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The 2012 Florida Communities of Excellence
Conference & Awards Ceremony

Friday, March 30, 2012
9:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Conference Center
Hollywood, Florida
 
Join board members, managers and residents from hundreds of Florida communities for this annual celebration of community association excellence. Attend stimulating educational sessions and CEU classes, discover the latest solutions from top industry vendors, and network with industry professionals and community leaders from across the state.

Admission is free for Community Association board members, manager and residents.
 
Event Agenda
 9:30 a.m. – Event registration opens
10:00 a.m. – Exhibition area opens
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon – CAM classes
12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. – “Managers of Excellence" Awards Luncheon
The "Managers of Excellence" designation is given to those individuals who manage communities that have received Florida Communities of Excellence Awards.
1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. – Seminars and Panels
Hosted by Communities of Excellence Awards 2012 Diamond Level Sponsors: Associa, BB&T Bank, Continental Group and Envera Systems.
4:30 p.m. – Gala Reception
5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. – Florida Communities of Excellence Awards ceremony

Register Now to attend the 2012 Florida Communities Excellence Awards!

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By Adam Cervera

Almost every association has been through it. A deadbeat unit owner has stopped paying their mortgage and the lender brings a foreclosure action against them to enforce the note and mortgage. Not surprisingly, this same owner stops paying his maintenance fees to the association and the association finds itself stuck between a rock and a hard place: bring its own foreclosure action and attempt to obtain title, knowing that ultimately the lender will recapture this title from association as a superior lien holder, or wait for the bank to finish its foreclosure action and hope the new owner begins to pay all future maintenance fees.

For those associations opting for the latter option, a great deal of frustration arises when they see just how long it takes for the average bank foreclosure lawsuit to reach its resolution. While under the Tadmore decision an association can no longer force a lender to pay monthly maintenance fees while its case is pending, since they are not the “legal” owner of the property, all hope is not lost.

Associations have rights when mortgagees foreclose. Don’t let these mortgage foreclosures drag on and on and on ….

Ask for a Case Management Conference. This gives the association’s attorney the opportunity to request hard deadlines in the case. Judges can enter Orders requiring summary judgment motions filed and hearings set within a short period of time, generally 30 days or less. Summary judgment is key because once this is granted, the case is essentially over and all that is left to be done is to sell the property.

With the order on the case management conference in hand, the association now has a powerful tool in its arsenal that can only lead to positive results. If the lender’s attorney complies with the order, the final judgment clears the way for the property to be sold. If not, the door is wide open for the association to seek and recover sanctions against the lender for the delay.

Bank attorneys are often unable (or possibly unwilling?) to comply with scheduling orders. Judges hate when parties do not follow their orders and are often very quick to sanction or fine those plaintiffs. Sanctions can range from a one-time lump sum payment all the way up to daily fines that accrue every day until they take action. In short, associations can finally have the upper hand when a bank drags its feet in violation of a court order.

In Miami-Dade County alone, Becker & Poliakoff has collected several thousands of dollars in sanctions for associations who have filed motions against dilatory lenders and their slow moving counsel.

This is crucial - if an association finds itself in a situation where a lender’s case is in a standstill, set a case management conference as soon as possible. It is important to authorize counsel to act fast once the initial case management conference order deadline expires. Judges around the state are becoming more sympathetic to associations that get caught in the middle of lender foreclosure cases that go on forever. 

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There are still seats available at our upcoming Annual Community Association Leadership Conference at the Barbara B. Mann Center on Monday, January 24, 2011 from 9:00 to 12:30 PM.
Check-in begins at 8:30 AM.

 The Conference will focus on the 2010 legislative changes and recent case law impacting Florida's communities, including topics such as:

• Enabling associations to collection more unpaid assessments
• Collecting rent from tenants of owners who are in arrears
• Board elections, responsibilities and certification
• The new Distressed Condominium Relief Act

A special feature: A panel of Becker & Poliakoff's construction attorneys discussing common construction issues facing community associations, followed by a Q&A session where attendees can get answers to whatever questions they may have. You may also submit your questions in advance to questions@becker-poliakoff.com .

Participating Community Association Managers (CAMs) will earn 2 continuing education credits (Legal Update 2011).

CLICK HERE to register.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Joseph E. Adams, Esq.

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Becker & Poliakoff will conduct its 35th Annual Community Association Leadership Conference series beginning on January 24, 2011 to March 26, 2011 at various locations throughout the state.

This FREE conference will focus on legislative changes impacting Florida's communities. Attendees will learn about significant amendments enacted during the 2010 legislative session in Tallahassee. Topics include new remedies for collecting delinquent accounts, changes to suspension of use rights and voting rights, board elections and qualifications, as well as the most recent case law affecting shared ownership housing communities.

A special feature: A panel of Becker & Poliakoff's construction attorneys discussing common construction issues facing community associations, followed by a Q&A session where attendees can get answers to whatever questions they may have. You may also submit your questions in advance to questions@becker-poliakoff.com.

Locations & registration information can be found here.

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Magazines/Newspapers, TV shows, movies, and radio programs are all a buzz about people communicating instantly through Twitter, IM, e-mails and the like. Too often we are tempted to shoot off an email or see someone on IM and shoot them a quick message and this temptation is seeping into the way in which Board members communicate with each other.

Can these communications be considered Board Meetings?
 

Florida case law has yet to answer this question. Both Florida Statutes Section 718.112 and 720.303 provide that a Board meeting exists whenever a quorum of the Board meets to discuss Association business. Merriam-Webster defines meet as “to come into the presence of”; “to come together with especially at a particular time or place”; “to come into contact or conjunction with.”  The term “meet” originally required in-person meetings and has since been expanded to include meetings conducted telephonically.

Without any legal precedent to guide us, we need to look at the word “meet” as a communication of the Board which provides for instant responses/interactions amongst the Board members. Accepting that, e-mails should not be considered a meeting since responses could take minutes or hours or even days to be sent. For the responses to be instantaneous, the Board would have had to agree to all be available via e-mail at a set date/time. IM on the other hand, is more along the lines of having a conference call and therefore could more appropriately be deemed a Board meeting when a quorum of the Board is present in the IM chat.

Even with the above delineation, the Board needs to be very careful to ensure that when a quorum of the Board is communicating outside of a properly noticed meeting that no decisions (no matter how large or small) are made. This avoids arguments in litigation that the action of the Board was improper and therefore invalid.

Stay tuned, my next posts will touch on whether these items are considered “official records” of the Association.
 

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