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
Over a decade ago The Florida Legislature thought it was a good idea for members of condo and HOA boards to become “certified.” Sounds like a good idea. The problem is that the legislators allowed for two ways to become certified. One way is by going over to your computer and printing a form that is on…
Read: IT’S TIME TO STOP A TRUE FLORID → How many times have you heard someone bragging about how cheap their monthly expenses are at their condo? How many times have you heard comments like “We have a great board – the assessments are so cheap.” It turns out that those boards were not doing you a favor by keeping your assessments low. They were…
Read: ARE YOUR ASSESSMENTS LOW? THEN YOU’RE LIVING A LIE → In May of 2018, at about the same time the engineer was advising Champlain Towers South that their building need millions and millions of dollars in repairs, I wrote about the dangers facing condominiums all over the state because of the ability for owners to opt out of funding reserve accounts. I implored…
Read: I WARNED ABOUT THE DANGERS OF INADEQUATE RESERVES → Iwas lucky enough to be on vacation the past two weeks. On my last day, I woke up to the tragedy that was unfolding in Dade County as the Champlain Towers South Condominium came crashing down in Surfside. There are still over 150 people missing or unaccounted for. Before commenting on this devastation…
Read: A TRAGEDY WITH MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS → As Rafael will tell you later this week, management companies will start working on the 2021 budget for your association when summer comes to an end. Remember, even in condos where reserves are despised, hated, frowned up and scorned, your budget must still include a reserve analysis, like it or not.…
Read: IT’S TIME TO PREPARE THE 2021 BUDGET AND IT MUST INCLUDE RESERVES IN YOUR CONDO → 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 and Legal Update Course. There’s a…
Read: IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME-PART 5 → To keep it simple……in a condominium, when the board sends out its budget, that budget SHALL include reserve accounts for pavement, painting and roofing and anything else expected to cost $10,000.00 to repair or replace. However, the statute says…. This subsection does not apply to an adopted budget in which…
Read: THE OWNERS NEED TO VOTE TO WAIVE RESERVES BEFORE THE BOARD VOTES TO WAIVE RESERVES → Before you know it, The Florida Legislature will be in session. In terms of legislation for condominiums and homeowner associations, 2019 was a complete bust. There wasn’t a single change to Florida Statute 718 or 720. For reasons beyond my comprehension, there are differences between these two statutes…
Read: DUMBFOUNDING DIFFERENCES → Fall is the time when Boards and their managers start scrambling to make next year’s budget. Here’s a few tips: Remember that in a condo, the budget must be mailed to the owners 14 days in advance of the budget meeting. In an HOA the association shall provide each member with a copy of the annual budget or…
Read: TIME TO MAKE THE BUDGET → 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 and Legal Update Course. There’s a…
Read: IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL TIME-PART 4 → Ihate beating around the bush, so I want to get to the point. A financial crisis is coming and it’s going to be a big one. It’s also going to hit those that can least afford it. It’s going to result in massive amounts of foreclosures. It’s going to result in countless cases of elderly persons being…
Read: SHOULD RESERVES BE MANDATORY? → Representative George Moraitis has again filed a bill, House Bill 1061, that would allow community associations to opt-out of the requirement not only of a fire sprinkler system, but also for an engineered life safety system. You may recall that this was an extremely popular bill last year as it seeks to…
Read: SOME OTHER COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION PENDING LEGISLATION → For all eternity, the first week of the new year brings talk of resolutions for the coming year. We resolve to eat right, exercise, lose...
Read: PRACTICAL NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS → But we don’t have money to fix our roof. I can’t believe how expensive it is to replace the landscaping. Why is our deductible so high? After what just happened in that Hollywood Nursing Home, shouldn’t generators be required in 55 and over communities? These are just some of the comments and questions I’ve…
Read: SPEND NOW OR SPEND LATER → In June of 2015, The Florida Supreme Court decided what a licensed community association can do, without being accused of practicing law without a license. The truth is…..The Florida Bar tried hard to curtail what community association managers can do without a license to practice law, while the community…
Read: COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION ATTORNEYS AND MANAGERS NEED TO WORK TOGETHER → No question that the Miami-Dade Grand Jury report slammed the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Unquestionably, the report made the Department of Business and Professional Regulation look bad. Have an open mind however about the Grand Jury proceedings. It’s easy to indict the DBPR if all…
Read: SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? → This is a very interesting time of year in the condo and HOA world. Of course everyone’s thoughts turn to the holidays. We start thinking about Christmas, Chanukah, New Years and all of the days off we get to spend with friends and family. The problem is that this is typically the busiest time of year as…
Read: SOME YEAR-END OBSERVATIONS → Ialways get lots of e-mails from people complaining that the Board is spending their monies wildly and out of control, for things they don’t want, don’t need and for which there was no mention in the association’s budget. As we know, the Board must pass a budget to pay the association’s “common expenses.”…
Read: CAN THE BOARD SPEND YOUR MONEY ON ANYTHING THEY WANT? →Read it. Then watch it.
