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
Ihad the honor and pleasure of spending a few days in Tallahassee last week. I testified at hearings before the House of Representatives. I drafted proposed legislation and had several meetings with legislators and staff. One thing is very clear this legislative session. IF YOU ARE A BOARD MEMBER OR…
Read: LEGISLATIVE UPDATE → The bill prevents attorneys from representing a board if the attorney represents the management company. Since when does an attorney represent a board? An attorney represents an association, not the board. Moreover, the Florida Supreme Court governs the conduct of attorneys, not the Florida Condominium…
Read: TALK ABOUT GOING OVERBOAD FIXES-PART 2 → As we said last week, don’t be fooled by some of the new legislation that is supposed to crack down on condo crime. A bad board member or manager stealing some money from the operating account of a condominium is terrible and they deserve to be arrested and incarcerated. However, it is small potatoes to…
Read: HOW ABOUT WE FOCUS ON REAL CRIME? → In response to the Miami Dade Grand Jury Report that blasted officers and directors, management companies and the DBPR, but ignored the fact that prosecutor’s offices often turn a blind eye toward condo and HOA crime, Senator Rene Garcia and House Member Jose Felix Diaz filed a bill that attempts to do a…
Read: In response to the Miami Dad → In response to the Miami Dade Grand Jury Report that blasted officers and directors, management companies and the DBPR, but ignored the fact that prosecutor’s offices often turn a blind eye toward condo and HOA crime, Senator Rene Garcia and House Member Jose Felix Diaz filed a bill that attempts to do a…
Read: March 6, 2017In response to the Miami Dade Grand Jury Report that bla → 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 → 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 → 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? → 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? → 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 → It’s the end of the summer. Millions of kids across our state have to suck it up and return to school. And if the kids have to endure school for the next ten months, all of you can endure a measly three hours. I’m talking of course about Condo and HOA Board Certification. There’s a lot that goes into my…
Read: IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME-PART 2 → When the foreclosure crisis was at its peak, developers were complaining that they were in effect stuck with numerous condominium projects that simply weren’t selling. They wanted the ability to at least try and save the project by converting it into a rental community instead of being forced to maintain it…
Read: FLORIDA LEGISLATURE CORRECTS FLAWED TERMINATION PROCESS → Every now and then, the courts of our state issue an opinion in a case involving a condo or HOA that is very important and certainly worth mention. On June 1st, the 4th District Court of Appeals issued a decision in Pundit 2 Joint Venture v. Westwood Gardens HOA that does not bode too well for some…
Read: HOW ONE ASSOCIATION LOST BIG BY FAILING TO UPDATE THEIR DOCS. → The long awaited decision by The Florida Supreme Court is finally in regarding what a licensed community association can do, without being accused of practicing law without a license. The Florida Bar tried hard to curtail what community association managers can do without a license to practice law, while…
Read: THE LAWYERS V. THE MANAGERS --- SO WHO WON? → It’s the end of the summer. I watched my kids suck it up this week, pack their school bags and head off to school to return for another year of learning. Millions of kids across our state did the exact same thing. And if they can do it five days a week for the next ten months, each of you can do it for a…
Read: BACK TO SCHOOL TIME-PART 1 → Funny how things work sometimes. Over the past 23 years, I have noticed an interesting pattern in Florida community associations. When money is tight and foreclosures are soaring, associations are far less likely to engage in litigation. Suddenly, nobody really cares what color someone painted their house…
Read: YOU MAY WANT TO WAIT BEFORE YOU LITIGATE → Over the last several years, the issue of delinquencies in our Florida community associations became worse and worse. The more people didn’t pay, the more the good paying owners had to pay. The more bank foreclosures, the less the association was receiving in badly needed revenue. The real solution to the…
Read: FINALLY - A REMEDY THAT WORKS FOR ASSOCIATIONS →Read it. Then watch it.
