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
Week in and week out, we are always hearing about the negatives in our Florida community associations. Whether it’s stealing money, taking kick-backs, rigging elections, management companies on the take, crumbling properties or the like, there is always something in the news which makes our Florida…
Read: THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF REASONS TO BE HOPEFUL → Last week we blogged about the association’s ability or perhaps inability, to limit the number of rentals in the community. We also discussed the differences between the condominium statute and the HOA statute regarding same. This week, let’s focus on a related topic, short term rentals. Most governing…
Read: THAT’S NOT MY TENANT ---- THAT’S MY FAMILY! → I’m always asked what can be done to prevent our community from completely turning into a rental community. The answer differs depending upon whether or not you live in a condominium or an HOA. Here is the case that settled the issue in a condominium: In Woodside Village Condominium Association, Inc. v.…
Read: RESTRICTING RENTALS? CAN IT BE DONE? → The three of us were certainly flattered by how many people read and participated in our blog discussion last week regarding The Miami Herald’s expose’ into condo fraud in South Florida. Those of you who live in HOAs must be wondering why the findings were limited to condominiums and not expanded to include…
Read: WELL WHAT ABOUT HOAs and WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT VOTER FRAUD? → Over the past week or two, The Miami Herald has been running a few articles about wrong doing in certain condominium associations in South Florida. The writer almost seems amazed that there are apparently ballots being cast with fake signatures and that in some condominiums voter turn-out exceeds 100%. Now…
Read: HOW MUCH MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED? → Let’s pretend it’s the night of your annual meeting. It’s time to verify the signatures and count the ballots. Someone reminds the attorney not to count the votes of any owners who are more than 90 days delinquent. Are they right? Maybe…. I would first argue that without the Kaufman or “as amended from…
Read: SOME OTHER CONFUSING VOTING ISSUES → Last week we discussed how Board members can be removed from the Board for failing to pay their assessments. We also know that unit owners can be prevented from voting for failing to pay their assessments. They can also be banned from using portions of the common areas and can be prevented from running for…
Read: THE AS AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME LANGUAGE REVISITED → We all know that there are no professional qualifications that are required in order to become a Board member. You don’t need any type of degree or license. You don’t need any prior experience of any kind in business. There are no tests to take. However, there are still some provisions of the Florida…
Read: ARE YOU QUALIFIED TO BE A BOARD MEMBER? → Last week we discussed the minimum requirements to serve on your Board of Directors. In sum, you can’t even run for the Board if you have a prior felony conviction unless your rights were restored, you can’t owe the association money, and you have to be the owner, not just married to the owner. Let’s assume…
Read: DO YOU STILL QUALIFY TO SERVE ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS → It’s no secret that I always thought it was unfair that condominium owners had the protection of the DBPR in their corner while owners in an HOA did not. For a lousy $4.00 per unit per year, the DBPR provides condominium owners access to arbitrators, free forms, investigators, a question and answer hot…
Read: LET'S CAUSE SOME CHAOS → What can be more American than exercising your First Amendment Free Speech rights to campaign and support the candidate of your choice by displaying one of their campaign signs on your front lawn or in your window? It’s almost unimaginable that in a country founded on the idea of political expression,…
Read: CAN YOUR ASSOCIATION SAY “TAKE DOWN THAT SIGN?” → It’s amazing how dangerously uninformed some people are. Over the years I have heard time and again owners of condominium units and homes in HOAs take the position that even if they don’t pay their assessments, it makes no difference because it’s their “homestead property” and “homestead property” is…
Read: CAN THEY REALLY TAKE MY HOME? → Happy belated Father’s Day to all of the fathers out there who are reading the blog today. I hope yesterday was filled with fun and joy and you were surrounded by the ones that you love and the ones that love you. If you were, it’s a pretty good guess you were not at the monthly Board of Directors meeting.…
Read: WHO MAKES BETTER BOARD MEMBERS, MEN OR WOMEN? → Happy New Year to everyone. In the condo and HOA world, with a few exceptions, the new year certainly means one thing; the annual meeting is almost here. I’m often asked whether or not I recommend that an attorney be present at the annual meeting or if the association should simply allow the community…
Read: DO I NEED A LAWYER AT MY ANNUAL MEETING? → The weekly blog has been dealing with a lot of tough issues lately. Whether or not birthdays of Lee and Davis should be state holidays, crime by board members, election fraud, crime by community association managers, etc. Today, let’s step back and have some fun instead. From now until November, 2016 we…
Read: TELL US ABOUT YOUR PRESIDENT → Jan, Darlys and I write a lot. We write 52 columns a year for the past several years. No doubt, that’s a lot of talk. While we have said a lot throughout this year, and voiced our opinions and provided our comments, we want to conclude the year on a different note. That is to simply say that we wish each…
Read: MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR → So last week we blogged about the fact that your right to display religious symbols on your own property is limited. In a condominium, you only have the right to display a small religious object on the frame or mantle of your door. In an HOA, there is no statute whatsoever which gives you the right to…
Read: YOUR RIGHT TO PRACTICE YOUR RELIGION MAY NOT BE AS STRONG AS YOU THOUGHT IT WAS → Ihave been to some real nasty association meetings over the last 23 years. I’ve personally been cursed at, screamed at, yelled at and insulted. My wife can sometimes get that way. All kidding aside, I’ve attended meetings where control was totally lost and violence erupted. It happened more than once and…
Read: SHOULD THE POLICE BE ATTENDING YOUR MEETINGS? →Read it. Then watch it.
