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’re approaching the time of year when Boards are starting to prepare the budget for the following fiscal year. As we all know, in a condominium, the budget must show fully funded reserves, and the owners then have the option of waiving or reducing the funding of reserves. In an HOA, the budget can…
Read: SUPPOSE YOU TOUCH THE RESERVE FUNDS YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TOUCH? → Every year, I am lucky enough to take my family on a trip to another city, whether it be here in the United States or even in a foreign country. It seems that every city I go to was planned far better than South Florida. On the contrary, it seems as if all of South Florida was built with no plan whatsoever…
Read: IT’S ALL IN THE PLANNING --- OR LACK THEREOF → You look around the world and see that bombs are falling in neighborhoods throughout the Middle East, violent demonstrations are happening in European countries and tornadoes and floods seems to be destroying towns across the United States. Those are difficult problems to live with day in and day out. So…
Read: ARE THINGS REALLY THAT BAD? → Listeners of our Condo Craze and HOAs radio show know that we just discussed a new law for condominium associations that lets directors communicate, but not vote, by e-mail. On its face, I don’t find it objectionable that directors can communicate by e-mail. Of course board members need to exchange ideas,…
Read: ACCESS TO E-MAILS → It seems like the biggest issue today for community associations is whether or not “no-pet” communities have the authority to question individuals that request exemptions, so they can reside with animals that are medically necessary. Before we get into the authority of associations, it’s important that you…
Read: SERVICE ANIMALS AND EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS-PART 1 → Last week we blogged about how apathy can harm a community in many different ways. Everyone’s comments were great. This week I want to take the conversation in the opposite direction. Is it a good idea for the Board or community to be zealous or perhaps overly zealous in enforcing the governing documents…
Read: rules rules rules → Many of you have seen outgoing board members sign long term contracts with a vendor just before getting off the Board. Often times, these contracts were executed by a single board member without any vote of the board whatsoever. The question is……is the contract still an obligation of the association even…
Read: CAN ONE RENEGADE BOARD MEMBER BIND THE ENTIRE BOARD? → It’s officially hurricane season here in Florida. Pretty soon, the media will be trying to scare the bejesus out of us the minute a single cloud rolls off of Africa’s west coast. We all know how lucky we’ve been for close to a decade now, but one day our luck will again run out. Imagine for a moment that…
Read: WHEN YOUR BELONGINGS AND YOUR DOCS GO OUT THE WINDOW → As many of you already know, just because your next election is far off into the future, this doesn’t mean that in the interim, the current board members can’t be removed from office. The “recall” process is a procedure that can be used in both condominiums and HOAs. In simple terms, a majority of the…
Read: RECALL PITFALLS → KAREN: GOOD AFTERNOON, AND WELCOME BACK TO CONDO CRAZE AND HOAS HERE ON 850 WFTL. I’M KAREN CURTIS, AND I’M HERE AGAIN TODAY, AS WE ARE EACH SUNDAY AT NOON, WITH ATTORNEYS ERIC GLAZER AND SCOTT SHAPIRO FROM GLAZER AND ASSOCIATES, P.A. A LAW FIRM PRACTICING COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION LAW THROUGHOUT FLORIDA.…
Read: CONDO CRAZE AND HOAS - WEEK 223 → Iremember as a kid when Century Village was being built and Red Buttons was all over the TV in New York telling everyone why they need to retire to one of the fine “adult only” communities that are being built in South Florida. Dare I say it, but in a couple of more birthdays, I’m eligible to move in. So,…
Read: 55 AND OVER COMMUNITIES – A PRIMER → 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 → 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 2 → 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? →Read it. Then watch it.
