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
Maybe communities communicate too much. Not face to face, but through endless emails. Board members are volunteers dealing with insurance, reserve studies, contractors, and frustrated owners. In that environment, emotions can move faster than wisdom. One angry email can damage relationships built over years.…
Read: The Importance of Civility in Florida's Condominiums and HOAs →
For years, condo and HOA boards handled meetings the same way… vote first, let owners speak at the end. An arbitration ruling just declared that practice unreasonable and contrary to the law. Owners must be allowed to comment on agenda items before a vote happens, otherwise their right to speak is…
Read: CONDO ARBITRATION CASE FLIPSBOARD MEETINGS UPSIDE DOWN →
The Board held seven closed-door meetings claiming to discuss “personnel matters” involving their management and security companies. The arbitrator ruled these were not true personnel matters since the companies were independent contractors, not employees. Under Florida law, only meetings about actual…
Read: SO WHEN CAN THE CONDO/HOA BOARD HAVE A CLOSED-DOOR MEETING? →
Florida promised condo safety after Surfside. Now they’re backpedaling with bills that gut reserves. History is doomed to repeat.
Read: THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE BETTER KILL HB 913 AND SB 1742 →
Rep. Vicki Lopez files a major condo bill—quarterly board meetings, pooled reserves, and lines of credit up to 35% of future needs.
Read: HOUSE BILL 913 – Part Two →
AI is reshaping condos & HOAs—streamlining management, enhancing security, predicting maintenance, and even writing blogs like this!
Read: A-I A-I A-I A-I A-I A-I A-I A-I A-I →
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 → 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 → Board members I’m telling you now……..be careful. I’m seeing it already. Unit owners are starting to freak out over the passage of huge assessments to cover the costs of mandatory inspections, mandatory repairs and massive increases in insurance rates. As we know, we’re not talking about pesky increases to…
Read: BOARD MEMBERS BETTER BE CAREFUL → Sometimes HOAs are simply forgotten about when it comes to new laws. There’s usually a hands off approach by The Florida Legislature. Not this year. This year a new act was created called the “Homeowners’ Associations Bill of Rights.” Florida Statute.303. Now, like condominiums, notices of all board meetings…
Read: AN HOA MEMBER’S BILL OF RIGHTS – HB 919 → oday the nation celebrates the birthday of our first and greatest President, George Washington. He certainly had problems to deal with. Assembling an army, fighting the British, battling extreme weather and lack of supplies. In the end, he defeated what was at the time, the most powerful nation on earth. And…
Read: IT’S PRESIDENT’S DAY. DOES YOUR PRESIDENT DESERVE SOME RECOGNITION? → Many of the associations I represent are getting ahead of the curve and they’re educating their owners about the expenses that are coming by having me show up at the condominium and put on a Power Point presentation showing precisely how these new laws came to be, including showing the actual vote by The…
Read: STOP THE CROWD FROM BLAMING THE BOARD → The other day I was complaining to my Rabbi about something by text. I received an e-mail back that said: “I HEAR YOU.” I can’t tell you how much better I felt. Two days later I wrote an e-mail to the customer service department of a big company. The next day I received an e-mail that basically said I hear…
Read: I HEAR YOU! → The Florida Legislature is in full swing. Each year lots of bills get filed, but few make it to the finish line and become law. Here’s an update on two bills that are moving towards becoming law: SB 394: This is my mandatory education bill, requiring directors to get certified by attending a course. Senator…
Read: LEGISLATIVE UPDATE → I mean no disrespect to anyone who suffered from Covid or who had a family member suffer from Covid over the last two years. My sympathies are with you wholeheartedly. However, in terms of having unit owners participate in the affairs of their communities by way of telephone or ZOOM, Covid was the kick start…
Read: SO DO WE NEED IN PERSON MEETINGS OR NOT? → 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 → On May 20th, 2020 the Secretary of the DBPR entered an Order putting an end to the Emergency Powers that were temporarily granted to directors and officers of community associations, effective June 1st, 2020. So what does that mean? It means, back to the strict requirements of the statutes regarding…
Read: BACK TO BUSINESS AS USUAL → No doubt we have been in unchartered waters for the past few weeks now. Boards have been uncertain about how, when and where they can hold board meetings. Unit owners are upset that they have heard that their Board is actually having meetings that they cannot attend. Decisions are being made at meetings…
Read: IT'S TIME FOR SOME NEW LEGISLATION →Read it. Then watch it.
