Community Update

With hurricane season quickly approaching, it is important that you prepare for the worst (and hope for the best)! Hurricane season is June 1 through November 30. This article will provide tips to help prepare your 2022 hurricane preparedness guide, as well as provide actions that you can take before a hurricane makes landfall. The …

If an association undertakes the use of video cameras for its community, it should consider the following issues and measures:

1. As the Division of Florida Condominiums, Time Shares and Mobile Homes has determined that the installation of a security camera is a material alteration, review the Declaration (in a condominium) to determine …

Managers and directors are faced with many decisions while operating and managing community associations. To be effective, it is important to prioritize which issues must be addressed, and in what order, and to be able to determine which matters need to be referred to legal counsel for further direction. Below is a list of “dos” …

If you are living in an HOA, you probably have heard that the association cannot prohibit the installation of solar panels (or “solar collectors”). A Florida law, F.S. 163.04, provides that any “deed restriction or declaration” or even any “similar binding agreement” may not prohibit – or have the effect of prohibiting – solar collectors, …

Does your association include facilities that serve and sell alcohol? Is the association property zoned to permit alcohol-related uses? Does your association hold any alcoholic beverage licenses from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Division of Alcohol Beverages and Tobacco (“Division”) and corresponding local government approvals and, if so, what is the geographical …

Many condominium and homeowners’ associations’ activities are required to have a certain amount of transparency. One way that association activities are made transparent is through statutory provisions requiring most kinds of meetings to be open and noticed to the membership. In fact, applicable laws governing the operation of condominium and homeowners’ associations allow board members …

The following are some general principles that might help you evaluate a construction contract:

1. Define the Scope of Work
   One of the most important things you can do is define the scope of work. If you and your contractor are not on the same page when it comes to …

Associations frequently find themselves in a position of strength when they wish to enforce violations of their convents.  Where the terms of a covenant are unambiguous, courts will enforce such restrictions.  However, it is not uncommon for an owner who has violated the covenants to scramble for defenses to try to justify his or her …

If your community association receives notice about a public hearing to consider or approve a development proposal on adjacent land, does the association or its members have a right to object? Yes, local governments must afford objecting property owners and residents procedural due process, which includes fair notice of the public hearings at which the …