Broward is one of two Florida counties (Miami-Dade is the other) which requires multifamily buildings that are larger than 3,500 square feet (in the case of Miami-Dade it is buildings in excess of 2,000 square feet) and are forty years old or older to be inspected for structural and electrical safety and “certified”. Thereafter, those […]
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Deadline looms for older Florida High-Rises to Install Engineered Life Safety Systems!
Florida’s 2019 60-day Legislative Session will begin on March 5, 2019 and is expected to end on May 3, 2019. The Florida Fire Protection Code, Section 31.3.5.12 of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 101 requires existing (pre-1992) “high-rise” buildings which are not otherwise exempt to be protected either by an automatic sprinklers system or […]
Read MoreKnow What You Are Getting into Before Your Board Agrees to an Indemnification Clause
Many boards focus on only a few provisions of the contracts they sign. What service or materials are they getting? What are they paying? When will the contract commence? Far too many other crucial provisions are overlooked as boilerplate. Indemnification clauses are often seen as part of the standard boilerplate provisions in most contracts and […]
Read MoreWhat Are Your Board’s Rights and Obligations with Regard to Sales and Financing in Your Community?
On any given day in any given Florida community association, a manager or director may receive a frantic call from a real estate or title agent about an upcoming closing. These frantic calls typically include an immediate request for information in the form of affidavits, estoppel information, lender questionnaires or other records and information. Naturally, […]
Read MoreShould Your Association Eliminate Some of Your Outdated Rules?
Many of my conversations with my association clients involve an evaluation of their rules and regulations and their available enforcement tools. We regularly discuss how previously overlooked rules can be revived through a process known as republication so the Board can once again enforce them prospectively. We also discuss how rules must complement rather than […]
Read MoreMental Health Issues in a Community Association Context
Over the years, I’ve met thousands of people living in shared ownership communities and without fail, at least one person in every community questions the mental health of someone in their community. Sometimes the suspect serves on the board, other times it is the person living next door, and other times it is simply a […]
Read MoreSummer Shut-Down Considerations for Seasonal Communities
If your community is a seasonal one that tends to thin out over the summer months, what rules or policies do you have in place to ensure that your association continues to operate smoothly and transparently over the summer months? The less crowded summer months in some communities provide an optimal time to pursue important […]
Read MoreImprove Your Members’ Chances of Casting a Successful Election Ballot
Every year, I attend many of my clients’ annual meetings and elections and it is always disappointing when some members’ election ballots must be discarded due to avoidable errors. For Florida condominiums and HOAs who have adopted a “condominium style” election process, the election protocol that was implemented to discourage voter fraud can also be […]
Read MoreNew Year’s Resolutions for Your Board
Historians believe that the ancient Babylonians were the first people to make New Year’s resolutions approximately 4,000 years ago. During a religious festival known as Akitu which lasted for a lengthy 12 days, the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king. They also made promises (precursors to modern day […]
Read MoreIn Defense of HOAs
HOAs certainly have their share of detractors. Many HOAs operate a community of detached, single family homes which begs the question: it’s my house; it’s my yard; other than the local building code, why should my HOA be able to restrict what I can do with them? Does it really matter how I maintain my […]
Read MoreCountdown to 7/1/18 and the New Website Requirements for FL Condominium Associations
By July 1, 2018, a Florida condominium association with 150 or more units which does not manage timeshare units must have an independent website or web portal wholly owned and operated by the association or a website or web portal operated by a third-party provider. Creating an in-house website may prove to be too daunting […]
Read MoreCan Your Community Association Stop Bullying and Harassment in Their Tracks?
Bullying in any form cannot be condoned either in schools, workplaces or communities. While a newly filed bill by Rep. Emily Slosberg (HB 123) has the laudable goal of protecting Florida’s senior citizens from being bullied, just how feasible is it in a community association context? From some of the board and membership meetings I’ve […]
Read MoreA Rude Awakening: Your Board May Not Have the Right to Screen Leases and Sales at All!
Even in the frenzy of post-Irma repairs, ordinary life continues and for most volunteer boards and professional managers that means screening applicants who wish to lease or purchase in their communities. However, purchase and rental screening has become such a part of the fabric of community association life that some boards and managers have forgotten […]
Read MoreA Different Kind of Blog Post: A Letter to My Children
I had planned another blog post for today about boards’ screening ability regarding sales and leases. However, I woke up to the news of yet another mass shooting and loss of life; this time in Las Vegas. I sat down this morning and wrote the following email to my twenty-something daughter and son who live […]
Read MoreCommunity Association Questions Post Hurricane Irma
As with many Florida communities, my HOA Board had questions in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. Would FEMA pay to pick up all our debris, when should the security guards be asked to return to duty and could we tap into reserves without a membership vote to pay for storm repairs? Here are a few […]
Read MoreYour Florida Board of Directors Now Has Emergency Powers as a Result of Hurricane Irma; What Will You Do With Them?
Governor Scott has declared a Florida-wide state of emergency which now deploys the emergency powers for volunteer boards found in Sections 718.1265, 719.128 and 720.316 of the Florida Statutes. Hurricane Irma may prove to be the testing ground for these emergency powers to determine, post-storm, if boards abused these powers and therefore the powers need […]
Read MoreFive Mistakes Your Board of Directors Can Avoid if Hurricane Irma Hits
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey’s destruction and with Irma fast approaching the eastern US coastline, I could blog about the steps your community needs to take to prepare. I’ve written that blog post many times before and I often wonder how many board members, managers and community association residents have followed that advice. At […]
Read MoreCould Your Community Association Turn into the Next Confederate Symbol Battleground?
In light of recent events in Charlottesville, it should come as no surprise that symbols mean different things to different people and there will unfortunately continue to be disagreements (and at times violence) when it comes to interpreting whose rights deserve protection as they pertain to those symbols. While it is not likely that a […]
Read MoreGoing Too Far Down the Rabbit Hole: How Our National Political Discourse Parallels Our Community Association Discourse
It’s hard right now to turn away from the 24/7 news cycle and its discord, rancor and heated rhetoric. When we spend the majority of our time discussing just 20% of the topics which concern us, we cannot commit time or energy to the other 80% which also demands our attention. It’s not surprising that […]
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