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
We all know that if you live in a condominium, your declaration of condominium and all amendments need to be recorded in the public records in the county where the condominium is located. If you live in a homeowner’s association, your declaration of covenants must be recorded. Your bylaws should also be…
Read more → Florida Statute 718.111(d) states: An officer, director, or agent shall discharge his or her duties in good faith, with the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances, and in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the interests of the association.…
Read more → Over the past two weeks, we have been discussing the power and authority of Boards to pass rules and regulations. We discussed the fact that a board may have gone too far in making a rule as they really did an unauthorized amendment to the declaration. The question for today’s blog is what makes the rule…
Read more → Inherent in the condominium concept is the principle that to promote the health, happiness, and peace of mind of the majority of the unit owners since they are living in such close proximity and using facilities in common, each unit owner must give up a certain degree of freedom of choice which he might…
Read more → Some governing documents contain language that limit the number of people that can live in a unit. For example, the declaration may say something lie “no more than two persons can live in a one bedroom unit” or “no more than four persons can live in a two bedroom unit.” The question is…..are these…
Read more → Two neighbors are constantly engaged in fighting. Can the association simply say “This is a private matter. It has nothing to do with us. We are not going to get involved.” It depends………. The nature and circumstances surrounding these arguments may require that the association thrust itself into the…
Read more → Ihate beating around the bush, so I want to get to the point. A financial crisis is coming and it’s going to be a big one. It’s also going to hit those that can least afford it. It’s going to result in massive amounts of foreclosures. It’s going to result in countless cases of elderly persons being…
Read more → Over the last two weeks, we spoke about the events that trigger turnover and what the developer’s responsibilities to the association are at turnover. Now comes the hard part. It is important to understand that the first Board of Directors comprised solely of the unit owners has an awesome responsibility.…
Read more → With the thousands of condominium and HOA communities built in the last two decades or so, it was inevitable that The Florida Bar would, and has now officially, recognized Condominium and Planned Development Law as an area of the law where practicing attorneys can distinguish themselves by becoming Board…
Read more → New condominiums and HOA communities continue to get built all over the state. The developer gets to control the community while the place is being built and sold, but perhaps the most critical time period in the entire existence of either a condominium or homeowner’s association is when that control of the…
Read more → Last week, we discussed when turnover from developer control to unit owner control is triggered. Relinquishing control of the Board of Directors is not the only responsibility of the developer at the time of turnover however. What Documents Must Be Turned Over by the Developer at Turnover? Generally…
Read more → Yesterday was a big day. I turned 50. It’s a time to not only reminisce about the past, but also a time to think about the future, and retirement and whether or not a “retirement community” or “55 and over” community is in the future. So, what actually is a “55 and over” community? Generally speaking,…
Read more → So you did your job as a director and you made sure to purchase insurance for the association. So what is actually insured? Florida Statute 718.111 says: f) Every property insurance policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2009, for the purpose of protecting the condominium must provide primary…
Read more → Let’s assume that a storm has just damaged your condominium. Of course, the board has the authority to start making repairs to the common elements. But can a unit owner beging making repairs to their damaged unit with no questions asked? Florida Statute 718.111 states: A unit owner may undertake…
Read more → Hurricane season starts June 1st. If you haven’t ensured that the association property is properly insured, you better get busy. And fast. Let’s go over what the condo statute says about a board’s obligation to insure the condominium property. Florida Statute 718.111(11) states: (a) Adequate property…
Read more → Iwrite this blog the day after I did my last seminar of the season. Starting from about September to now, I’ve taught all over the state in so many wonderful cities and venues. At all of these seminars there’s always talk about apathy in our communities. Nobody cares. Nobody shows up to meetings. Nobody…
Read more → There’s a pretty good chance that if you’re reading this blog, at one time or another you came in contact with a courtroom. If you lost your case, the experience may have felt awful. If you won your case after litigating for years and years the experience may have been worse.In any event, of the three…
Read more → There’s a pretty good chance that if you’re reading this blog, at one time or another you came in contact with a courtroom. If you lost your case, the experience may have felt awful. If you won your case after litigating for years and years the experience may have been worse. In any event, of the three…
Read more →Read it. Then watch it.
