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 → Last week we spoke about what you want to see in a law firm or attorney. Let’s take it one step further today. Let’s say that you run into trouble and you get sued, or someone is threatening to sue the association or an officer or director. What should you do? As a general rule, the minute that someone…
Read: YOU HAVE BEEN SUED – NOW WHAT? → 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 → The question of whether or not you can bring your personal trainer on to the common elements in order to help train or teach you was answered by the 4th District Court of Appeals last week. In Charterhouse Associates, Ltd., Inc., v. Valencia Reserve Homeowners Association, Inc., here are the facts:…
Read: CAN YOUR ASSOCIATION PREVENT YOU FROM BRINING YOUR PROFESSIONAL TRAINER INTO THE COMMON AREA GYM OR TENNIS COURTS? → What a great time of year. The best actually. Everyone seems to be in the holiday spirit. You drive down the streets and people have beautifully decorated their homes. But what about the people that live in condos and HOAs? Are they allowed to do the same? In regard to condominiums, Florida Statute…
Read: PRACTICING YOUR RELIGION: ARE THERE LIMITS IN YOUR COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION? → In three days from now we are supposed to sit around the table stuffing turkey down our throats while reflecting on all the things we should be thankful for. The easy ones are family and good health. Some might also be thankful for a new job, new car, new spouse or even new body part(s). I’m certainly…
Read: ARE THERE THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR IN YOUR COMMUNITY?-PART 3 → Both the condo statute and the HOA statute grant owners the authority to record board meetings. The condo statute states: 718.112: The right to attend such meetings includes the right to speak at such meetings with reference to all designated agenda items. The division shall adopt reasonable rules…
Read: THE RIGHT TO VIDEO RECORD YOUR BOARD MEETING → There is a great book out there called “Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff.” As you can imagine, the book basically tries to convince you to take things in stride, nothing is ever as bad as it seems and sometimes learn to look the other way. This is a great way to live, but if you choose to live in a Florida…
Read: DON’T LET SMALL ISSUES BECOME HUGE PROBLEMS → Regardless of what you may think about the impeachment process taking place in Washington, I promise that the impeachment process in your community is worse. Florida law allows directors in both condominiums and homeowner associations to be removed from office without waiting for the results of the next…
Read: THE IMPEACHMENT PROCESS IN YOUR COMMUNITY IS WORSE THAN WASHINGTON’S → Here we go……We are headed into election season. It’s a little harder to run an election in a condo than in an HOA, but let’s give some tips to both types of communities. For a Condo If your condo docs call for a range of directors, for example no less than x or no more than y, the number is automatically 5.…
Read: SOME REAL QUICK PRE-ELECTION TIPS → Last week we showed how it’s better to be the developer in an HOA instead of an owner. Developers can maintain control over a community forever in some instances and don’t even have to provide warranties for anything they build. Nice. We told you it gets worse and here’s why….. Under Florida law, a…
Read: IT'S BETTER TO BE THE DEVELOPER IN AN HOA–PART 2 →Read it. Then watch it.
