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
When the Condo Crime Bill, HB 1237, was being debated I wrote a blog in March that warned about the bill as follows: I’m almost embarrassed to write the next provision. Recalls would now be automatic. If the Board receives a stack of recall ballots that equal more than 50% of the units, the people are…
Read: RECALL BOMBSHELL: I HATE TO SAY I TOLD YOU SO → Idon’t know if you heard, but two identical looking HOAs are being built right next to each other. They look the same, have the same style and quality of houses and the homes in each community cost exactly the same. OK, there is one difference though. In the first community, the streets are simply labeled by…
Read: A TALE OF TWO HOAs → Ahhh…….. it’s finally Labor Day. It signifies the end of the oppressive summer heat, a return to school and a get back to work feeling. President Rita Relaxin just wants one more summer day to enjoy all the festivities her wonderful condominium Peaceful Paradise has to offer. Rita decides to start the day…
Read: A LABOR DAY TRADITION2 → While the condo statute outlines a very specific and rigid procedure on how HOAs should conduct the election, the HOA Statute doesn’t say much at all: Elections of directors must be conducted in accordance with the procedures set forth in the governing documents of the association. Except as provided in…
Read: AVOIDING CHAOS AT YOUR HOA ELECTION → For those of you old enough to remember Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, when the ball went through Buckner’s legs, the great announcer Vin Scully remained silent for over two minutes, even though he was broadcasting live on TV. He realized that his own words and commentary couldn’t take the place of what…
Read: MIAMI-DADE GRAND JURY DESTROYS THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION → At a time in history where it seems someone is always offended about something, it seems a little peculiar that children under age 18 can be legally excluded from moving into a community and everyone is apparently OK with it. I mean, think about it…………. Let’s say it’s both a “55 and over community” and a…
Read: SUPPOSE REVERSE 55 AND OVER COMMUNITIES WERE ALLOWED? → Last week we blogged about some confusion that exists in the new condo crime bill. Make no mistake, these “glitches” need to be fixed during the next legislative session if the intent of these statutes are ever to be realized. Until then, because of the ambiguities contained therein, rest assured that…
Read: ARE THERE TERM LIMITS OR NOT? → As you know, the condo crime bill was quickly rushed through The Florida Legislature this year. Unfortunately, as a result, the statute may have created more questions than answers in some circumstances. Clearly, The Florida Legislature wanted to prevent board members from continuing to make a buck off of…
Read: THERE’S A CONFLICT IN THE NEW CONFLICT LAWS → To say that this was an active year for condo legislation is certainly an understatement. A vigorous effort was made to combat shenanigans and outright criminal behavior by condo boards throughout the state. As we know, the impetus for this action was a report by a Miami Dade Grand Jury which basically…
Read: IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR OUR HOA FRIENDS → Just when high Florida rise condominiums thought they had dodged a bullet and wouldn’t be required to install expensive engineered life safety systems — Governor Rick Scott vetoed House Bill 653. Florida law allowed condominiums in excess of 75 in height to opt out of a mandatory sprinkler requirement by a…
Read: IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR OUR HOA FRIENDS → SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW LAWS? It certainly was a busy year for condo legislation. HB 653 was vetoed at the last minute by...
Read: SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW LAWS → Ican’t tell you how many times per year I meet with a newly elected Board, and their first concern is that their documents are so old,...
Read: YOUR DOCS ARE OLD ----- BUT DOES THAT MEAN THEY’RE USELESS? → The numbers don’t lie. As a vacation destination, Florida is where it’s at. Everyone, from all over the world wants to lounge on our...
Read: IF YOU WANT TO PUT A STOP TO OVERNIGHT RENTALS – YOUR DOCS NEED CHANGING → Presidents and Vice Presidents of condos and HOAs stop your complaining. The abuse and harassment you take is nothing compared to what’s going on in the real world of politics. For example: When is the last time someone went through the trouble of creating a fake bloodied severed head of yours? When is the…
Read: REAL POLITICS MUCH WORSE THAN CONDO POLITICS → In June of 2015, The Florida Supreme Court decided what a licensed community association can do, without being accused of practicing law without a license. The truth is…..The Florida Bar tried hard to curtail what community association managers can do without a license to practice law, while the community…
Read: COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION ATTORNEYS AND MANAGERS NEED TO WORK TOGETHER → Aclient of mine recently asked me to review a proposed contract with one of those companies that install laundry equipment in your community. Now this may seem like a small task, but any attorney, or Board member for that matter, with any experience in this area knows that this contract can create havoc…
Read: WASH, RINSE, SPIN, DRY……….REPEAT……………..FOREVER → KAREN: A Jupiter police chief Frank Kitzerow is currently facing a lawsuit from his homeowners association who claims the chief owes them thousands in delinquent assessments. The lawsuit was filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court on April 19th claiming Kitzerow owes $1,600 in association fees after…
Read: POLICE CHIEF → With all of the negative press out there regarding condo and HOA boards, one would get the impression that all board members are united in their effort to accomplish a pre-planned agenda that serves the board member’s interests instead of the community interest as a whole. The truth is often times very…
Read: A DIVIDED BOARD OR A UNITED BOARD? →Read it. Then watch it.
