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
Last week in my blog, I discussed how developers attempt to buy enough units in order to vote to Terminate the condominium. By doing so, the developer files a plan of termination, and buys up all the units. We also spoke about the fact that in some condominiums, a vote of 100% of the owners may be required…
Read: THE OTHER WAY TO TERMINATE THE CONDOMINIUM → Let me tell you what you should be looking for in your condominium documents after you stop reading this: the provisions in your declaration of condominium allowing termination of the condominium itself. We know that condo assessments have doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in many instances due to…
Read: DOES A DEVELOPER ALWAYS HAVE THE ABILITY TO TERMINATE A CONDO? → There has been lots of complaints over the years that when condominium owners bring their complaints to the DBPR and expect some help, the only thing they got in return was a letter that said the DBPR has no jurisdiction over the subject matter of their complaint. I actually watched a legislative hearing in…
Read: THE DBPR HAS LOTS OF NEW POWER – WILL THEY USE IT? → If there ever was a column that I hated to write, this is it! Last week I spoke about a case I argued before The Florida Supreme Court in 2011 called Cohn v. The Grand Condominium. In that case, the minority commercial unit owners at The Grand Condominium challenged a new Florida statute that took away…
Read: WAS ALL OF THIS FOR NOTHING? → In 2011, I argued a case in front of The Supreme Court of Florida called Cohn v. The Grand Condominium. Here’s a quick summary of the facts: The Grand is a large condo building built in 1986 in Dade County. The declaration of condominium was recorded in 1986. It contains 1,200 units. 800 of the units are…
Read: NEW ARBITRATION RULING SENDS SHOCKWAVES TO ALL COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS REGARDING ELECTIONS → As I informed you last week, Representative Vicki Lopez, Senator Jennifer Bradley and Senator Jason Pizzo have filed companion bills HB1021 and SB1178 in The Florida House of Representatives and The Florida Senate that take aim at community association managers and community association management…
Read: COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS ARE IN THE CROSSHAIRS- PART 2 → We all know what the cost of insurance is doing to our way of life. In most condominium associations, the cost of windstorm and peril insurance has tripled over the past few years, if not quintupled. And from what I am being told, there is no end in sight. God forbid another major storm hits and the…
Read: DO YOU REALLY WANT TO RISK NOT HAVING INSURANCE? → Sometimes HOAs are simply forgotten about when it comes to new laws. There’s usually a hands off approach by The Florida Legislature. Not this year. This year a new act was created called the “Homeowners’ Associations Bill of Rights.” Florida Statute.303. Now, like condominiums, notices of all board meetings…
Read: AN HOA MEMBER’S BILL OF RIGHTS – HB 919 → Again, in a budget adopted by an association that is required to obtain a structural integrity reserve study, reserves must be maintained for these items: Roof. Structure, includingload-bearing walls and or other primary structural members and primary structural systems as those terms are defined in s.…
Read: SB 154 – PART THREE – NEW LAWS → I’m already hearing stories of developers making low ball offers to owners in high rise condominium buildings, offering to buy units at bargain prices. Here’s why….. Developers knows that in building of 25 years or more on the coast or 30 years or more inland, owners are facing massive upcoming expenses.…
Read: DEVELOPERS ARE ON THE PROWL → At a time when it would make sense for the condo and HOA laws to become easier to learn, they are becoming harder. Much has to do with why in the world are there such differences between the condo and HOA statutes? It’s actually ridiculous. For example: In order to get access to the official records, why…
Read: WHY THE DIFFERENCES? → We all know by now the myriad of new safety laws condos that are 3 stories or more are required to follow. They include mandatory fire sprinklers or an engineered life safety system (for buildings 75 feet or higher only), a Phase One Milestone Inspection after 30 years and every ten years thereafter (25…
Read: SOME OTHER NEW LAWS CONDOS MUST FOLLOW – PART ONE → THE BIG CHANGE: NO LONGER IS THERE THE ABILITY TO WAIVE RESERVES OR USE THEM FOR OTHER PURPOSES Effective December 31, 2024, a unit-owner controlled association may not determine to provide no reserves or reserves less adequate than required by the items listed in the mandatory structural integrity reserve…
Read: FLORIDA’S NEW CONDO RESERVE and FIRE SAFETY LAWS – PART TWO → The term “proxy” is often thrown around incorrectly. In simple English, if you can’t make it to a meeting to actually cast your vote or appear in person, you sign a document called a “proxy” which allows someone else to appear on your behalf. They act in your place. The proxy form may give the proxy holder…
Read: PROXIES: WHAT ARE THEY AND WHEN CAN WE USE THEM? → As we know, The Florida Legislature is having trouble fixing the problems of allowing condominium buildings to waive reserves, who the reserve studies should be performed by and how often the buildings should require safety certification by local building officials. The issue of course is how hard are we…
Read: ANOTHER FIRESTORM IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER → The Florida Legislature is in full swing. Each year lots of bills get filed, but few make it to the finish line and become law. Here’s an update on two bills that are moving towards becoming law: SB 394: This is my mandatory education bill, requiring directors to get certified by attending a course. Senator…
Read: LEGISLATIVE UPDATE → On June 27th, Florida was no longer considered to be in a State of Emergency. Governor Desantis did not renew the emergency order. So that means all of the emergency powers that Boards of Directors of condominiums and HOAs had during the COVID pandemic have expired. The question is…….in practical terms —…
Read: THE EMERGENCY IS OVER! → There certainly have been a few debates lately and there may be another on the way. Who Knows? Maybe you think Trump won. Maybe you think Biden won. Maybe you think Pence won or maybe you think Harris won. It doesn’t matter if some of you even think the fly won. The bottom line is that it’s apparent that…
Read: LET'S HAVE A DEBATE →Read it. Then watch it.
