Blogs & Resources

Most well-run community associations incorporate a new tenant application and approval process, and some even utilize such a program for new owners. A typical new resident screening program includes criminal background checks, credit checks, employment verification, and prior rental history. A community association is likely to deny any prospective new resident whose background check produces questionable items. But are associations cognizant of the liability concerns pursuant to recent changes in federal law regarding disparate impact claims for administering a flawed screening process? This blog post will discuss the recent changes to federal law involving new resident screening and how community associations can avoid disparate impact claims.

The end of the calendar year means that most condominium associations are gearing up for their annual meeting and election of new board members. For many condominiums, this is a routine event, but for others, this may foster heated and contentious lobbying and under-handed tactics resulting in administrative challenges to the election process, and maybe even litigation. The current board and property manager for a condominium association should have a detailed understanding of the condominium election process. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation has published a State of Florida Condominium Election Brochure covering most of the procedural aspects of condominium elections. This blog will summarize important deadlines and considerations for these elections.

Determining the correct forum for any given dispute involving a Florida condo association or HOA can be confusing. Often times the board members, licensed managers and unit owners are unsure of where a dispute will be resolved if a party initiates formal legal action. Florida’s Condominium Act and HOA Act govern the procedures for community association disputes, and both Acts include arbitration, mediation and state court for resolving various issues. This blog post will provide an overview of the appropriate forum for both condo associations and HOAs to resolve certain disputes in Florida.

This blog post is part III in a series of posts discussing why community associations cannot afford to ignore lender foreclosure actions. The underlying theme of this series is that associations have a financial interest and lien rights in their properties and by ignoring lender foreclosure actions, associations are ignoring their own financial interests and main sources of revenue. Part I explained that associations have the statutory power to expedite the foreclosure process when lenders are delaying and also illustrated that by implementing a consistent policy for appearing in lender foreclosure actions and expediting the legal proceedings, associations can save tens of thousands of dollars over the years. Part II addressed the unclaimed revenue in the form of foreclosure sale proceeds that associations fail to capitalize on due to not appearing in lender foreclosure actions. This blog post will discuss the advantage associations have in determining, during the foreclosure action, whether the lender is entitled to safe harbor protection or whether the foreclosing entity owes the full amount of unpaid assessments and other charges to the association.

This blog post is part II in a series of posts discussing why community associations cannot afford to ignore lender foreclosure actions. The underlying theme of this series is that associations have a financial interest and lien rights in their properties and by ignoring lender foreclosure actions, associations are ignoring their own financial interests and main sources of revenue. Part I explained that associations have the power, under the Florida Statutes, to expedite the foreclosure process when lenders are delaying. Part I also illustrated that by implementing a consistent policy for appearing in lender foreclosure actions and expediting the legal proceedings, associations can save tens of thousands of dollars over the years. This blog post addresses the unclaimed revenue in the form of foreclosure sale proceeds that associations fail to capitalize on due to not appearing in lender foreclosure actions and asserting their priority lien rights.

The previous blog post, “Drones in Community Association – Part I,” discussed the association’s regulation of the use of drones throughout and within the community.  This post will discuss the potential for associations to utilize drones in everyday management and maintenance tasks for the community. The responsibility for the management […]

It happens all the time—an association gets served with a lender foreclosure action and the papers get set aside, never given a second thought. It is hard to fathom a more costly approach to association management that, in the long run, produces a greater negative impact to the association’s budget. Let’s take a second to consider why it is that community associations are named defendants in a property owner’s foreclosure action and get served with the lawsuit in the first place. The reason is because associations have a financial interest and lien rights in the underlying property for the required assessments pursuant to their declarations and the Florida Statutes. By ignoring lender foreclosure actions an association is ignoring its own financial interest and main source of revenue. This blog post is the first in a series of posts discussing the top reasons why community associations must not ignore lender foreclosure actions.

The Condominium Act and the Homeowners’ Association Act create separate thresholds for perfecting a claim of lien for delinquent assessments. Both acts require specific notices to the delinquent owner before the association may record a claim of lien. A claim of lien creates an interest in real property in favor of the […]