[mc4wp_form id="5389"]
As all Floridians know, storm season can be a very hectic time. Preparation for – as well as the aftermath of – storms is stressful. Board members of community associations are hit particularly hard by the nerve-wracking days of hurricane season because not only do they have to worry about themselves, they also have to worry …
We have all heard the environmentalists’ cry about the Dead Sea shrinking. Water levels are falling at an average rate of three feet per year due to evaporation and human diversion of tributaries. The opposite conundrum – sea level rise – is not occurring quite as rapidly but is equally as concerning.
…
Community association law is an area of practice that has experienced considerable growth in the past few years. As a result, many unqualified lawyers are jumping on the community association bandwagon. Therefore, your board should do its homework before hiring an attorney.
An effective lawyer can be a huge asset to most …
Whether you know it or not, the roads traveling through your subdivision are likely easements created for the purpose of providing ingress/egress access to public streets. And whether you know it or not, those easements may also benefit neighboring properties, giving them access through your subdivision to a point of entry on a public …
While solar panels are often considered unsightly, they are a renewable energy device. For an individual home, they must be permitted by a homeowners association. However, they can be regulated. The relevant statute regarding solar panels is Section 163.04, Florida Statutes, which provides that no ordinances or laws can prohibit “the installation of solar …
Every director who sits on the board of a homeowners association gets a voice in the operations of the association. The questions I receive are more about how that voice is exercised through a vote. For instance, some directors travel quite a bit, whether for work or play is irrelevant. The directors however are …
Special assessments happen. The unfortunate reality is that during the life of a condominium building some unexpected expenses are going to arise and the association must take steps to fulfill its obligations to the membership. If the operating budget cannot handle these expenses, and there is not a funded reserve account which can dray …
I have previously written a few articles for our Community Update about the website requirement for condominiums operating at least 150 units. Just recently, I represented a condominium that was being investigated by the Division of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), for among other things, failing to have a website. While that issue resolved …
In 2017, the Florida Legislature passed a law which stated that condominium directors could not serve more than 4 consecutive 2-year terms, essentially creating an 8-year term limit.
The obvious immediate question was whether this law would be applied retroactively (reach back to prior years of service to determine if a director …
There are two recent cases of which community association boards should be particularly aware of. Both cases involved residents who were injured by third parties but who filed suit against their association claiming that the association was also partly responsible for their damages because of their failure to enforce the rules and restrictions in …
Most community association governing documents as well as applicable corporate statutes grant the board the right to appoint and remove officers. This is important when an officer proves to be prone to bad/rude behavior. The board likely has the right to vote to remove this individual as an officer (president, vice president, treasurer, secretary) …
A “material alteration or addition” is one that “palpably or perceptively var[ies] or change[s] the form, shape, elements, or specifications of a building in such a manner as to appreciably affect or influence its function, use, or appearance.” Sterling Village Condominium, Inc. v. Breitenbach, 251 So. 2d 685, 687 (Fla. 4th …