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
No question that the Miami-Dade Grand Jury report slammed the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Unquestionably, the report made the Department of Business and Professional Regulation look bad. Have an open mind however about the Grand Jury proceedings. It’s easy to indict the DBPR if all…
Read: SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? → So last week we made it clear that you Board can install a wall or fence around the community without a vote of the owners, even though it is a material alteration that usually requires a 75% vote of the unit owners. This is true, so long as the Board can establish that they are doing so in order to prevent…
Read: SUPPOSE THE WALL ISN’T ENOUGH? → Last week our new President ordered the federal government to immediately start building the wall on our southern border. Trump claims that the wall will help security measures designed to keep the United States safe from entry by illegal immigrants and that the wall will help prevent crimes in the…
Read: CAN WE REALLY BUILD THAT WALL? → In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, I previously blogged about discrimination and racism and whether or not they still exist in our Florida community associations. I won’t do that today. I was going to write about the fact that segments of the press believes that Trump won the election because…
Read: EQUALITY AND RESPECT BEGIN AT HOME → The holidays are now in the rear view mirror. It doesn’t have to be doom and gloom however in your association. Resolve this year to start off on the right foot, get rid of the clutter, get a grip on your finances, and make sure you don’t get locked into bad deals for yet another year. Here are some…
Read: STARTING THE YEAR OFF RIGHT → This is a very interesting time of year in the condo and HOA world. Of course everyone’s thoughts turn to the holidays. We start thinking about Christmas, Chanukah, New Years and all of the days off we get to spend with friends and family. The problem is that this is typically the busiest time of year as…
Read: SOME YEAR-END OBSERVATIONS → Idon’t know why some people feel a need to bring their concealed weapon to the poker table or mah-jong game in the clubhouse, but you would be surprised how many times I have been asked whether or not the Board has the right to make a rule that would simply prohibit guns in the common areas. Here’s the funny…
Read: CAN THE BOARD BAN GUNS FROM THE COMMON AREAS? → All of you who live in a condominium are now certainly aware that by December 31st, if your building is 75 feet or higher, you will be required to install a fire sprinkler system in your condominium, unless the unit owners vote to opt out. Many of you have already done so. A few weeks ago, I wrote in my…
Read: WHY IS THE DIVISION OF CONDOMINIUMS BEING SO DIFFICULT? → Some justice was done in an Orange County courtroom last week. The firm’s client was sued by her association because she started a website that included the name of the association in the website address. The website was also critical of the association and the Board. Other members of the community had…
Read: THE FIRST AMENDMENT IS ALIVE AND WELL → Each and every year, without fail, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is deluged with arbitration petitions filed against condominium associations, alleging that the association failed to properly conduct its elections. Knowing some basic law can go a long way toward finding your…
Read: AVOID DRAMA AT YOUR CONDOMINIUM ELECTION-PART 2 → Each and every year, without fail, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is deluged with arbitration petitions filed against condominium associations, alleging that the association failed to properly conduct its elections. Knowing some basic law can go a long way toward finding your…
Read: AVOID DRAMA AT YOUR CONDOMINIUM ELECTION-PART 1 → Ialways get lots of e-mails from people complaining that the Board is spending their monies wildly and out of control, for things they don’t want, don’t need and for which there was no mention in the association’s budget. As we know, the Board must pass a budget to pay the association’s “common expenses.”…
Read: CAN THE BOARD SPEND YOUR MONEY ON ANYTHING THEY WANT? → As you all know by now, condo and HOA directors must get certified within one year prior to getting elected or appointed to the board or within 90 days of actually getting elected or appointed to the Board. They can do so in one of two ways. The first way is the chicken’s way out and quite frankly is an…
Read: JOIN US ON NOVEMBER 15TH → There’s plenty of talk this election season about water and energy conservation. There’s even a proposed constitutional amendment in Florida which would guarantee the right to use solar power in your home. Up until now, has Florida law encouraged us to conserve water, conserve energy or given any…
Read: DOES THE LAW ENCOURAGE OUR COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS TO CONSERVE WATER AND ENERGY? → Last year we blogged about a long awaited decision by The Florida Supreme Court regarding what a licensed community association can do, without being accused of practicing law without a license. It bears repeating. The Florida Bar tried hard to curtail what community association managers can do without a…
Read: CAMS BE CAREFUL ABOUT THE UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW → As we all know, a quorum of directors is necessary in order to have a valid meeting of the Board of Directors. But, how is a quorum determined? The first thing you need to do is look at your bylaws of the association and determine how many directors are required to serve on the Board. Remember, that as for…
Read: SO WHAT EXACTLY IS A QUORUM OF DIRECTORS? → Tonight may prove to be the most watched debate in the history of politics. People are going to tune in in record numbers, many of whom having never even voted in an election before. The amount of interest being generated is amazing as everyone wants to hear what their candidate has to say, while hoping…
Read: WHY NOT HAVE DEBATES IN YOUR CONDO ELECTIONS? → Boy what a difference a few years makes. Remember the days where foreclosures were the talk of the town? Remember when a large percentage of the units or homes in your community were not paying their assessments and the association was struggling to pay its bills? Remember when banks began owning units in…
Read: WHERE HAVE ALL THE FORECLOSURES GONE? →Read it. Then watch it.
