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Category – Community Update Articles
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
With the plethora of reality TV shows involving home renovations and real estate searches, your association may be asked to sign an agreement to allow a production company to film your community.
Since most governing documents grant the owners the right of ingress and egress over the common areas for access to …
I have met with many boards over the years and often find that they are tireless volunteers who due to malcontents in the community being unappreciative and rude chose to resign from the Board rather than continue dealing with the drama. The Florida Not For Profit Corporation Act (Chapter 617, Florida Statutes), which applies …
In the Condominium Act, it is very clear that only a unit’s owner can vote in election. That means that an election can’t be decided through the use of proxies (limited or general). There is an exception for associations with fewer than ten units who have voted to follow a different voting procedure. In …
In the proverbial “tool belt” of enforcement options available to an association for violations of the rules and regulations, the imposition of fines and suspensions is one that we frequently get questions about due to the procedures that must be followed. If the process is not followed properly, it may result in invalidation of …
The board member in a homeowners association just hired the same pool company that is used by the association. Conflict? Not necessarily. There are provisions within the Homeowners Association Act which prohibit contracts between an association and a company when one of the board members from the association has a financial interest in the …