THE ONE BIG BILL – ON VIDEO CONFERENCING

As you know, the Florida Legislature ended in a real blockbuster way in regards to new condo legislation.  In the end The Florida House and The Florida Senate agreed on ONE BIG BILL (HB 913) that is 191 pages long.

Today we talk about the new provisions regarding VIDEO CONFERENCING.  Even though condominium and co-op Boards have been using video conferencing since Covid, there was no clear law on what was allowed and what wasn’t.

The new laws says:

"Video conference" means a real-time audio and video- based meeting between two or more people in different locations using video-enabled and audio-enabled devices. The notice for any meeting that will be conducted by video conference must have a hyperlink and call-in conference telephone number for unit owners to attend the meeting and must have a physical location where unit owners can also attend the meeting in person. All meetings conducted by video conference must be recorded, and such recording must be maintained as an official record of the association.

A board meeting may be conducted in person or by video conference. A board or committee member's participation in a meeting via telephone, real-time videoconferencing, or similar real-time electronic or video communication counts toward a quorum, and such member may vote as if physically present. A speaker must be used so that the conversation of such members may be heard by the board or committee members attending in person as well as by any unit owners present at a meeting. The division shall adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536 and 120.54 governing the requirements for meetings.

If the board meeting is to be conducted via video conference, the notice must state that such meeting will be via video conference and must include a hyperlink and a conference telephone number for unit owners to attend the meeting via video conference, as well as the address of the physical location where the unit owners can attend the meeting in person. If the meeting is conducted via video conference, it must be recorded and such recording must be maintained as an official record of the association.

The association has an obligation to maintain A book or books or electronic records that contain the minutes of all meetings of the association, the board of administration, any committee, and the unit owners, and a recording of all such meetings that are conducted by video conference. If there are approved minutes for a meeting held by video conference, recordings of meetings that are conducted by video conference must be maintained for at least 1 year after the date the video recording is posted on the association’s website.  

So, we learned that having the meeting via video conference is not enough. There must be a physical location that the unit owners can go to for the meeting.

Watch our recent epside where we discuss this topic. Don't forget to subscribe!