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 too often here about a child drowning in a body of water. So many of our beautiful communities are built next to a natural lake or contain man-made lakes. It begs the question…..Can a developer face liability if a child drowns in a river or other body of water? That question was answered in Feliciano…
Read: THE BODY OF WATER DOCTRINE →
Wayside is a small, ten-home, self-managed homeowners’ association located in Seminole County. Pecchia and Porter both respectively own homes within Wayside. As members of the association, Pecchia and Porter were concerned that Wayside was failing to adequately maintain the association’s common elements, and…
Read: APPEALS COURT MAKES IT CLEAR EVEN TO A SMALL HOA: ALLOW ACCESS TO THE ASSOCIATION’S OFFICIAL RECORDS OR ELSE → Oftentimes, condominium associations amend their documents in an attempt to prevent an owner from owning more than one condominium unit. The question is, can that legally be done? The case of Tropicana Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Tropical Condominium, LLC, 208 So.3d 755, 759 (Fla.App. 3 Dist., 2016) truly…
Read: CAN A CONDO PREVENT OWNERSHIP OF MORE THAN ONE UNIT? → Wow! How quickly things change. We’ve spoken about on the Condo Craze and HOAs show about a recent Miami case involving the Biscayne 21 Condominium, where its’ declaration of condominium stated that the condominium can only be terminated with a 100% vote of the owners. However, the declaration could be…
Read: TERMINATION: NOW YOU SHOULD BE SCARED TO DEATH OF IT → Even the possibility of The Florida Legislature going into Special Session in order to solve this alleged condo crisis is insane. You know why? Because our legislators had the guts to fix it two years ago after 98 innocent victims perished in a condominium building that was in a terribly poor, dangerous…
Read: Sorry condo owners – it is what it is. → Last week in my blog, I discussed how developers attempt to buy enough units in order to vote to Terminate the condominium. By doing so, the developer files a plan of termination, and buys up all the units. We also spoke about the fact that in some condominiums, a vote of 100% of the owners may be required…
Read: THE OTHER WAY TO TERMINATE THE CONDOMINIUM → When our blog was published last week about the new powers of the DBPR, some owners in HOAs really were appalled. They still can’t believe that they can’t go to the DBPR for help but condominium owners are perhaps now getting all the help they need. Florida Statute 720.302(2) states the…
Read: AND WHAT ABOUT HOAs? → There has been lots of complaints over the years that when condominium owners bring their complaints to the DBPR and expect some help, the only thing they got in return was a letter that said the DBPR has no jurisdiction over the subject matter of their complaint. I actually watched a legislative hearing in…
Read: THE DBPR HAS LOTS OF NEW POWER – WILL THEY USE IT? → We fought long and we fought hard, but we got what we wanted; mandatory education for all condo board members and HOA board members. Now, all Board members of both condominiums and HOAs must become certified by both submitting a document stating you have read your governing documents and will comply with…
Read: MANDATORY EDUCATION IS HERE AND SO ARE THE CLASSES → Ihope everyone had a great 4th of July long weekend. More than any other day of the year, it certainly is the day to fly the flag proudly. We all know that the statutes for both condos and HOAs state that owners may display a United States flag in a respectful way, and on certain other days, flags…
Read: WHICH FLAG CAN YOU FLY? → While not the ones that got the most attention, there were a few other bills that were signed into law by The Governor involving community associations: House Bill 59 was signed into law and it requires that Before October 1, 2024, an association shall provide a physical or digital copy of the association’s…
Read: SOME OTHER NEW ASSOCIATION LAWS → If there ever was a column that I hated to write, this is it! Last week I spoke about a case I argued before The Florida Supreme Court in 2011 called Cohn v. The Grand Condominium. In that case, the minority commercial unit owners at The Grand Condominium challenged a new Florida statute that took away…
Read: WAS ALL OF THIS FOR NOTHING? → Boards of Florida condominium associations and homeowner associations are allowed to make rules regarding use of the common areas, access to records, the right to speak at meetings,and in a few other areas. Here are a few rules regarding rules: 1. Rules must be reasonable: Rules have to have a valid…
Read: SOME QUICK RULES ABOUT MAKING RULES → In 2011, I argued a case in front of The Supreme Court of Florida called Cohn v. The Grand Condominium. Here’s a quick summary of the facts: The Grand is a large condo building built in 1986 in Dade County. The declaration of condominium was recorded in 1986. It contains 1,200 units. 800 of the units are…
Read: NEW ARBITRATION RULING SENDS SHOCKWAVES TO ALL COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS REGARDING ELECTIONS → Suppose you ask for access to certain condominium records, they are never given to you, but months later the association says they were? What do you do now? Well, for condominiums only The Florida Legislature attempts to address this issue in House Bill 1021 which goes into effect July 1st and says: In…
Read: CONDO RECORDS AND THE NEW CHECKLIST LAW → I’m thinking about that condo President, perhaps but not necessarily in a 55 and over community, who has been on the board for over 10 years. He or she has put in countless hours for the community and hasn’t been paid a dime. For the last decade, every day the residents of the community wave and say hello…
Read: IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE STOMACH → There were even changes this year to the laws involving condominium records. For example, Florida Statute 718.111(12) is being amended to state that the association’s accounting records must include, but are not limited to: All invoices, transaction receipts, or deposit slips that substantiate any receipt or…
Read: BIG CHANGES TO CONDO RECORD LAWS → Irecently blogged about the new statute requiring education for HOA Board Members. This week, let’s talk about mandatory education for condominium Board members. There is definitely a difference between the two. So here’s the new law……. 718.112(2)(d)4b – CONDOMINIUM DIRECTOR EDUCATION A director of a board…
Read: NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT EDUCATION FOR CONDO BOARD MEMBERS →Read it. Then watch it.
