As you may be aware, the Florida legislature approved six bills that directly affect Community Associations in the 2017 legislative session. The governor approved five of these bills, and vetoed one of them. This article will quickly address the three bills that provide the greatest effect on our client Associations, and will give a short summary of how they may affect your Association.

Our Firm has noticed a substantial increase in the number of appeals being filed against lien foreclosure judgments. Part of this is attributable to the overall decrease of foreclosure matters, and the increase in the number of individuals that cannot reasonably file for bankruptcy to stay a sale (due to the party owning multiple investments, having adequate assets, etc.). A Defendant/Appellant filing an appeal to a lien foreclosure judgment can be a frustrating and infuriating occurrence for an Association.

A provision which prohibits all Business and Commercial Operations may prove problematic, as it may seek to prohibit all business and commercial activities (i.e., operations) within a community. Please appreciate that prohibiting business and commercial activities within communities has become more problematic as technology has advanced. In today’s world, countless individuals perform some level of business or commercial activity from their homes. How many of us use our phones and computers on business activities from our homes? Given this fact, do you really want to stop all such activities, or do you only want the outward manifestation of such business and commercial activities to cease? By way of example, while you may want to prohibit an auto repair shop operating within your community, you probably do not want to prohibit someone from using a phone for a business.

Attorneys and REALTOR®s have sought to produce standardize contracts for the sale and purchase of real estate ever since I can remember. I have personally witnessed the evolution of these contracts over the past forty (40)+ years.

Around this time every year, most of our Homeowners Association (HOA) clients are readying themselves for their annual meeting, including the election of the next year’s Board members.  Under current Florida law, there is minimal statutory guidance for Homeowners Associations as to how an HOA is required to conduct their election of Board members.  This stands in stark contrast to the rules governing the election of Board members in a condominium association, which are heavily regulated by statute, as well as state administrative agencies.  For most HOAs, the association is simply to follow the election requirements as set forth in the association’s governing documents, within minimal statutory guidelines. 

As 2016 comes to an end, Condominium Associations find themselves sending out mandatory notices to Owners regarding budget proposals, declaration amendments, changes to monthly assessments, etc. But what if, as with many of Florida’s condominium owners, a unit Owner lives out of state? Does every notice from the Association have to be sent to the unit Owner’s out of state address?

Chapter 718 of the Florida Statutes explicitly states that official notice of meetings and all other purposes must be mailed to each unit owner at the address last furnished to the association by the unit owner. The statute does allow hand delivery of notices; however, this is a risky tactic on behalf of the Condominium Association as it may be difficult in the future to prove that the notice was actually delivered. The statute also allows Condominium Associations to send notices via e-mail; but only if the Condominium Owner provides written consent for such action (Associations make sure you retain this written consent in your records!).