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
New condominiums and HOA communities continue to get built all over the state. The developer gets to control the community while the place is being built and sold, but perhaps the most critical time period in the entire existence of either a condominium or homeowner’s association is when that control of the…
Read: THE TURNOVER PROCESS: SIMPLIFYING THE PROCESS - REDUCING THE FEAR → So you did your job as a director and you made sure to purchase insurance for the association. So what is actually insured? Florida Statute 718.111 says: f) Every property insurance policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2009, for the purpose of protecting the condominium must provide primary…
Read: SO WHAT ACTUALLY GETS INSURED? → Let’s assume that a storm has just damaged your condominium. Of course, the board has the authority to start making repairs to the common elements. But can a unit owner beging making repairs to their damaged unit with no questions asked? Florida Statute 718.111 states: A unit owner may undertake…
Read: 55 AND OVER COMMUNITIES – HOW TO BECOME ONE AND STAY ONE → Hurricane season starts June 1st. If you haven’t ensured that the association property is properly insured, you better get busy. And fast. Let’s go over what the condo statute says about a board’s obligation to insure the condominium property. Florida Statute 718.111(11) states: (a) Adequate property…
Read: THE PERFECT TIME FOR AN INSURANCE PRIMER → Some years are quiet when it comes to the passage of new laws affecting Florida community associations. This was definitely not one of those years. Here are the new laws in summary form as a result of the passage of HB 841. 718.111 —- OFFICIAL RECORDS: The law now makes it clear that the association must…
Read: HERE THEY ARE………..THE NEW ASSOCIATION LAWS FOR 2018 → Boards of Directors love to have extra money in the bank. Who doesn’t? But the question is…… when is enough enough? Boards of Directors are required to simply pass a budget that pays the association’s bills. Anything collected, above and beyond what pays the bills is “Common surplus” which means the…
Read: BUT…….IT’S NOT THE ASSOCIATION’S MONEY! → This week the blog is pretty important too. All too often I am seeing the incorrect number of Board members serving on a condominium...
Read: HOW MANY MEMBERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ON YOUR CONDO BOARD? → Florida courts have always been clogged with construction litigation cases where the plaintiff is alleging something was not built right, designed right and eventually broke. In an effort to reduce these cases from the court’s docket, the Florida Legislature created Florida Statute 558 which states: 558.001…
Read: 558 REASONS TO BE CAREFUL WHEN SUING FOR BAD CONSTRUCTION → As you know, the condo crime bill was quickly rushed through The Florida Legislature this year. Unfortunately, as a result, the statute may have created more questions than answers in some circumstances. Clearly, The Florida Legislature wanted to prevent board members from continuing to make a buck off of…
Read: THERE’S A CONFLICT IN THE NEW CONFLICT LAWS → SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW LAWS? It certainly was a busy year for condo legislation. HB 653 was vetoed at the last minute by...
Read: SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE NEW LAWS → Ihave always said that often times I learn from my audience at our Board Certification seminars just as much as they hopefully learn from me. This week in Miami was no exception. Like always, I was bombarded by complaints and stories. One stuck out…… In a community in Miami-Dade County, a couple of unit…
Read: WHEN THE BOARD AND THE SOCIAL COMMITTEE BUTT HEADS → 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 → 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 → For those of you who read the Miami Dade Grand Jury Report you know that right off the bat the report starts off with the fact that the problem of unit owner access to records is worse than ever before. It’s a problem that exists for decades. The Florida Legislature has not addressed the problem at all and…
Read: HERE’S A LAW THAT NEEDS TO BE PASSED PRONTO → 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? → There’s plenty of talk this election season about water and energy conservation. There’s even a proposed constitutional amendment in Florida which would guarantee the right to use solar power in your home. Up until now, has Florida law encouraged us to conserve water, conserve energy or given any…
Read: DOES THE LAW ENCOURAGE OUR COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS TO CONSERVE WATER AND ENERGY? → Lots of associations have the right to screen and reject proposed renters of homes and units in their communities. I previously blogged about a new Dade and Broward ordinance that forces associations to act quick when purchasers or renters file an application with the association. The association has 15…
Read: ASSOCIATIONS MUST ACT QUICK WHEN A SERVICE MEMBER WANTS TO MOVE IN →Read it. Then watch it.
