HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - July 24, 2015
Published: Fri, 07/24/15
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Know How Far to Stretch Your HOA Manager
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In this week’s tip, we begin analyzing a recent Florida Supreme court’s advisory opinion in an effort to help you understand the line between what your manager can do and what you’re better off turning to your attorney to handle.
In 1996, the Florida Supreme Court issued an advisory opinion spelling out the activities community association managers can and can’t perform without improperly practicing law without a license. The new advisory opinion came about because members of the bar association asked the court to determine whether anything had changed since 1996. The answer given in May was essentially no.
“It really represents no change in the status quo,” says Jed L. Frankel, a partner at Eisinger, Brown, Lewis, Frankel & Chaiet PA in Hollywood, Fla., who advises community associations. “It basically cites to the 1996 advisory opinion about what CAMs were supposed to be doing and not doing. In a couple of instances, it really gives some addition examples of what they should versus shouldn’t be doing, but it’s pretty much the status quo.”
The court’s rationale, says Frankel, is that if an activity requires a manager to interpret statutes or the law, it’s not one managers should take on. “Frankly, if I were a CAM, I wouldn’t want to be doing that,” says Frankel. “I wouldn’t want to be giving an association an opinion about what statutes do and don’t say. I’d want the lawyer to do that. And if I’m on the board of an association and there’s an issue about what a statute means, that’s something I’d want the attorney for, too.”
So what can Florida managers do and not do? Here’s just one example from the court’s opinion:
1. Preparing certificates of assessments. Managers send to lawyers a certificate of assessments due when a delinquent account is turned over to the association’s lawyer, when a foreclosure has begun, and when a member has disputed in writing an amount due. The court called these activities ministerial—and not requiring a legal sophistication or training—and thus proper for a manager to conduct.
Read the other examples provided by the court, along with tips from our experts in other states, in our new article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1210.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Conflicts of Interest and Ethical Dilemmas for HOA Boards:
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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What HOA Managers Can and Can't Do, Says Florida Supreme Court
How close to the giving-legal-advice line can managers get without improperly veering into the practice of law?
In May, the Florida Supreme Court answered that question in an advisory opinion. It spells out the activities community association managers (CAMs) can and can't perform without improperly practicing law without a license. Here we offer highlights, along with an analysis from one of our Florida experts. We also discuss what boards in other states need to know.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/What-HOA-Managers-Can-Cant-Do-Says-Florida-Supreme-Court.cfm
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Dissenters in Your HOA: Let Them Have Their Say?
Where's that line that separates keeping your operations running smoothly and stepping on your owners' right to express their dissatisfaction? In this week's tip, we tackle the issue of free speech at HOAs.
The topic arises from the actions of the board at the Tiber Island Cooperative Homes in Washington, D.C., which passed a rule restricting owners' speech rights after dissenters began challenging the board.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/public/Dissenters-in-Your-HOA-Let-Them-Have-Their-Say.cfm
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HOA Accused of Throttling Speech
The board at the Tiber Island Cooperative Homes in Washington, D.C., passed a rule restricting owners' speech rights after dissenters began challenging the board. A shareholder, John Jordon, opposed the change and is now publicizing the issue--including getting the ACLU involved and writing about it in a Washington Post article. Here we discuss what happened and offer tips to protect speech while also providing a reasonable way for owners to offer feedback.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/HOA-Accused-Throttling-Speech.cfm
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New HOA Board Members? Here's How to Run a Successful Board Orientation
Want your condo or homeowner association board to operate effectively, no matter how many members come and go over time? It's not a pipe dream. It's an achievable reality if you create and implement a new-board orientation to help just-elected or just-appointed members hit the ground running.
Watch this on-demand webinar to hear from two experienced community association lawyers everything you need to know to craft an effective and timeless new-board orientation program.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/snip/203.htm
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Your HOA May Be Able to Relax Its Parliamentary Procedures. Here's Why.
In this week's tip, we keep the discussion going on a recent article that triggered reader responses. The topic: The ongoing debate in the HOA community over whether Robert's Rules of Order are worth using if your HOA has the option to decline to adopt them.
One of our readers raised an interesting issue, and that's whether you can loosen Robert's Rules depending on the type of meeting you're conducting: "Where most professionals get confused is that parliamentary procedure for boards is supposed to be much more relaxed than for larger membership meetings." We've contacted an expert to get the answer.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/public/Your-HOA-May-Be-Able-Relax-Its-Parliamentary-Procedures-Heres-Why.cfm
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