HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - July 8, 2022
Published: Fri, 07/08/22
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HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - July 8, 2022
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In this week's tip, we shed light on a new law in the Sunshine State passed to prevent another devastating collapse of an condo building.
After maddening some insiders by not passing legislation to address what many believe were the failures that led so, the Florida legislature surprisingly and seemingly suddenly acted in late May. The new law will impose more responsibility on communities and managers, and it may make condo living more costly.
The new law has several provisions that will have the biggest effect on condo communities in the state, and they relate to inspections and the ability of condo owners to waive the requirement to set aside money in reserves.
"The legislature rushed through this, and there are so many problems with this statute," reports Carolina Sznajderman Sheir, a partner at Eisinger Law in Hollywood, Fla., which represents 600-700 associations throughout the state, and an adjunct professor teaching condo law at Nova Southeastern University—Shepard Broad College of Law. "There are so many glitches we've already spotted, and there will be those we haven't yet spotted and won't find until this comes into play."
What Floridians call milestone inspections for condos have now gone statewide, and they're required earlier and in a more formalized process.
"Milestones used to be every 40 years," says Sheir. "But there was no statewide program. It was only Miami-Dade and Broward counties in southeast Florida that required the inspections. It was called a 40-year recertification.
"The new statute implements this on a statewide basis for buildings three stories and above in height," she explains. "It's only for condos and co-ops, not for HOAs. And there are some exceptions, though I'd expect maybe in the future, they'll extend this requirement to other buildings. For example, noncondo office buildings aren't mentioned. And there are a lot of buildings that aren't condos or co-ops but are private apartment structures."
Your state may not have inspection requirements for condos or HOAs, and it may not require reserve funding. But our experts outside Florida have opinions on whether you should step up your inspection and reserve funding game. Read more our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4545.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Condo/HOA Modifications: Can a Board Try to Get a Township to Undo an Approval?
An HOAleader.com reader asks: "What are the homeowner's rights if they received a building permit from a township and a board sends a letter after the 30-day window to complain and try to make the township rescind it?"
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Condo-HOA-Modifications-Can-Board-Try-Get-Township-Undo-Approval.cfm
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Can and Should Your Condo/HOA Get Involved in the Display of a "Lawn Jockey"?
A condo owner recently wrote in to the Ask Amy column seeking advice on what to do after neighbors placed a Black "lawn jockey" in their front yard. The writer says the CC&Rs prohibit political signs but "say nothing about lawn art."
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Can-Should-Your-Condo-HOA-Get-Involved-in-Display-Lawn-Jockey.cfm
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Yet Another Company Jumps Into the Condo/HOA Document and Analysis Space
InspectHOA is the latest entrant into the web-based world of companies trying to gather and control condo/HOA documents, and it received $3.1 in seed money to get underway. The company joins TransparencyHOA and Association Insights, both of which offer documents to owners, lenders, and others in the industry and purport to offer an analysis of individual condo/HOA strengths...
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Yet-Another-Company-Jumps-Into-Condo-HOA-Document-Analysis-Space.cfm
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How Worried Should You Be About Corporate Investors Targeting Your Condo/HOA?
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on how corporate owners are purchasing more and more condo and HOA units and renting them out, prompting communities to work to reach supermajority thresholds to pass rental limitations. A similar story appeared on 60 Minutes, but from a rental-increase angle...
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/How-Worried-Should-You-Be-About-Corporate-Investors-Targeting-Your-Condo-HOA.cfm
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Someone Wrote an HOA Check for Cash, But Nobody's Fessing Up—Now What?
An HOAleader.com reader asks: "In reviewing our HOA's financials for the past year, I discovered that a check for $5,000 was written out to cash (not to a particular individual) and categorized under the account of bonuses by our property management firm..."
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Someone-Wrote-HOA-Check-for-Cash-But-Nobodys-Fessing-UpNow-What.cfm
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