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
Some condos and HOAs have grown into complex organizations. Learn when self-management works and when professional management may be the better option.
Read: Have Some Condos and HOAs Become Too Complicated to Self-Manage? →
A good Owner’s Rep can be the difference between a smooth project and a budget-blowing mess. They act as your watchdog, keeping engineers and contractors honest while protecting your board from confusion, surprise costs, and missed deadlines. Smaller routine jobs may not need one, but big repairs, structural…
Read: Do You Really Need an Owner’s Rep? Here’s Who Does →
The question of whether or not you can bring your personal trainer on to the common elements in order to help train or teach you was answered by the 4th District Court of Appeals last week. In Charterhouse Associates, Ltd., Inc., v. Valencia Reserve Homeowners Association, Inc., here are the facts:…
Read: CAN YOUR ASSOCIATION PREVENT YOU FROM BRINING YOUR PROFESSIONAL TRAINER INTO THE COMMON AREA GYM OR TENNIS COURTS? → Ipreviously wrote a column about how difficult it is to be a community association manager. The amount of hats that a community...
Read: when the management company goes too far → Florida Statute 718.111(d) states: An officer, director, or agent shall discharge his or her duties in good faith, with the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances, and in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the interests of the association.…
Read: WHEN AN OFFICER OR DIRECTOR’S CONDUCT CROSSES THE LINE → 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 → The holidays are now in the rear view mirror. It doesn’t have to be doom and gloom however in your association. Resolve this year to start off on the right foot, get rid of the clutter, get a grip on your finances, and make sure you don’t get locked into bad deals for yet another year. Here are some…
Read: STARTING THE YEAR OFF RIGHT → Four years ago, I wrote a column about how difficult it is to be a community association manager. The amount of hats that a community association manager often has to wear is amazing. Simultaneously, he or she needs to serve as the number cruncher, interior designer, police man, collection agency, master of…
Read: MANAGING THE MANAGER – PART TWO → We all know that there are no professional qualifications that are required in order to become a Board member. You don’t need any type of degree or license. You don’t need any prior experience of any kind in business. There are no tests to take. However, there are still some provisions of the Florida…
Read: ARE YOU QUALIFIED TO BE A BOARD MEMBER? → This is the time of year that my family starts to see less and less of me. I’m writing this column from a hotel room in Bradenton, Florida. Tomorrow morning I have the honor of kicking off the L&L Condominium and HOA Expo by teaching our Condo Craze and HOAs Board Certification Course for both condominium…
Read: THERE'S LOTS OF RESOURCES OUT THERE → So you want to be on the Board of Directors. Did you ever wonder whether or not by being on the Board, you are subjecting yourself to loss of your personal assets should your association get sued. Unless you’re truly a bad guy or gal, you have little to worry about. Getting personal liability against an…
Read: GETTING PERSONAL → After doing this for 22 years now, I don’t get surprised that often any longer by anything that takes place in the world of condos and HOAs. This week however, I was quite surprised. Twice in the same week, community association managers brought it to my attention that companies that do business in South…
Read: CAMs: Avoid That Temptation at all Costs → Many of you have seen outgoing board members sign long term contracts with a vendor just before getting off the Board. Often times, these contracts were executed by a single board member without any vote of the board whatsoever. The question is……is the contract still an obligation of the association even…
Read: CAN ONE RENEGADE BOARD MEMBER BIND THE ENTIRE BOARD? → Without a doubt, one of the most common complaints unit owners hurl at their Board of Directors is that the Board hold private meetings that the owners simply never get notice of. May owners complain that these meetings violate the “Sunshine” laws that require public meetings, but they are incorrect, as the…
Read: SO WHEN IS A MEETING A MEETING? → Afew weeks ago, we blogged about how to run a successful annual meeting. I not so jokingly said the best way to make the meeting run smoothly was to order food. Lots of it. I also made it clear not to serve liquor. I wasn’t joking about that either. As many of us know, liquor tends to fuel the emotions and…
Read: A SUCCESSFUL ANNUAL MEETING – PART TWO – CURBING THE VIOLENCE. → Chapter 468 of The Florida Statutes contains numerous provisions about how community association managers get disciplined by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. This year, The Florida Legislature amended Florida law to allow community association managers to get disciplined if they…
Read: DO COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS GET AWAY WITH MURDER? → You may recall that a few weeks ago I blogged about the fact that members in an HOA have far less protection than unit owners in a condominium. With the help of Jan Bergemann from CCFJ www.ccfj.net, and our lobbyist, I drafted legislation that would help HOA members throughout Florida. Here are the…
Read: YOU WANT REFORM? HERE IT COMES…I HOPE → 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 →Read it. Then watch it.
