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
HB 1203 made some major changes regarding architectural review committees. To sum it up, their powers were greatly slashed. Let’s take a look: An association or any architectural, construction improvement, or similar committee of an association must reasonably and equitably apply and enforce on all parcel…
Read: ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMITTEES – THEIR POWERS GET SLASHED → I think everyone reading this knows how long and how hard I have fought for mandatory education for Board members. I always thought it was disgraceful to allow someone to get certified by signing a dumb form that says I read my governing documents and promise to enforce them. Finally, we have a change in…
Read: FINALLY: EDUCATION IS REQUIRED FOR HOA BOARD MEMBERS → FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY If the unit owners elect to do so, they can vote for the association to prepare a lesser year-end statement than what is required by law. The law has changed and now states: An association may not prepare a lesser financial statement than what is required by law for consecutive fiscal…
Read: House Bill 1203 - Continued → An HOA here in South Florida recently fought the State Attorney’s Office tooth and nail when they attempted to obtain copies of the association’s official records. There’s no doubt that as a result of that one HOA, the following law was passed: HB 1203 Florida Statute 720.303 (i) If an association receives…
Read: WHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT WANTS THE ASSOCIATION’S RECORDS →
There’s no question that 2024 will be remembered as the year that both HOA and Condominium law were jolted. This week, let’s discuss how HOA directors can wind up behind bars. Here’s the new law in : 720.303(5) (d) Any director or member of the board or association or a community association manager who…
Read: FROM NOW ON…...HOA DIRECTORS ARE ON THE RADAR AS WELL → House Bill 1203 and SB 7046 merged to eventually create a huge bill for the protection of homeowners in HOAs. It starts by placing lots of responsibilities on community association managers. A community association manager or community association management firm that is authorized by contract to provide…
Read: HB 1203: LOTS OF NEW PROTECTIONS FOR MEMBERS LIVING IN HOAs MAKES IT HARDER FOR CAMs → March 11, 2024 Until now there was no law in our Florida HOAs that would allow a home owner to install their own electrical generator with above ground or below ground gas tanks. Here we are, living in Florida with sometimes unbearable heat and humidity, we have a large elderly population, hurricanes…
Read: A GENERATOR BILL THAT IS LONG OVER DUE (Part 2) → So The Florida Legislature is only in session for another four days. Over the next few weeks we want to educate you about the bills that passed both The Florida House and The Florida Senate. So here we go…….. Let’s start with an amendment to Florida Statute 720.303. The following is all added: (13)…
Read: HOUSE BILL 59 – PROVIDING COPIES OF THE DOCS → So many of our condominiums were built in the days that it was basically unheard of for a family to own more than one automobile. Many homes didn’t even own one automobile. As a result, the laws were a lot different than they are today and allowed a building to be built with far less parking spots than…
Read: A PARKING PRIMER → As I informed you last week, Representative Vicki Lopez, Senator Jennifer Bradley and Senator Jason Pizzo have filed companion bills HB1021 and SB1178 in The Florida House of Representatives and The Florida Senate that take aim at community association managers and community association management…
Read: COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS ARE IN THE CROSSHAIRS- PART 2 → Representative Vicki Lopez, Senator Jennifer Bradley and Senator Jason Pizzo have filed companion bills HB1021 and SB1178. Leave no doubt, these bills take aim at community association managers and community association management companies. I will tell you that in my 32 years of practice, too many times…
Read: COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS ARE IN THE CROSSHAIRS - PART 1 → I live in a great HOA. By great, I mean you would never know there was an HOA. It’s very hands off and it certainly seems like the owners in the community keep their houses well kept. One of the things I was allowed to do several years ago was install an underground 500 gallon propane tank in my front yard…
Read: A GENERATOR BILL THAT IS LONG OVER DUE → If you think that mandatory condo education for board members was controversial, you haven’t heard anything yet. When a unit owner wants to sell their home, the buyer wants to make sure that the seller does not owe the association money. You see, if the buyer buys the property without making sure the condo,…
Read: THE ESTOPPEL FEE DEBATE → Let’s just say that 2024 has gotten off on the right foot. For those of you that have followed my career, you know how passionate I have been about mandatory education for condominium board members. I have drafted legislation requiring mandatory board education several times. Each time it would make it into…
Read: COULD THIS BE THE YEAR? → The Condo Craze and HOAs radio show will no longer be a radio show. After a 15 year run with 850 WFTL, it’s time to get bigger and better. Starting in 2024, the show will be moving into the 21st century and will be broadcast live on video on the Condo Craze and HOAs channel on You Tube. The new technology…
Read: CONDO CRAZE AND HOAs GETTING BIGGER AND BETTER → I just finished watching the meeting before The Regulated Industries Committee in The Florida Senate. The topic, Florida condominiums and The DBPR. I must say I found the meeting very interesting. The testimony of the former Florida Condominium Ombudsman, Spencer Henning, was truly compelling. He spoke of…
Read: SO WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN 2024? → This blog is going to make a lot of people angry and perhaps a lot of people thinking I did the right thing, but here we go….. The tragic collapse of the Champlain Towers in Surfside, Florida occurred on June 24th, 2021 killing 98 innocent men, women and children. I was there a few days later staring at…
Read: THE NEW LAWS – A LITTLE BACKGROUND → It’s November —and November means it’s time to get out the budget for next year. One of the line items that should definitely be included in your budget is “bad debt.” Bad debt is the amount of money you are not going to collect from your non paying owners. For example: let’s say that your assessments…
Read: IT’S BUDGET TIME. YOU BETTER BE INCLUDING BAD DEBT →Read it. Then watch it.
