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
Although you may not know it, your condominium could be terminated by a vote of the owners. This simply means that the provisions of your Declaration of Condominium would no longer apply and you can in effect be forced out of the property. All declarations of condominium contain a section regarding how the…
Read: HERE TODAY --- GONE TOMORROW-PART 1 → My column two weeks ago regarding the estoppel fee bill and what has happened since, has proven a point made long ago by fellow blogger Jan Bergemann. The community association laws are written by, directed, guided and championed, not by the people who live in these communities, but rather by the people…
Read: WHO TO TURN TO FOR HELP-PART 1 → Although you may not know it, your condominium could be terminated by a vote of the owners. This simply means that the provisions of your Declaration of Condominium would no longer apply and you can in effect be forced out of the property. All declarations of condominium contain a section regarding how the…
Read: WHO TO TURN TO FOR HELP-PART 1 → can’t tell you how many times a new client has come into the office and proceeded to show me a contract that they already signed, without having an attorney look at it first. They have now realized how one sided it is and how devastating the terms are to the community. I am then asked “so can you get us…
Read: BEFORE SIGNING THAT CONTRACT…………. → The Florida Legislature just passed a new bill that creates high standards for Florida’s community association managers and management companies. The Governor is expected to sign it. Here is what the law says: 468.4334 Professional practice standards; liability (1) A community association manager or a…
Read: NEW LAW PROVIDES HIGH STANDARDS FOR COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS → Without a doubt, one of the most common complaints unit owners hurl at their Board of Directors is that the Board hold private meetings that the owners simply never get notice of. May owners complain that these meetings violate the “Sunshine” laws that require public meetings, but they are incorrect, as the…
Read: SO WHEN IS A MEETING A MEETING? → While an education requirement is not mandatory for condo and HOA board members, I wish it were. The more educated Board members are about the legal requirements of running their community, the less likely it is that the association will have costly disputes with the owners whether it be in mediation,…
Read: GET READY FOR A FUN DAY! → Last week we blogged about the ability to have Bingo games in our communities. I may be wrong, but I have never seen Bingo games catch on among men. Generally, Bingo is for the women, while the men like to play cards, more specifically poker and rummy. My dad loved both and never once went to play bingo.…
Read: CAN WE GAMBLE IN THE CONDO OR HOA? → There’s a lot that goes into my job as an attorney working in condominium and HOA law. Each week, I working on my current cases, keep abreast of the changes in the law, advocate for legislative reform, work on the Condo Craze Radio Show and write a blog each Monday. Without a doubt however, my favorite…
Read: THE IMPORTANCE OF CONDO AND HOA EDUCATION-PART 2 → It’s April 15th. That means by midnight tonight, you better have your tax return in the mail. I have met with several associations over the years that believe that simply because their condominium or homeowner’s association is a not for profit corporation, the association does not have to file a federal…
Read: THE PERFECT DAY TO TALK TAXES AND YEAR-END FINANCIAL REPORTING → It’s hard for me to believe, but in July I will be a resident of Florida for 25 years, or more than half of my life. The change that has taken place in these 25 years is nothing short of dramatic. In terms of population, Florida has just leap-frogged New York State and jumped into 3rd place with over 19…
Read: FLORIDA – FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE → It’s been a pleasure meeting so many of you this past week, teaching the Condo Craze Board Certification Course at the PM-EXPO event in West Palm Beach and then at the Holiday Inn at Universal Studios. Even though we were unsuccessful this legislative session in accomplishing further H.O.A. reform, it was…
Read: WHAT ‘S ON YOUR WISH LIST? → There are so many ways a developer can build a community: The developer can build separate buildings but record only one declaration of condominium that all units are governed by. In that case, there would be only one condominium and only one condominium association. The developer can build multiple…
Read: THE MOST CONFUSING CONDOMINIUM OF THEM ALL → Republicans always knock the Democrats for never actually solving a problem, but choosing instead to form a committee to investigate solutions that may one day hypothetically come up with the answer to the problem and which may ultimately and possibly be utilized in the future to solve the problem, after…
Read: GOVERNOR SCOTT………THE DEMOCRAT → You may remember that about two years ago, a Miami Dade Grand Jury was convened to investigate condominiums and the DBPR. The findings were scary. The Grand Jury found condo crime was rampant and that The Department of Business and Professional Regulation was not part of the solution, but rather part of…
Read: NEW GRAND JURY REPORT SAYS ALL IS WELL → As many of you already know, each owner of a condominium unit pays $4.00 per year to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes. The money is supposed to be spent helping to regulate and provide services to condominium unit owners throughout…
Read: FINALLY A BILL TO PREVENT YOUR MONEY FROM GETTING STOLEN → You may recall that two years ago, The House and the Senate passed legislation that would have allowed condominiums in excess of 75 in height to opt out of a mandatory engineered life safety system. Legislation already existed that allowed these condominiums to opt out of sprinkler requirements. Condos…
Read: ANOTHER ATTEMPT BEING MADE TO PUT MONEY AHEAD OF SAFETY → Believe it or not……I received more than one e-mail this year from people complaining that their annual meetings are being conducted in a language other than English and some people are fighting mad about it. I’ll risk being politically incorrect and say that I think it’s absurd that that a unit owner can…
Read: PICK A LANGUAGE….ANY LANGUAGE →Read it. Then watch it.
