Special assessments are becoming more and more common in community associations. As the frequency of special assessments increases, so does the possibility of delinquencies in payment of the special assessments. A crucial element of collection of a delinquent special assessment is proving that the special assessment was properly adopted at a properly noticed board meeting. There are three key elements to properly noticing a special assessment meeting and which must be strictly followed to ensure collectability of the special assessment.
The first key element to properly noticing a special assessment meeting is to properly mail, deliver or electronically transmit the notice of the meeting to the membership and to post the notice of the meeting on the association property or broadcast the notice of the meeting on a closed-circuit cable television. Florida Statute requires the notice be provided no less than 14 days prior to the meeting. §718.112(2)(c)1, Fla. Stat., §719.106(1)(c), Fla. Stat. and §720.303(2)(c)2, Fla. Stat. Some association governing documents require a special assessment meeting to provide a longer notice period and if so, the notice must be provided by the timeframe detailed in the governing documents. Calculation of the notice period is extremely important – being off by one day can be fatal to collection of the special assessment. To properly calculate the notice period, the day after the notice is provided constitutes the first day of the notice period and the day of the meeting constitutes the last day of the notice period. See Dwork v. Executive Estates of Boynton Beach Homeowners Association, Inc., 219 So. 3d 858 (Fla. 4th DCA 2017).
The second key element to properly noticing a special assessment meeting is to include the statutorily required information in the notice. For a homeowner association, the notice must include a statement that assessments will be considered and the nature of the assessments. §720.303(2)(c)2, Fla. Stat. For condominium associations and cooperative associations, the notice must also provide the estimated cost and description of the purposes for such assessment. §718.112(2)(c)3, Fla. Stat. and §719.106(1)(c), Fla. Stat. In addition, for condominium associations, if the association will be considering approval of a contract for goods or services at the same meeting, a copy of the contract must be provided with the notice and be made available for inspection or copying upon a written request by a unit owner or made available on the association’s website or through an application that can be downloaded on a mobile device. §718.112(2)(c)3, Fla. Stat.
The third and final key element to properly noticing a special assessment meeting is proving that the notice was properly provided to the membership. For condominium associations and cooperative associations, notice must be proven by an affidavit executed by the person providing the notice and filed in the official records of the association. §718.112(2)(c)1, Fla. Stat. and §719.106(1)(c), Fla. Stat. While this element is technically only required for condominium associations and cooperative associations, it’s advisable for homeowner associations to implement this element as well.
Implementation of the three key elements detailed above will protect the association from owner claims that a special assessment was not properly noticed and therefore uncollectable. In addition to these three key elements, consultation with the association’s legal counsel is advisable to ensure that all other elements for proper adoption of a special assessment are understood and are followed to ensure that the association will not face future legal challenges to timely collection of the special assessments.
