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 the last several years, the issue of delinquencies in our Florida community associations became worse and worse. The more people didn’t pay, the more the good paying owners had to pay. The more bank foreclosures, the less the association was receiving in badly needed revenue. The real solution to the…
Read: FINALLY - A REMEDY THAT WORKS FOR ASSOCIATIONS → Here we go. It’s election time again in your community association. Year after year, we see some of the same mistakes, so let’s just review some of the laws and rules the too often get violated and may wind up causing your election to be deemed invalid in your condominium association. How many Board…
Read: DON’T MAKE MISTAKES AT YOUR ELECTION → As many of you already know, just because your next election is far off into the future, this doesn’t mean that in the interim, the current board members can’t be removed from office. The “recall” process is a procedure that can be used in both condominiums and HOAs. In simple terms, a majority of the…
Read: RECALL PITFALLS → Although you may not know it, your condominium could be terminated by a vote of the owners. This simply means that the provisions of your Declaration of Condominium would no longer apply and you can in effect be forced out of the property. All declarations of condominium contain a section regarding how the…
Read: HERE TODAY --- GONE TOMORROW-PART 1 → My column two weeks ago regarding the estoppel fee bill and what has happened since, has proven a point made long ago by fellow blogger Jan Bergemann. The community association laws are written by, directed, guided and championed, not by the people who live in these communities, but rather by the people…
Read: WHO TO TURN TO FOR HELP-PART 1 → Although you may not know it, your condominium could be terminated by a vote of the owners. This simply means that the provisions of your Declaration of Condominium would no longer apply and you can in effect be forced out of the property. All declarations of condominium contain a section regarding how the…
Read: WHO TO TURN TO FOR HELP-PART 1 → My column two weeks ago regarding the estoppel fee bill and what has happened since, has proven a point made long ago by fellow blogger Jan Bergemann. The community association laws are written by, directed, guided and championed, not by the people who live in these communities, but rather by the people…
Read: WHO TO TURN TO FOR HELP-PART 2 → There are so many ways a developer can build a community: The developer can build separate buildings but record only one declaration of condominium that all units are governed by. In that case, there would be only one condominium and only one condominium association. The developer can build multiple…
Read: THE MOST CONFUSING CONDOMINIUM OF THEM ALL → Republicans always knock the Democrats for never actually solving a problem, but choosing instead to form a committee to investigate solutions that may one day hypothetically come up with the answer to the problem and which may ultimately and possibly be utilized in the future to solve the problem, after…
Read: GOVERNOR SCOTT………THE DEMOCRAT → It’s that time of year again when The Florida Legislature convenes in order to debate and pass new laws. There’s always at least a few bills that have something to do with our Florida community associations. Over the next few weeks, we will discuss the bills that have been filed, track their progress and…
Read: THE LEGISLATURE IS NOW IN SESSION → Two years ago, you may remember that a Miami Dade Grand Jury issued a scathing report about condominium board members in Miami Dade County. In sum, the report concluded that they’re basically all a bunch of thieves who get on the board with evil intentions including purposely diverting the association’s…
Read: DIRECTORS ARE IN THE CROSS HAIRS YET AGAIN → My what a difference a year makes. This time last year, we had no idea how many HOAs there were in the State of Florida, unit owners weren’t allowed to use their cameras and cell phones to take pictures of the official records, exorbitant fees were being charged by some management companies for copies of…
Read: A NEW YEAR, A LOOK BACK AND A PEEK INTO THE FUTURE → It’s the time of year when Boards are concentrating on passing the association’s new budget. In a Florida condominium, the budget must contain fully funded reserve accounts that shall go into effect, unless a majority of a quorum of unit owners vote to waive or reduce the funding of reserves. Reserves must…
Read: RESERVES: SHOULD WE FUND THEM OR SHOULD WE WAIVE THEM? → Let’s pretend that we’re taking a law school exam today. I’ll give the fact pattern and look for the answers from you. Facts: The Cheatem Blind Condominium needs a new roof. With no vote of its Board, directors Sam Shyster and Carlos Crook execute a contract with Carlos’ own roofing company. The…
Read: WHO CAN GET DISCIPLINED AND WHY? → 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 → 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 → 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 → 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 →Read it. Then watch it.
