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
It’s that time of year again — number crunching time. Time to figure out if everyone is going to be paying a little more next year in their monthly or quarterly assessments. Here are some things to keep in mind: In a condo — when the budget is mailed to the owners, the budget must show the reserves as…
Read: TIME TO PREPARE THE ANNUAL BUDGET → Each year your condo association or HOA is required to pass an annual budget that in theory should pay all of the bills of the association. The statutes require this. Then a storm hits, or balconies start deteriorating and many Associations suddenly find themselves in desperate need to repair the common…
Read: CAN YOUR ASSOCIATION BORROW MONEY? → Every survey seems to confirm that people are simply fed up with politics and their elected politicians. Approval ratings have never been lower. Compromise is not an option and stalemate is the new norm. Perhaps until now. This year, at least as far as the few million owners in homeowner associations go,…
Read: THANK YOU FLORIDA LEGISLATURE → Let’s do the blog a little differently this week. Before reading on, click here and watch this report and then come back: http://www.clickorlando.com/news/kissimmee-hoa-walks-off-with-residents-trash-bins/-/1637132/21985458/-/66by62z/-/index.html Now that you watched the news report, I would love to get…
Read: ONE BOARD'S OBSSESSION WITH GARBAGE CANS → It’s September. Day camp is over for the kids. It’s starting to get dark a little earlier each day and the brutal summer heat is not as bad as it was a few weeks ago. This can only mean one thing……..it’s time to go back to school. I’m not talking about the kids. I’m talking to you Mr. or Mrs. Unit…
Read: IT'S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME → It’s the end of the summer. Millions of kids across our state have to suck it up and return to school. And if the kids have to endure school for the next ten months, all of you can endure a measly three hours. I’m talking of course about Condo and HOA Board Certification. There’s a lot that goes into my…
Read: IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME → It’s Labor Day and condo President Esa Nomyjob, has the day off from work. She gets to stay home from work and simply enjoy all the wonderful amenities her condo has to offer. It’s well deserved. The day starts off though with a call from Willie Winer, that the upstairs neighbor has apparently let the…
Read: LABOR DAY --- who need it → As our listeners of the Condo Craze and H.O.A.’s radio show know, we’ve been spending some time recently telling them how they can make their property ready for a hurricane, so that if a storm hits, they can weather it. We’ve spoken about preparing your roof, electricity, plumbing, interior furnishings and…
Read: IS YOUR BUDGET READY FOR A HURRICANE? → Chapter 468 of The Florida Statutes contains numerous provisions about how community association managers get disciplined by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. This year, The Florida Legislature amended Florida law to allow community association managers to get disciplined if they…
Read: DO COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS GET AWAY WITH MURDER? → It’s time to tell the members of the association all about the association’s finances, like it or not. Both the Florida condominium and homeowner statutes mandate the following: Within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year, or annually on a date provided in the bylaws, the association shall prepare…
Read: YEAR END FINANCIAL REPORTING → You may recall that a few weeks ago I blogged about the fact that members in an HOA have far less protection than unit owners in a condominium. With the help of Jan Bergemann from CCFJ www.ccfj.net, and our lobbyist, I drafted legislation that would help HOA members throughout Florida. Here are the…
Read: YOU WANT REFORM? HERE IT COMES…I HOPE → Ah….the holidays. Thoughts of peace, love and joyous occasions fill our thoughts. Our communities unite and happiness is proclaimed throughout the land. Unless of course you have a Board that doesn’t feel as warm and fuzzy about your holiday decorations as you do. If that’s the situation you find…
Read: CAN YOUR BOARD REALLY STOP YOU FROM PUTTING UP YOUR CHRISTMAS OR HANUKAH DECORATIONS IN YOUR CONDO OR HOA? → Thanksgiving is just three days away. Even with the “fiscal cliff” looming over our heads, unemployment still too high and Florida leading the nation in the number of foreclosures, surely there must be some things that those of us who live in condominiums or HOAs can be thankful for. Here’s a few: By all…
Read: EVEN IN A CONDO OR HOA - THERE ARE THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR → Certification of Board Members: For whatever reason, The Florida Legislature believes that it’s only important for condominium Board members to learn the law, be familiar with their governing documents and get certified. HOA members can just “wing it” I guess. Certainly, education should be required for…
Read: CONDOS AND HOA solutions → Afew years ago, the Florida Legislature passed a new law effecting board members of Florida condominium associations only. The law states: Within 90 days after being elected or appointed to the board, each newly elected or appointed director shall certify in writing to the secretary of the association that…
Read: SHOULD EDUCATION BE REQUIRED FOR ALL BOARD MEMBERS? → I’m hoping that after reading this column today, those of you who live in an HOA will forward some of these concerns to your local Senator or House Member, because I don’t even think they are aware of just how bad the HOA statute is and how condominium owners have far greater protections under the law than…
Read: CONDOS AND HOA'S ARE MORE DIFFERENT THAN YOU MAY THINK → Last week, I received an e-mail from someone who was complaining that her HOA was using the voting and election procedures required by the condominium statute, instead of the HOA statute. In other words, using the Florida Statute 718 laws instead of Florida Statute 720. She wanted to know if this was O.K.,…
Read: ELECTION TIME IS HERE → Each week, Jan, Darlys and I agree on a new topic to blog about. This week, Jan suggested that we blog about gates and fences. My first thought was……..how much can I possibly write about gates and fences? What comment can I make about a gate or a fence that would make the reader care about reading the…
Read: GATES AND FENCES CAN BE AS BAD AS BARBED WIRE →Read it. Then watch it.
