Community Association Industry Legal Blog

Condominium associations in Florida often receive requests from unit owners to examine the “official records” of the association, as well as written inquiries seeking information from the association’s board. See Section 728.111(12) and 718.112(2)(a)2. of the Florida Statutes. The Florida Condominium Act empowers condominium unit owners to request such information, however, the scope of such requests inquiries is limited.

Florida’s condominium associations have been delegated authority by the Florida legislature to create and enforce their own bylaws so long as they do not conflict with the Florida Statutes. There are some provisions, however, that associations have no say in and those provisions must be included in their bylaws. These are found in Section 718.112, Florida Statutes. This blog post focuses on a few of those required provisions concerning board of administration meetings.

Many unit owners of properties within Florida’s condominium associations fail to realize that when they gain title to that property they are subjecting themselves not only to the Florida Statutes governing such associations but also to the association’s own rules and regulations. Moreover, many tenants, lessees and other occupants of association properties also fail to realize they are subject to such laws, rules and regulations by contracting to reside on the premises. Section 718.303, Florida Statutes, makes clear the obligations of unit owners and their tenants and provides for the remedies available to associations when such occupants break the rules. This blog post will provide a brief overview of Florida law concerning this issue.

The insurance requirements for condo associations and their unit owners have been codified by the Florida legislature within Section 718.111(11), Florida Statutes. What is important for interested parties to know is that the current Florida Statutes are controlling on the issue of property insurance requirements, regardless of what is contained within a condominium’s declaration or when it was recorded. In fact, the statute’s first sentence explains that, “this subsection applies to every residential condominium in the state, regardless of the date of its declaration of condominium.” Fla. Stat. § 718.111(11) (2013). Section 718.111(11), Florida Statutes, was amended in 2013, and this blog post is to provide interested parties with a high-level overview of the current insurance requirements of Florida’s condominiums and their unit owners.

Section 718.113(5), Florida Statutes, governs the installation of various materials for hurricane protection that Florida’s condominium associations must abide by. Section 718.115(1)(e), Florida Statutes, governs the allocation of expenses for the hurricane protection installation. Both of these sections were amended by the Florida legislature in 2013. This blog is to provide a brief overview of the main provisions of these statutes in light of those recent changes.

There is a new trend rising within condominium and homeowners’ associations across the country, including Florida: online association voting. The reason for this trend is simple – it solves two major problems that associations constantly face: 1) the expense of utilizing physical forms; and, 2) poor voter turnout among the associations’ members. Online voting for associations takes the hassle out of the voting process, which improves overall turnout. It appears that allowing association to perform online voting seems a no-brainer. However, not every state legislature has kept pace with technology in this area of law. Florida is one state in which the law is lagging technology as Florida law is currently silent on the issue of association online voting. This presents a problem for a Florida association that wishes to improve the experience of its members while also ensuring it is abiding by the law.

The Florida legislature has always given Florida’s condominium associations great flexibility to construct and maintain their own bylaws, rules and regulations in which to govern their communities. In exchange for that flexibility, the Florida Statutes, within Chapter 718, regulate the operation of condominium associations in certain areas. One such area involves the financial reporting requirements of Florida’s condominium associations, which is specifically governed by Section 718.111(13), Florida Statutes. In 2013, the Florida legislature changed and amended a few key aspects of Section 718.111(13), which Florida’s condominium associations must be cognizant of to ensure they remain compliant.

On August 21, 2013, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal issued an opinion clarifying when the statute of limitations begins to run for a cause of action that a property owner brings against an association.  In Harris v. Aberdeen Property Owners Association, Inc., the Court held that the statute of […]

Condominium and homeowner associations are common when living in Florida. All associations are creatures of the Florida Statutes. They are corporations with a governing body typically called a Board of Directors who are elected by the unit owners. Sitting on the association Board gives decision making authority over other members of the community. Sometimes these Board members abuse their power for their own self-benefit or interest.

Several legislative changes to the Florida Statutes, occurring during 2013, have impacted the operation of Florida’s Condominium Associations and HOAs. This blog focuses on those changes applicable to the maintaining of official records. For Condo Associations, the laws governing official records are codified in Section 718.111(12)(c), Florida Statutes; for HOAs, those laws are found in Section 720.303, Florida Statutes.
The Florida Legislature passed House Bill 73 earlier this year, which amended the Florida Statutes and became effective July 1, 2013.