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
Last year on Labor Day, Condo President Leava Mealoni had the day off from her real job working at the local day care center, changing diapers and otherwise helping to care for two year old kids. It was well deserved. Leava would often come home with migraine headaches and smelling from all things that two…
Read: LABOR DAY --- NO THANK YOU → It’s Labor Day and condo President Esa Nomyjob, has the day off from work. She gets to stay home from work and simply enjoy all the wonderful amenities her condo has to offer. It’s well deserved. The day starts off though with a call from Willie Winer, that the upstairs neighbor has apparently let the…
Read: LABOR DAY --- who need it → As we all know from even our early school days, this country was founded upon the principle of no taxation without representation and one man one vote. After achieving the ability to govern ourselves as a nation, women and minorities fought for and ultimately obtained the right to vote as well. It’s pretty…
Read: LOSING YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE → As our listeners of the Condo Craze and H.O.A.’s radio show know, we’ve been spending some time recently telling them how they can make their property ready for a hurricane, so that if a storm hits, they can weather it. We’ve spoken about preparing your roof, electricity, plumbing, interior furnishings and…
Read: IS YOUR BUDGET READY FOR A HURRICANE? → There’s no question that one of the subjects I get most often asked about is whether or not the Board has the right to reject an applicant for either a rental or a purchase in the community. It would be great if there was some guidance, some statute, some rule that I can point them to that tells them what…
Read: SCREENING, REJECTING APPROVING AND THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL → Chapter 468 of The Florida Statutes contains numerous provisions about how community association managers get disciplined by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. This year, The Florida Legislature amended Florida law to allow community association managers to get disciplined if they…
Read: DO COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS GET AWAY WITH MURDER? → No matter whether we live in a community association or not, we would all agree that Florida is lush with green spaces, beautiful towering palm trees, wide open fields of grass, exquisitely colored flowers and some of the most spectacular landscaping on the planet. Just looking at all of these remarkable…
Read: LANDSCAPING --- WHAT IS THERE TO POSSIBLY FIGHT ABOUT? → Iwrote this blog last year. I’m using it again because for many of us, and perhaps almost all of us, we are in the middle of the most difficult year of our lives. Nobody could have predicted the disaster that has been 2020 on a world-wide scale. So –I’m running the column again, hoping to challenge all of us…
Read: THERE ARE THINGS TO STILL BE THANKFUL FOR → Well that was quite a year wasn’t it? 2020 was without a doubt the gloomiest, most depressing year that most of us have encountered in our lifetimes. It could not have ended soon enough. I don’t think it’s sufficient to just put it in the rear view mirror and forget about it. It would be a shame if we look…
Read: NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS → It’s time to tell the members of the association all about the association’s finances, like it or not. Both the Florida condominium and homeowner statutes mandate the following: Within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year, or annually on a date provided in the bylaws, the association shall prepare…
Read: YEAR END FINANCIAL REPORTING → You may recall that a few weeks ago I blogged about the fact that members in an HOA have far less protection than unit owners in a condominium. With the help of Jan Bergemann from CCFJ www.ccfj.net, and our lobbyist, I drafted legislation that would help HOA members throughout Florida. Here are the…
Read: YOU WANT REFORM? HERE IT COMES…I HOPE → Ah….the holidays. Thoughts of peace, love and joyous occasions fill our thoughts. Our communities unite and happiness is proclaimed throughout the land. Unless of course you have a Board that doesn’t feel as warm and fuzzy about your holiday decorations as you do. If that’s the situation you find…
Read: CAN YOUR BOARD REALLY STOP YOU FROM PUTTING UP YOUR CHRISTMAS OR HANUKAH DECORATIONS IN YOUR CONDO OR HOA? → Thanksgiving is just three days away. Even with the “fiscal cliff” looming over our heads, unemployment still too high and Florida leading the nation in the number of foreclosures, surely there must be some things that those of us who live in condominiums or HOAs can be thankful for. Here’s a few: By all…
Read: EVEN IN A CONDO OR HOA - THERE ARE THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR → Certification of Board Members: For whatever reason, The Florida Legislature believes that it’s only important for condominium Board members to learn the law, be familiar with their governing documents and get certified. HOA members can just “wing it” I guess. Certainly, education should be required for…
Read: CONDOS AND HOA solutions → Afew years ago, the Florida Legislature passed a new law effecting board members of Florida condominium associations only. The law states: Within 90 days after being elected or appointed to the board, each newly elected or appointed director shall certify in writing to the secretary of the association that…
Read: SHOULD EDUCATION BE REQUIRED FOR ALL BOARD MEMBERS? → I’m hoping that after reading this column today, those of you who live in an HOA will forward some of these concerns to your local Senator or House Member, because I don’t even think they are aware of just how bad the HOA statute is and how condominium owners have far greater protections under the law than…
Read: CONDOS AND HOA'S ARE MORE DIFFERENT THAN YOU MAY THINK → Last week, I received an e-mail from someone who was complaining that her HOA was using the voting and election procedures required by the condominium statute, instead of the HOA statute. In other words, using the Florida Statute 718 laws instead of Florida Statute 720. She wanted to know if this was O.K.,…
Read: ELECTION TIME IS HERE → Each week, Jan, Darlys and I agree on a new topic to blog about. This week, Jan suggested that we blog about gates and fences. My first thought was……..how much can I possibly write about gates and fences? What comment can I make about a gate or a fence that would make the reader care about reading the…
Read: GATES AND FENCES CAN BE AS BAD AS BARBED WIRE →Read it. Then watch it.
