Florida ROC : Florida Mobile Home & RV Lawyer & Attorney : Scott Gordon : Lutz Bobo Telfair Eastman Gabel & Lee Law Firm : FL Condo & Homeowners Associations

Based on the responses I've received from my recent blog entries and presentations on  fines and suspensions of use rights, it's clear that these topics are "hot issues" in resident owned communities throughout Florida.

Although the Florida Statutes governing condominium, cooperative and mandatory homeowners associations all recognize an association's power to fine or suspend use rights of unit owners or parcel owners (or their tenants or guests), I'd suggest ROCs consider the costs and benefits of instituting these procedures.   Board members in community associations should weigh numerous factors when considering whether to use fines and suspensions, including the following:

Do the association's members want to give any of their neighbors the power to fine them or suspend their rights to use the common facilities?  I've been in several communities where the membership has clearly and convincingly expressed the concern that a member may be fined solely because of a grudge or other "agenda" of one of his or her neighbors that happens to serve on that fining or suspension committee.    Regardless of the type of safeguards that an association tries to build into its rules or policies governing the operation of that committee, many residents simply don't want to give any of their neighbors the power to assess fines against them that may reach $1000.

And what about the homeowners in a resident owned manufactured housing cooperative or condominium that are not shareholders in the cooperative or condominium association?   Those homeowners are not "unit owners" under Chapter 718 or 719 of the Florida Statutes and are thus not governed by the fining and suspension provisions of those Chapters.   Their responsibilities are governed by Chapter 723 of the Florida Statutes and the rental prospectus.  It's doubtful that many rental prospectuses allow the park owner (in this case, the cooperative or condominium association) to fine a non-shareholder homeowner or suspend his or her use rights--and even more doubtful that any such provision in a rental prospectus would be deemed legal and enforceable under current Florida law.    How does an association's board of directors justify a situation where the non-shareholders (who are not subject to fines or suspension of use rights) are treated more favorably than the shareholders?    I can certainly see that situation creating a great deal of controversy and making it more difficult for the association to market and sell membership shares in the cooperative, or units in the condominium, to prospective purchasers.

Those are just two points to consider when deciding if a community should institute or maintain a fining and/or suspension procedure.

Remember--just because a community is allowed to have a fining and suspension committee doesn't mean that the community must have one.

Finally, for those long time followers that recall my entries on the "music police," here's a link to a story that appeared this week in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on a federal lawsuit filed by our friends at Broadcast Music Inc. against a tavern in the Manatee county community of Ellenton. 

And on that cheery note, my best wishes to everyone for a very happy and healthy holiday season!

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I was born over a decade after the "day that will live in infamy" but it's still hard to believe that seventy years have passed since the attack on Pearl Harbor.  

I've been to Hawaii twice and on both occasions (once with my then young children) have visited the Memorial.   The power and emotional impact of the Memorial and its surroundings cannot be described.   Sites such as Pearl Harbor and the beaches at Normandy instruct all of us in ways that mere words cannot about the sacrifices made by countless young men and women to protect the freedoms we all too often take for granted.

I've opened my most recent seminars with a summary of a very unsettling story that recently appeared on "Sixty Minutes" about families that were forced to live in cars and trucks because they could not afford any other type of shelter.   That the families featured in this report lived in the Orlando area was even more distressing.

I'll have yet another upsetting article to discuss at this month's remaining seminars:  a report that over 4,500 homes owned by members of our military may have been illegally foreclosed.   I hope that this story does not get buried and becomes a primary concern of our legislators and the agencies that we entrust to protect the rights of those that serve to defend our liberty.  

Jody Gabel and I have filed numerous eviction or foreclosure actions for the community association we represent and have always taken great care to follow the provisions of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.    That includes verifying whether or not the homeowners against whom eviction or foreclosure is being sought are currently serving in our military.

Our country's Supreme Court has stated that this Act must be read with "an eye friendly to those who dropped their affairs to answer their country's call."

Given the tremendous price that our servicemen and women pay every day on our behalf and the growing number of homeless families in our country, ensuring that the homes of our fellow citizens serving in the military are protected from wrongful foreclosures and evictions seems to be the least that we can do.  

I hope to see many of you at our seminar tomorrow at Venice Isle Estates, next Wednesday at Westwinds in Bradenton, or at my presentation at the SWFROC meeting at Tamiami Village in North Fort Myers on December 21.

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Lindsay S. Smith, an attorney in the Denver office of Winzenburg, Leff, Purvis and Payne, recently posted a great entry on her firm's Colorado Home Owners Association Law blog.  As you'll see from her article, Florida ROCs aren't the only ones with residents that take it upon themselves to "befriend" and feed wild animals--in this case,stray and feral cats.  Unfortunately for the homeowners in this particular community, its association had allowed the resident to feed these feral cats for a number of years before filing a lawsuit against that resident--and, because of the association's delay in taking action, the court held that the association could not stop the offending homeowner from continuing to feed these animals.

I read Ms. Smith's entry several days before my colleague Bill Korp and I had lunch with the managers of two of the ROCs we represent in southwest Florida.  I was thinking about her article when I asked the managers whether there were any problems with wild animals in their communities. 

Each manager had a tale to tell:

• Muscovy Ducks had made themselves at home in one manager's community in Lee County and the members of this ROC were struggling with how best to deal with these feathered interlopers.  I did some internet research when I returned to the office and found that Lee County has a web page devoted to Muscovies.   I would not be surprised if at least a few other counties in our state have similar websites.
• Ducks are one thing--but the black bear that was captured in the other manager's community in East Naples was quite another.  It's worth following this link to read the news article (which has a picture of the bear).   The story doesn't end with the bear's removal from the community.   The manager told us that, even though the bear was relocated to a state park, it made its way back to his community.  The bear was last seen in this ROC in late July and has obviously caused more than a bit of unwelcome excitement for this manager and the homeowners.

As if managers and board members needed any more reasons to tell homeowners and their guests:  "Please, don't feed the animals!"

Let's hope that wild beasts and hurricanes stay far away from our ROCs this year!

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My most recent entry summarized the some of the changes made by House Bill 1195 (which became effective on July 1 of this year) to several provisions of the laws governing cooperative associations in Florida.

House Bill 1195 created three new subsections to Florida Statute Section 719.303 that have the effect of extending to cooperative associations the same enforcement tools that have been given to condominium associations and mandatory homeowners associations in our state.

New Florida Statute Section 719.303(4) allows the association to suspend the right of a unit owner or that owner's occupant, licensee, or invitee to use common elements, common facilities, or any other association property until a monetary obligation is paid in full, subject to the following conditions:

• The unit owner must be more than 90 days delinquent in paying that monetary obligation
• The right to use limited common elements intended to be used only by that unit, common elements needed to access that unit, utility services provided to the unit, parking spaces, or elevators cannot be suspended under F.S. Section 719.303(4)

Cooperative associations are given the right to suspend the voting rights of a unit or member under  Florida Statute Section 719.303(5).   This new subsection provides that:

• The suspension is based on nonpayment of any monetary obligation due to the association which is more than 90 days delinquent
• A voting interest or consent right which has been suspended may not be counted towards the total number of voting interests for any purpose, including, but not limited to, the number of voting interests needed to establish a quorum, the number of voting interests required to conduct an election, or the number of voting interests needed to approve an action under Chapter 719 or the association's governing documents
• The suspension ends upon payment in full of all obligations currently due or overdue to the association

The suspensions imposed under these to new subsections are not subject to the notice and hearing requirements of F.S. Section 719.303(3).  Instead, the following requirements are provided in new Florida Statute Section 719.303(6):

• The suspensions must be approved by the association's board of directors at a properly noticed board meeting
• Upon approval, the association must notify the unit owner, and, if applicable, the unit's occupant, licensee, or invitee of the suspension by mail or hand delivery.

It will be interesting to see whether these new provisions encourage unit owners to pay amounts owed to cooperative associations.  I'll look forward to hearing from my blog followers that are members of cooperatives about this in the coming months.

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On June 21, Florida's Governor approved House Bill 1195.  The provisions contained in this legislation became effective on July 1, 2011.

HB 1195 was considered by many to be a "glitch bill" aimed a correcting oversights in laws passed in recent sessions of Florida's legislature.  However, HB 1195 does not expand the categories of "protected official records" in Florida Statute Section 719.104 to match those that were included in the 2010 amendments to F.S. Section 718.111(12)(c) and F.S. Section 720.303(5).   For whatever the reason, certain documents that are clearly "off limits" to unit owners in condominium associations and mandatory homeowners associations will continue to be accessible to a unit owner in a cooperative association that makes a proper request to inspect and copy them.  I've covered this topic in a previous entry in this blog and it's clear that cooperative associations have another year of uncertainty in dealing with requests to inspect and copy these "sensitive" official records.

However, HB 1195 did amend Florida Statute Section 719.303(3) to provide that::

• A cooperative association may now levy reasonable fines for the failure of the occupant of a unit (even if that occupant is not the unit owner) to comply with the association's "reasonable"  rules or any provision of the documents governing the cooperative.   The fine may not become a lien on the unit, may be levied on the basis of each day of a "continuing violation," and cannot exceed $100 per violation or $1000 total.
• In addition, a cooperative association can now suspend, for a reasonable period of time, the right of a unit owner, or unit owner's tenant, guest, or invitee, to use the common elements, common facilities, or any other association property for failure to comply with the association's "reasonable" rules or any provision of the cooperative documents.
• The cooperative association must give the unit owner (and, if applicable, the unit owner's licensee or invitee) reasonable notice and an opportunity for a hearing before a committee of unit owners and the committee must agree with the fine or suspension in order for the fine or suspension to be imposed. 

We'll discuss some  additional enforcement tools extended to cooperative associations through HB 1195 in my next entry.

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I was contacted earlier today by a manager whose association had installed a "wifi" system in the community's clubhouse that would allow residents and their guests to bring their laptops and other mobile devices into the clubhouse and connect to the internet.   A password would be needed to use the wifi system but this password would be given to any resident or guest that requested it.

The manager forwarded me a very recent blog entry from my colleague, Lisa Magill, from the Becker Poliakoff law firm, that raised the issue of whether a community association could be  liable if the wifi connection offered to its residents and guests was used to illegally download content.   Lisa's entry contained links to several articles, including a report on litigation being filed against thousands of persons for allegedly downloading pornographic movies illegally.

Regular readers of this blog may recall my discussions of how ROCs could potentially violate copyright laws by playing music or showing movies at community events and it appears that associations that offer wifi or other internet services to residents and guests may be entering the same dangerous waters.

While the safest course of action would be for an association to remove the internet service (or not install it in the first place), perhaps there are some steps that ROCs can take to bring the risk of potential liability down to a level that might be acceptable to an association's board of directors:

• The board of directors can pass a rule requiring that any residents and guests using the community's internet service do not commit any illegal activities
• The board can also require that no resident or guest be given the password or otherwise be allowed to use the internet service unless and until he or she signs a document agreeing that he or she shall not use the system for any illegal purposes, including downloading any material illegally, and that any such illegal usage shall result in that resident or guest immediately and permanently forfeiting his or her privileges to use the internet service.   This agreement should also contain specific language stating that the resident or guest will indemnify the association for any and all costs, expenses, and damages that the association incurs or suffers as a result of that resident or guest using the service for any illegal purposes.  
• The board should determine whether the resident or guest is required to click on an "I Agree" box prior to accessing the internet on his or her laptop.  If so, the board can have the requirements and agreements set forth in above two paragraphs included on that "sign in" page and the resident or guest will not be allowed to access the internet unless and until he or she clicks on that box.   I would still suggest having each resident and guest sign a "hard copy" of that agreement for the association's records and the association should maintain that document in a safe place.

Finally, each association should have a discussion with its insurer to determine whether the association's current policy would protect it in the event of a claim arising from the illegal use of its internet service by a resident or guest. 

We'll do our best to keep you advised of any further developments in this area.  

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I'm posting the links to three recent articles for my blog readers:

• The first story involves the efforts of a condominium association in Jupiter, Florida to use a dog's individual DNA to help identify canine offenders (and their owners) of the community's "pooper scooper" rules.
•  The aggressive approach taken by a  homeowners' association in Pembroke Pines to collect delinquent maintenance and other fees--brought about in no small part by the foreclosure crisis--is the focus of the second article.
• Finally, a very sobering report from the Palm Beach Post on the battle brewing between Florida's emergency managers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency as to whether every emergency shelter in the state is required to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.   According to this article, the cost to bring each of the hundreds of emergency shelters in Florida into compliance with the ADA may exceed One Billion Dollars--and the last time I checked, our state doesn't have that kind of money in its cookie jar.

I hope you enjoy reading these three stories and look forward to your comments.

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I have to assume that most of us that remain in Florida during the "off season" were not obsessed with the Casey Anthony trial.  

Nonetheless, almost immediately after the verdict, the social media (characterized by numerous comments on my Facebook page) was buzzing with outrage.   The mainstream media (which certainly contributed to the almost surreal and sensationalistic circus atmosphere that has surrounded this case for almost three years) quickly marched out its various "experts" to weigh in on the jury's decision and presented numerous "persons in the street" opinions for public consumption.

Almost lost among the emotional chatter are a few very important points that form the basis of our country's criminal justice system:

• A defendant is innocent until proven guilty.  The defendant walks into the courtroom with a presumption that she did not commit the crimes with which she is charged. 
• The State (represented by the prosecution) must establish the defendant's guilt and must do so "beyond a reasonable doubt".  This "burden of proof" is a very heavy burden--to use a sports analogy, the prosecution has to do much more than just carry the football across the 50 yard-line--that football has to get at least into the range of a "chip shot" field goal and the prosecution most probably has to put itself into a "1st and goal" position to meet that extremely high standard.
• In addition, the fact that the defendant chooses not to testify at the trial on her behalf cannot be held against her by the jury in its deliberations.  Because the defendant is presumed innocent and the State has the burden of proving her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the defendant need not present any evidence at all if she (or her defense team) so chooses.

It's a credit to our legal system that criminal defendants are tried before a jury of their peers rather than in the "court of public opinion".   When all was said and done, Casey Anthony's fate rested in the hands of twelve individuals who were able to focus on the testimony and other evidence presented and were not subjected to the ceaseless barrage of opinion and speculation from every corner of the internet and mainstream media.

In the long run,  those jurors (and the alternate jurors) are the only "heroes" in this saga.  Regardless of what any of believe or think we "know" about the Anthony family and what really happened to Caylee Anthony, those jurors gave up several months of their lives for minimal compensation and undertook one of the most trying and important responsibilities that all American citizens share--and it was these twelve jurors, and not any "expert," or majority vote from the public at large, that decided whether the State had met its burden of proof on each of the various charges.  

Those of my blog readers that have served on a jury have an idea of the difficulties these jurors faced in making their determinations.   Each of these individuals deserves our gratitude for their commitment to our state and our criminal justice system.

We'll get back to ROC matters in my next blog entry.

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One of my recent blog entries discussed House Bill 849, a welcome product of Florida's 2011 legislative session.  House Bill 849 created new Florida Statute Section 514.0315, which  gives pool owners the option of installing any of five different types of equipment in order to meet the requirements of the Virginia Graeme Baker Act.

The legislature forwarded this bill to Florida's Governor for approval and our Governor signed 849 into law on Friday, June 24.

The provisions of this new law  will become effective on July 1, 2011.

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Earlier this month, Governor Scott signed into law Chapter 2011-105, the Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 650.

One of the highlights of this Senate Bill is the creation of a new section of Chapter 723, Florida's statutes governing mobile home park tenancies.

New Florida Statute Section 723.024--Compliance by mobile home park owners and mobile home owners--states as follows:

"Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any local law, ordinance, or code:

• (1)  If a unit of local government finds that a violation of a local code or ordinance has occurred, the unit of local government shall cite the responsible party for the violation and enforce the citation under its local code and ordinance enforcement authority.
• (2)  A lien, penalty, fine, or other administrative or civil proceeding may not be brought against a mobile home owner or mobile home for any duty or responsibility of the mobile home park owner under s. 723.022 or against a mobile home park owner for any duty or responsibility of the mobile home owner under s. 723.023."

Up until now, owners of manufactured housing communities (whether ROCs or third party investors) were often hesitant to contact local authorities to help remedy a home owner's violation of a local code or ordinance (for example, a health or building code violation) for fear that the local authorities would cite the park owner, rather than the home owner, for the violation.

This new law should eliminate that hesitancy in regards to home owners that are violating local codes or ordinances in resident owned manufactured housing communities. 

It's clear that this new provision will apply to mobile home owners that are not members of a cooperative, condominium or mandatory homeowners' association that owns or has the rights and responsibilities of enforcing the rules or covenants governing the community.  

I would also suggest that there are very strong arguments in favor of F.S 723.024 applying to those home owners that are members of the condominium, cooperative, or mandatory homeowners' association that operates the manufactured housing community.  It's apparent from the express language of this new section that it is the party that is actually violating the code or ordinance that should be held responsible for that violation.

That's a welcome clarification for managers and board members in manufactured housing community ROCs and will certainly assist in the enforcement of community rules and regulations.

F.S. 723.024 became effective on the day it was signed by our Governor--June 2, 2011.

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Sawmill Resort and Campground is located near Dade City in Pasco County in west central Florida.   It's in a very rustic area with about 178 spaces for recreational vehicles, a number of existing cabins and camping sites, a general store, a recreational hall that doubles as a night club, and a pool and poolside bar and cafe'.

Earlier today, Sawmill became the latest resident-owned community in Florida as its homeowners association purchased the community after over nine months of hard work by a group of very dedicated individuals.

The price was $4,200,000 and the seller, TPG Campgrounds, LLC, was very capably represented by Attorney John Fenn Foster of the Foster & Fuchs firm in Jupiter, Florida.  The homeowners association financed the purchase with the welcome assistance of Jeff Campbell at Community Bank & Company, which loaned the association $2,940,00.00 and also helped a number of residents purchase membership shares in the cooperative that will be formed from the homeowners association.   The lender's legal counsel was Ryan Snyder of the Snyder Law Group.

Bill Gorman and his Lifestyle Choice Realty team guided the Sawmill residents through many twists and turns of this very challenging transaction.   The homeowners association was also greatly assisted by its surveyor, Bobby Simmons of Simmons & Beall, Inc.,  Bill Goulet of Environmental Assessments & Consulting, Inc., Sam Surratt from Lee Reed Insurance, and Bryan Tolli from Evergreen Insurance.

I'm happy to welcome Sawmill as a resident owned community and will be looking forward to getting back to regularly posting entries on my blog.  We've got lots to discuss!

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Last week I posted an entry about attempts by some members of Florida's legislature to eliminate the  regulation of Community Association Managers as well as the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes and (for good measure) end mandatory non-binding arbitration for certain disputes between owners and the associations governing their communities.

Proposed Committee Bill BCAS 11-01 moved quickly through the Business and Consumer Affairs Committee of Florida's House of Representatives and was then assigned a bill number, becoming House Bill (HB) 5005.   According to reports from Tallahassee, HB 5005 was being "fast tracked" and was destined to breeze through one or two other House committees. There was concern that HB 5005 would then join up with a companion Senate Bill and would be voted on and approved by both the House and the Senate before many of those most affected by this legislation would have been made aware of what was occurring in Florida's capital.

However, during the past week, HB 5005 somehow jumped off that "fast track".   Apparently, HB 5005 entered the Economic Affairs Committee of Florida's House of Representatives as a 280 plus page juggernaut and exited that committee as a much less imposing 63 page piece of legislation.

Substitute HB 5005 preserves the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes as well as the mandatory non-binding arbitration program and maintains the laws providing for the regulation and licensing of Community Association Managers.

I would assume that our legislators heard from more than a few organizations over the past week or so (including the Federation of Mobile Home Owners and the Community Associations Institute).  I also have no doubt that a noticeable segment of the over three million residents of Florida ROCs made their feelings known to our representatives in Tallahassee.  

At least for now, HB 5005 is no longer a bitter pill for resident owned communities in Florida to swallow.  

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We'll be presenting the last series of this season's ROC seminars during the end of March and the month of April. 

Our first two have been scheduled and here are the dates and locations:

• Wednesday, March 30th at Piney Point in Ellenton
• Friday, April 1st at Lake Bonnet Village in Avon Park

These events will start at 10 a.m. and we usually end around noon.  Two of the topics we'll be covering are "Top Ten Reasons to Update Your Community's Governing Documents" and "Reasonable Accommodations Under the Fair Housing Act".

We'll also provide you with legislative updates (which should be very interesting!) and leave time for our customary "open forum".

As always, attendance is free, as are the refreshments and you'll enjoy meeting and greeting fellow ROC residents.   Please rsvp by emailing Karen Midlam at kmidlam@lutzbobo.com, Kathy Sawdo at ksawdo@lutzbobo.com or me at sgordon@lutzbobo.com.

I'll also be speaking at the Mid-Florida ROC meeting on the morning of April 19th at Country Club Manor in Eustis.  I've had the pleasure of speaking at the most recent meetings of both the ROC Forum (last week at Four Seasons in Largo) and SWFROC (earlier this week at Carriage Village in North Ft. Myers) and also spoke about Advance Care Directives last week at Golf Lakes in Bradenton.  Thanks to all of those communities for their hospitality!

We're finalizing the dates and locations for seminars in Sarasota County and Lee and Collier Counties and I'll post them on the blog next week.

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I've spent part of the past few days in email correspondence and telephone and person to person discussions about Proposed Committee Bill (PCB) BCAS 11-01 with fellow community association attorneys, ROC managers, and concerned board members.

As you may already know, earlier this week, the Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee of the Florida House of Representatives (by a 10 to 5 vote) passed PCB 11-01.  This bill will now be assigned a number and will be scheduled for additional committee hearings.   The concern is that this bill is on a fast track and will not have to undergo deliberations in more than one or two other House subcommittees and that, while no companion bill has been filed in the Florida Senate (at least as of earlier today), that Senate companion bill will be forthcoming in the very near future.

So what's the big deal about PCB 11-01?

How about these for starters--within this proposed bill's 281 pages, you'll find provisions that:

• Eliminate many agencies that license and regulate numerous professions in Florida, including Community Association Managers
• Eliminate what appears to be all or at least a substantial porton of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes
• Eliminate the mandatory non-binding arbitration provisions found in Florida's statutes governing condominium and cooperative associations

Please check out the full text of PCB 11-01 if you want to verify the incredibly far-reaching language that's now being considered by Florida's lawmakers.  

If you are a homeowner or condominium owner in a resident owned community, you might want to contact your state legislators about this bill.

I'll have another entry later this week.

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I was just forwarded this article from last Saturday's Washington Post.   I'll let the story speak for itself and hope you enjoy reading it.  

Perhaps this cautionary tale should be prominently displayed on the bulletin boards in all of our resident-owned communities as an extreme example of what can happen when too many members decide that they don't have the time or desire to accept leadership responsibilities.

Have a great week and keep this community in mind the next time you want to complain about your ROC's problems!

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I didn't want January to end without welcoming a new resident-owned community into the fold.

Just before 2010 came to a close, Tropicana Mobile Manor in Fort Myers was bought by an association of homeowners formed to purchase the park and convert it to a resident-owned cooperative, Tropicana Co-op, Inc.

Tropicana has 470 total spaces and the purchase price was $33,810,000.  More than 160 residents bought membership shares in the cooperative to help finance the purchase and Bank of America provided the blanket loan.

The closing occurred on December 17 and the residents were guided through the process by Marty Pozgay and his Florida Community Services Group.

Congratulations to the residents of Tropicana.  Welcome to the ROC family and we'll look forward to seeing your board members at future seminars and meetings of the Southwest Florida Resident Owned Communities.

As many of you know, between our seminars at Spring Creek Village in Bonita Springs, Venice Isle Estates in Venice, Skyway Village in Palmetto, my recent presentation for the Mid-Florida ROC meeting at Hawthorne in Leesburg, and attending several annual meetings, January has been incredibly busy and I have been asked many very interesting questions by attendees at these events.  I promise to discuss several of those questions on this blog during the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I want to thank all of the communities that hosted our presentations and also want to thank Skyway Village for inviting me to their open house for their beautifully renovated clubhouse and Windward Isles in Sarasota for allowing me to share in the celebration of their 25th anniversary of becoming a resident-owned community.

2011 is shaping up as a banner year for ROCs in Florida and we're glad that Tropicana has joined us!

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I'm surely not alone in trying to understand the tragedy that occurred just over a week ago in Tucson.   Regardless of one's political views, it's certainly worth considering the clear lack of civility and common courtesy that seems to be the rule rather than the exception throughout our country today.

Several days after the shootings in Arizona, I attended a meeting at one of the communities we represent in Southwest Florida and was saddened to observe a level of disrespect and rage that simply has no place in ROCs.   After the meeting, several residents mentioned to me that had I not attended, the meeting would have been disrupted by a number of unit owners.   Several other members approached me after the meeting and stated that I had been "duped" and hadn't heard the "other side" of the story.

As an attorney that represents many community associations, I've often had to explain to unit owners that we don't have "a dog in the fight".  In other words, my role is not to take sides on any particular issue being considered by a community--I may point out factors to an association's board of directors and membership that should be considered but assuming that the actions being discussed by the association do not violate any state, federal, or local laws, my job is to help ensure that the process that leads to the result is proper and legal.

Board members are volunteers and it's very troubling to attend unit owner meetings where residents fail to treat a director with even a minimal amount of courtesy and respect.    When a board member is shouted down or where his or her name is met with hisses or jeering, I find myself wondering what causes unit owners to demonize one of their neighbors and refuse to listen to any opinion other than their own?

How can a resident owned community survive if members no longer treat other members with simple courtesy and respect?   Does any resident want to live in a community where issues are allowed to fester and be fed by rumor mongering and unfounded criticism of the motives of board members until those issues explode?   Wouldn't that resident much rather live in a community where issues are resolved by civil discussion and debate?

Every member of a resident owned community has the right to attend almost every association meeting and can inspect numerous records of the association.  For example, Florida Statutes Sections 719.106 and 719.104 call for open cooperative association board meetings and access to a cooperative association's official records.

At the same time, every association member has an obligation to be fully informed about issues that come before the board, and to treat all board members--and all unit owners--with courtesy and respect.

In a month where we cope with the carnage in Tucson and commemorate the life and death of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., I truly hope that we all rediscover the art of listening and treat each other with the civility that every one of us deserves.

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What better way to start 2011 than with an "op-ed" piece in the January 3 issue of The New York Times that undermines the idea that pets are beneficial to our health and happiness? 

"Fido's No Doctor. Neither is Whiskers." was written by Hal Herzog, a professor of psychology at Western Carolina University,  and I have a feeling that this article will generate some interesting discussions in communities throughout the country.  I'll probably be answering a few questions about Professor Herzog's arguments at our upcoming seminars.

And if you're already tired of dealing with pets and other issues facing ROC board members and managers this early in the new year, keep reminding yourselves that things could always be worse--as you'll see in this report and video from a television station in Houston, Texas.   Thanks to my colleague Janet Romano at Florida Shores Bank for forwarding this story about an embattled community and its apparently out of control HOA board.

Let's hope that all of our ROCs have a very peaceful, civil, and prosperous 2011.  We'll look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming seminars!

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I know everyone is busy preparing for the holidays but I wanted to post our January seminar schedule:

• Tuesday, January 11, at Spring Creek Village in Bonita Springs
• Monday, January 24,  at Venice Isle Estates in Venice.
• Wednesday, January 26, at Skyway Village in Palmetto

All of these seminars will start at 10 a.m. and will end between noon and 12:30 p.m. 

We'll be discussing requirements and procedures for properly and efficiently conducting meetings, issues involving swimming pools, and any proposed legislation making its way to Tallahassee for the 2011 lawmaking session that may impact resident owned communities in our state.

We'll conclude with our traditional "open forum" for questions and suggestions for future seminar topics.

As always, admission is free, refreshments will be served, and you'll have a great opportunity to mix and mingle with members of other ROCs in your area.

Please email Karen Midlam (kmidlam@lutzbobo.com), Kathy Sawdo (ksawdo@lutzbobo.com) or me (sgordon@lutzbobo.com) if you'd like to attend one of these events.  Just let us know which seminar and the number of residents from your community that will be attending.

I'll also be speaking at the Mid-Florida ROC meeting at Hawthorne  in Leesburg on the morning of Tuesday, January 25.

Our best wishes to you and yours for a very happy and healthy holiday season.   We're looking forward to seeing you in January!

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We've set the date and location of the seminar for the board members and managers of resident owned communities in the Lee, Collier, and Charlotte county area:

• Friday, December 3, at Imperial Bonita Estates in Bonita Springs.

This event will start at 10 a.m. and end around noon.  Just like the other seminars posted in my last blog entry, admission is free and so are the refreshments and opportunities to mix and mingle with fellow ROC members.  

We'll be covering several very interesting topics at our December seminars:

• Updates on dealing with pet and caregiver requests under the Fair Housing and Americans With Disabilities Acts
• Privacy issues facing managers and board members in resident owned communities
• Recent legislative changes to Florida's statutes governing ROCs
• As always, attendees will have time for questions and comments.

Please send an email to Karen Midlam (kmidlam@lutzbobo.com), Kathy Sawdo (ksawdo@lutzbobo.com) or to me (sgordon@lutzbobo.com) if you'd like to attend any of our December seminars.   Let us know which event you'll be attending, the number of attendees from your community, and whether you'll need directions to the seminar.

We hope to see you in December at one of these seminars.

There's a ROC group that 's been formed in East Pasco County (EPROC) and I wanted to post the dates of their upcoming meetings:

• November 19th
• December 10th
• January 14th
• February 11th
• March 11th
• April 8th

If you're a member of a resident-owned community in that area and want more information, please send me an email and I'll point you in the right direction.  The EPROC meetings begin at 9 a.m. and the November meeting is at Betmar Acres.

EPROC is off to a great start and I look forward to speaking at that November 19th meeting.

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We've scheduled three of the four seminars we'll be presenting in December for managers and board members in resident-owned communities. 

Here are the dates and locations:

• Thursday, December 2 at Paradise Bay Estates in Bradenton
• Tuesday, December 7 at Village at Riverwalk in North Port
• Friday, December 10 at Hammock Estates in Sebring

I'll be posting the location of the seminar for our Lee and Collier communities and a brief description of the topics we'll be covering within the next few days.

These events will start at 10 a.m. and run until about noon.    Admission is free and so are the refreshments.  Our seminars are a great opportunity  to meet and discuss common issues with members of other ROCs in the area.

If you'd like to attend, please email me at sgordon@lutzbobo.com, Karen Midlam at kmidlam@lutzbobo.com, or Kathy Sawdo at ksawdo@lutzbobo.com.   Let us know which event you'll be attending, the number of members of your ROC that will be attending with you, and whether you need directions to the host community. 

We'll look forward to seeing you in December!

The Florida Resident Owned Communities website has a very helpful calendar that lists the upcoming meetings of the ROC groups serving Lake, Sumter and Orange Counties (Mid-Florida ROC), Southwest Florida (SWFROC), and Pinellas County (ROC Forum).   I hope you'll find that calendar useful and will bookmark it for future reference.

Enjoy this great weather and we'll see you next month!

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I spent last Thursday and Friday in Fort Lauderdale attending the Thirty-Fifth Institute on Condominium and Cluster Developments presented by the University of Miami School of Law.  I'll be posting future blog entries about several of the topics covered at the Institute but wanted to draw your attention to two items that I think you'll find interesting:

• Last week, I received an email from the Community Associations Institute that introduced me to a new term-- "HOA Syndrome" and a web site advertising a seminar in a suburb of  Las Vegas (no surprise there!) on how residents can recover monetary damages for the injuries inflicted upon them by community association boards.  You'll also find on that website a link to a paper by a Professor Gary Solomon that refers to this "HOA Syndrome" as "A Two-Tailed Psychiatric Disorder".  Let's just say that I was less than impressed with that paper but I'll look forward to your comments after you've taken a look at what Professor Solomon has to say and the HOA Syndrome site.
• One of my colleagues, Ira Leesfield,wrote an article that appeared in the October 18th edition of the Miami Herald.   There are some very important issues raised in this article and I highly recommend that every ROC manager and board member strongly consider Mr. Leesfield's suggestion that community associations adopt and implement written policies that prohibit employees using cell phones or other mobile devices for work-related purposes while driving.

The first annual Dowd Whittaker Community Association Festival was lots of fun and a great success and I look forward to speaking at that event next year.  It was very nice to see all of the familiar faces and I hope the board members and managers of the ROCs we work with enjoyed the Festival as much as I did.   Thanks to everyone who attended and participated!

We're finalizing the dates and locations of our first set of this season's seminars and I hope to have that information on the blog by the week's end. 

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It's always a pleasure to welcome a new member into the family of resident owned communities.

On September 15, the resident purchase and conversion of the communities of Country Lakes I and II in Manatee County was completed. 

The proud owner of this 471 site community is Country Lakes Co-op, Inc.  Kudos to the residents that participated in the purchase effort and especially to Marty Pozgay and his Florida Community Services Group for helping the residents realize their dreams of ownership.

The HOA officers received the 45 day notice from the owner of Country Lakes I and II on June 28, 2010.  At that time, about seventy per cent of the homeowners had left those communities for their summer residences and Marty and the remaining thirty per cent were faced with the daunting task of raising six million dollars for an earnest money deposit (to be applied to the total purchase price of 32.2 million dollars) in a very short period of time.  

The blanket loan was provided byBank of America and individual share loans were provided by Patriot Bank andWhitney Bank.

Congratulations to the residents at Country Lakes and to everyone that helped Country Lake Co-op, Inc. become the newest ROC in Florida!

Those of you in the Sarasota, Manatee, and De Soto County area, please don't forget to rsyp for the upcoming Dowd Whittaker Community Association Festival on either October 19 or October 20.   John Dowd promises a morning of education and fun for all and I'll be one of the speakers--plus you'll get to see me in one of my flashiest Hawaiian shirts.

See you there!

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Sometimes even I'm surprised by what can occur in a resident-owned community.

I recently received an email from one of the followers of my blog.  I've copied and pasted most of it below for your review and comment:

• A resident-owned community quietly begins installing surveillance cameras in buildings and on common grounds. Some of the more "private" rooms also had cameras installed... the quiet little library and the small exercise room. No official notice was given to the residents that the cameras have been installed, or worse yet, that the cameras are now functioning. No signs have been installed stating that surveillance is happening.
  
• At the last board meeting, residents learned that a computer monitor in the association office is taping all of the camera locations into a two year (?) memory system. At the same meeting, the residents were aghast to hear from the association president that he has been watching the residents, from all eight camera locations, on his own computer in ______________(note that I've intentionally deleted the President's home location here to protect the "innocent").  No one in the park had been officially notified that the cameras had been installed or were functioning before this time.
  

I'd love to hear what you think about this invasion of privacy and in particular your thoughts on exactly what laws (if any) have been broken.  In addition, do any of you believe that the members of the board as well as the association's President should have to answer to the membership?  It does not appear that the installation of these surveillance cameras was approved by the board at a properly noticed meeting open to all association members.  I'll look forward to the comments from my readers on this distressing situation.

Speaking of distressing situations, a recent column  by Eric Ernst in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune describes the plight of mobile home owners in an investor-owned community in Venice.   While the value of their homes may be decreasing, the value of the community in which these residents live (as mobile home owners on rented lots) appears to be increasing, at least in the eyes of the county's Property Appraiser.   Needless to say, many home owners in that community are not exactly thrilled with the Property Appraiser's evaluation.

I'll be posting news about another educational event for ROC board members in the next week or so as well as times, dates, and locations for our first set of the upcoming season's resident owned community seminars.   In the meantime, enjoy these first few weeks of college football!

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I just read two articles in the New York Times that I wanted to bring to the attention of the followers of my blog.

• It's no surprise to anyone that Florida has been one of the states most heavily impacted by the foreclosure crisis.  The number of foreclosures continues to grow daily and our court system is struggling to find an answer to the increasing backlog of cases.   Gretchen Morgenson's and Geraldine Fabrikant's piece in the Business Day section of the September 4, 2010 of the Times is entitled "Florida's High-Speed Answer to a Foreclosure Mess" and paints a very distressing picture of the challenges we face in finding solutions to the problems created by the onslaught of foreclosure actions.   I think you'll find this a very eye-opening read.
• There's a battle being fought in a resident-owned community in Arizona over a flag that a homeowner (a former board member!!) is flying on his roof.  It's a yellow 'Don't Tread on Me" banner that (coincidentally?) has been adopted by the current "Tea Party" movement.    Marc Lacey's piece appears in the August 30, 2010 edition of the Times and is entitled "Homeowner's Fight Involves Flag Tied to Tea Party".   I recommend this piece for all members of ROCs who might otherwise think that these disputes occur only in our fair state.

I'll be speaking at the First Annual Dowd, Whittaker & Associates Community Associates Community Association Festival at the Venice Community Center.   All Board members and managers of ROCs are invited to attend from 9 a.m. to noon on either October 19th or October 20th.   The event is free to all and there will be prizes, food, drinks and music.   The suggested attire is "your tackiest Hawaiian shirt."    You'll find the link to register for the event right here:  http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e30dxr1rce2238b3&llr=vdb8x9dab

I hope everyone had a safe and restful Labor Day weekend and that the rest of the hurricane season remains quiet in our neck of the woods.   I'll look forward to seeing many of you (in your most colorful Aloha shirts) at Venice Community Center on either October 19 or October 20!

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While we wait for newly formed Fiona to decide where she's headed, I thought I'd share an article by John Bowe from the August 8, 2010 edition of the New York Times Magazine that I read while spending a bit of time away from the office (even dedicated bloggers need a vacation now and then).

The timing of the article could not have been better given my recent entry on ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.   I hope you'll enjoy the read.

I'll be presenting a seminar for managers on Reasonable Accommodations under the Fair Housing Act following the September 1 breakfast meeting of the West Florida Chapter of the Community Associations Institute and hope to post some exciting news within the next week about another event where I'll be speaking in October. 

In the meantime, it's good to be home and let's all keep alert as it looks like Hurricane season has really heated up!

Stay safe!

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While we're waiting for the next tropical system to form in the Atlantic (and as all Floridians know, hurricane season is just getting started), I thought I'd suggest a few articles for your reading pleasure:

• In today's Sarasota Herald Tribune, a very interesting story on how several law firms in the state that have been characterized as "foreclosure mills" have drawn the attention of Florida's current attorney general.
• An article from several weeks ago in the Herald Tribune about the attempts of owners of boats anchored in Sarasota Bay to create a "homeowners association".
• A very interesting column by Tom Lyons in the Herald Tribune about some real problems created by the revisions to the Florida Statutes that allow community associations to collect rent directly from a person renting a home or unit from an association member that is delinquent in his or her assessments, dues, and/or maintenance fees.  Mr. Lyons followed this column with an equally thought provoking entry in his blog--and the questions raised in both the column and the blog remain for the most part unanswered.

Finally, the August 2010 issue of the Florida Community Association Journal focuses on budgeting and financial issues and provides a wealth of helpful material for ROC managers and board members.  The articles may not be posted online yet but they are all well worth reading.

We'll be scheduling our first set of seminars for resident-owned communities for the 2010-2011 season in the next few weeks and will post that information on the blog.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your summer reading assignments!

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The manager at one of the ROCs we represent recently sent me a "Performance License for RV Parks/Campgrounds" from a company called SESAC.   The manager wanted to know whether SESAC had the right to insist that the community obtain a license in order to play live or recorded songs in SESAC's music catalog at community events.

I know that several other communities (both with and without RV sections) have been contacted about the need to have a "performance license" to play music in the clubhouse or rec hall.   In addition, my friends at SWFROC suggested that other ROCs wanted to know more about these licenses. 

Federal copyright laws are based on the concept of property rights--and, in the case of songs and music, these laws view the songwriter's work (the creation of the song) and the publisher's work (the distribution of the song) as a "property".   In other words, the songwriter and publisher "own" the song and no one else can use the song without the permission of the songwriter and publisher.

There are three recognized "performing rights organizations" ("p.r.o.'s") that have been established to ensure that songwriters and music publishers are properly compensated when their songs are performed in public:  The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ("ASCAP"), Broadcast Music, Inc. ("BMI") and the Society of European Stage Authors and Performers ("SESAC").   Basically, each of these organizations has compiled a huge catalog of music and protects the property rights of the creators and publishers of that music by collecting licensing fees from businesses that use any of that music and distributing those licensing fees as royalties to songwriters, composers, and music publishers in their catalog.

The "Frequently Asked Questions" section on ASCAP's website defines a "public performance" as a performance "that occurs either in a public place or any place where people gather (other than a small circle of a family or its social acquaintances)".  A "public performance" is also a performance "that is transmitted to the public" such as radio or television broadcasts, music-on-hold (yes, that means the music you have to endure while waiting for a real person to speak with you on the telephone), cable television, and by the internet.   

With a few very limited exceptions, any "public performance" requires the permission of the owner of the music or his or her representative--and that usually means ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC.

As far as the big three "p.r.o.'s" are concerned, any "public performance" of any music in their catalog that does not fall within these limited exceptions requires a license from that "p.r.o." and the failure to obtain that license is a violation of Federal copyright laws.

ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC will actively pursue businesses that violate these copyright laws.   For example, earlier this summer, ASCAP announced that it had filed 21 separate copyright infringement actions against nightclubs, bars and restaurants in 13 states.  Apparently, in each of these cases, the offending business either failed to obtain a license from ASCAP or had failed to pay the fees owed to maintain its license and publicly performed musical works of songwriters, composers, or music publishers in ASCAP's catalog.

The penalties for copyright infringement can be substantial--and in extreme cases may cost an offending business at least $100,000 in fines.   

In addition, having a license to play songs from the catalog of one "p.r.o." does not give a business the right to play songs from the catalogs of the other two "p.r.o.'s"--separate licenses will have to be obtained from those two "p.r.o.'s" to play songs from their catalogs.

Finally, a few other points to consider:

• Purchasing sheet music or a record or CD does not authorize that purchaser to publicly perform that music--for example, by performing that music live or playing the record or CD at a community event in the ROC clubhouse.
• ASCAP's "Frequently Asked Questions" section notes that some people "mistakenly assume that musicians and entertainers must obtain licenses to perform copyrighted music or that businesses where music is performed can shift their responsibility to musicians or entertainers."  According to the ASCAP site, the copyright laws say that "all who participate in, or are responsible for, performance of music" are legally responsible--in ASCAP's view, "since it is the business owner who obtains the ultimate benefit from the performance, it is the business owner who obtains the license.  Music license fees are one of the many costs of doing business."
• Associations that have "movie nights" for their residents and guests should be aware that copyright protection also extends to movie producers and distributors

Obviously, ROC managers and board members have some important factors that must be considered when events involving music are held in the common areas of the community.   

I've just skimmed the surface of this topic but would hope that every ROC consults with its attorney when faced with these issues.

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 I just read an article at the CNN website about the Americans With Disabilities Act, which was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1990.   That article contained a link to a story that personalizes the importance of the ADA and its intent to insure that all citizens have the ability to function to their fullest capacities regardless of their particular physical, mental, or emotional challenges.

In my last entry, I summarized the decision of an Administrative Law Judge that found a landlord liable for more than $50,000 in civil damages and penalties because the landlord was held to have retaliated against a single mother who filed a Fair Housing complaint.

As I've mentioned before, our nation's fair housing laws and the ADA are rooted in the civil rights legislation of the 1960's and all managers, board members and residents in ROCs should remember that any attempts to restrict the rights that have been granted by our federal and state legislatures and courts to persons that fall within any of these "protected classes" may subject the community to consequences that are both severe and damaging.

Just something to consider as we observe the 20th anniversary of the ADA.

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I've been hesitant in posting entries on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as the media's coverage has been both numbing and overwhelming.   However, I read several articles over the July 4th weekend that I wanted to bring to the attention of my readers:

• The Sarasota Herald-Tribune ran a lengthy story this weekend on how the local real estate market has been affected by the oil spill.   Even though no oil from the spill has endangered the beaches in west central Florida and much of Florida's coastline may never see any oil from the spill, potential home purchasers are nonetheless walking away from contracts and forfeiting deposits rather than closing on real estate purchases in our area.
• The New York Times had an article on an inventive marketing campaign aimed at educating potential visitors to Florida that most of our beaches remain untouched by the oil spill. 
• The July 5, 2010 edition of Sports Illustrated featured a story by Gary Smith, one of the magazine's most incisive writers, entitled "7 Days in the Life of a Catastrophe."   It's an eye-opening and powerful report on the devastation caused by the spill.

There is a bit of good news to report:

• The New York Times also reported on changes by the Federal Housing Administration that are expected to widen the range of lenders who can offer loans for purchases of manufactured homes.
• In addition, the National Flood Insurance program has been extended to September 30, 2010 and has been made retroactive.  This will allow real estate sales that had been on hold due to an inability to obtain flood insurance coverage to now close and will permit new policies to be issued through September 30, 2010.

Finally, from Sunday's Sarasota Herald-Tribune, please read Tom Lyons' column on a rather curious response from the activities committee at the  La Casa ROC in North Port to complaints from several residents who apparently did not want to hear "O Canada" played at events in the community.   I'll think about this column the next time I attend a hockey game in Tampa.

We'll get back to Senate Bill 1196 in my next entry.

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It appears that, effective July 1, 2010, members and employees of condominium associations and mandatory homeowners' associations in Florida will be entitled to some additional privacy protections thanks to Senate Bill 1196. 

The Florida legislature, through Senate Bill 1196, has revised Florida Statute Sections 718.111(12) and 720.303(5) to provide that the following records--in addition to those already protected--shall not be accessible to condominium unit owners or subdivision parcel owners:

• Personnel records of association employees, including, but not limited to, disciplinary, payroll, health, and insurance records
• Social security numbers, driver's license numbers, credit card numbers, electronic mailing addresses, telephone numbers, emergency contact information, any addresses of a unit or parcel owner other than as provided to fulfill the association's notice requirements, and other personal identifying information of any person, excluding the person's name, unit or parcel designation, mailing address, and property address
• Any electronic security measure that is used by the association to safeguard data, including passwords
• The software and operating system used by the association which allows manipulation of data, even if the unit or parcel owner owns a copy of the same software used by the association.

However, for some reason, Florida Statute Section 719.104(2), which governs the official records of a cooperative association, was not amended by Senate Bill 1196.  

Members and employees of cooperatives thus will now have less privacy protection than their counterparts in condominiums and subdivisions.

I assume that this was not intended by Florida's legislators and that a "glitch bill" will be introduced at the next session in Tallahassee to ensure members and employees in all categories of resident owned communities are given equal privacy protection. 

In the meantime, members of cooperatives might want to bring this to the attention of their state legislators.

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I'm posting links for my blog readers to two articles from last Sunday's Sarasota Herald -Tribune and a story that was summarized in a recent edition of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association's newsletter.

• The first article from the Herald-Tribune focuses on the tragic consequences of an accident involving a golf cart.  I've covered this topic in the past but I remain very concerned that many residents in the communities we work with still do not understand that golf carts are vehicles and not toys. 
• With one hurricane (and the third named storm) spinning in the Eastern Pacific and several systems having already been investigated in the Atlantic, the second article in Sunday's Herald-Tribune is extremely timely.   It details the devastating effects of storm surge, which causes more deaths than any other feature of a hurricane.
• The battle being fought between neighbors at the Americana Cove manufactured housing community in Pinellas County is the subject of the third article from the St. Petersburg Times.   We've spoken at our seminars on many occasions about the issues facing the residents at Americana and there are no easy answers in this situation.

We'll get back to discussing how Senate Bill 1196 will impact resident-owned communities in my next entry.    In the meantime, I hope you find these articles interesting and informative.

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Governor Crist signed Senate Bill 1196 into law last week and I'll be posting several entries about the amendments to Florida's statutes affecting condominiums, cooperatives, and mandatory homeowners' associations in the coming weeks. 

I'd like to first mention a provision in Senate Bill 1196 that corrects a "glitch" in the statutes governing cooperative associations.

SB 1196 amends Florida Statute Section 719.106(1)(d)6 to provide that, unless a cooperative association's bylaws provide otherwise, a board member appointed or elected to fill a vacancy on the board that occurs before the expiration of the term serves for the full remaining term of the seat being filled.   Although the Florida Administrative Code Section that expanded on F.S. 719.106(1)(d) specifically provides for a vacant seat being filled for the full remaining term, because the statute itself was silent on the issue, there was some uncertainty as to whether the vacancy was filled for the full term or only until the next annual meeting.   This amendment removes any potential inconsistency between condominium associations and cooperative associations on the issue of filling a vacant position on the board that occurs before the expiration of the term.

SB 1196 further amends the statutes governing retrofitting for fire sprinkler systems in both condominiums and cooperatives by prohibiting local authorities from requiring completion of fire sprinkler system retrofitting before the end of 2019.   This is a five year extension from the date provided for prior to this amendment.   The association membership still has the right to "opt out" of retrofitting.

SB 1196 also adds several categories of information that is not to be made available to members or parcel owners in mandatory homeowners associations.

In my next entry, I'll discuss some changes found in SB 1196 that are intended to help ROC boards and managers deal with our foreclosure crisis.

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I'm posting two very different articles for the education and enjoyment of my blog readers:

• A horror story from a recent edition of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel about a ROC board's disastrous decision to forego insurance coverage.
• A much lighter report from the May 16, 2010 edition of the St.Petersburg Times about the "Airstream Ranch" now featured along I-4 in Hillsborough County.

I hope you'll find these stories interesting and informative.  

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I received an email earlier this week from Jim Ayotte, the Executive Director of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association, about a bill passed last week by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill is H.R.5019, the "Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010," and contains an amendment that promotes the purchase of new "energy efficient" manufactured homes by providing a $7500 rebate to homeowners of mobile homes or manufactured homes built before January 1, 1976 who purchase a new "Energy Star-qualified" replacement manufactured home.  The bill also provides an additional $2500 grant for decommissioning the older home.

Jim's email advised that the U.S. Senate could be considering this legislation as early as this week and stressed the importance of contacting our Senators immediately to urge them to vote in favor of the Senate's companion bill, which is S. 1320 and to include the Manufactured Housing Energy Efficiency provision.  

Since the FMHA estimates that there are about 350,000 manufactured or mobile homes in Florida that were built prior to 1976, the passage of this legislation could significantly benefit both homeowners and ROCs.

I am including a link to a sample letter that can be signed and then faxed or mailed to your Senators.   Jim's email noted that this letter must be faxed or mailed because emails with attachments will not be delivered.

If you wish to send this letter to our Florida Senators, their contact information follows:

The Honorable Bill Nelson--716 Hart SOB, Washington, DC  20510 Fax: (202) 228-2183

The Honorable George LeMieux--356 Russell SOB, Washington, DC 20510 Fax (202) 228-5171

Of course, letters sent to Senators in the home states of our "snow birds" would certainly be appropriate. 

This is a great opportunity to make a difference and benefit our communities.

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We've just been advised that House Bill 419 has been withdrawn from consideration for the upcoming legislative session in Tallahassee.   As you may recall, House Bill 419 contained provisions allowing the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to examine and inspect the property, books and records of almost any condominium, cooperative, timeshare, or mobile home park in Florida at any time and for any reason (or for no reason) whatsoever.   The bill also would have prohibited weekday meetings of the Board of Directors of condominium and cooperative associations from being held before 6:00 p.m.   In addition, no association would be permitted to make any contribution to a charitable organization unless that association received a direct benefit from that charitable organization. 

Apparently, proposed amendments to the statutes governing ROCs will be found in substitute Senate Bills 1196 and 1222 that have now been introduced and are making their way through the committee process.

We'll keep you posted.

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It's always exciting to spread the word to my blog readers when a community joins the list of ROCs in Florida.  

Earlier today, the residents of Riverwalk Mobile Home Village closed on the purchase of their community.   Riverwalk is a beautiful manufactured housing community with over 200 sites located in North Port near the Myakka River.   The residents formed their homeowners association a number of years ago and maintained a good relationship with the community owner over those years.   The association made a point to contact the owner at least annually to remind the owner that the residents were interested in purchasing the community if and when the owner was ready to sell.

The community owner contacted the homeowners association in late December of last year and offered to sell Riverwalk to the association.   The terms offered by the owner required that the closing of the sale occur by no later than February 18, 2010.  Fortunately, the homeowners association had prepared for this opportunity and because of that advance planning and a tremendous amount of effort, the association was able to raise the funds and meet the conditions required under the agreement in time.   As a result, the homeowners association now is the proud owner of what will soon be known as Village at Riverwalk, the newest ROC in Florida!

The associatIon's efforts to purchase Riverwalk were ably led by a terrific group of directors and many volunteers.   Bill Gorman and Norman Loiselle from Lifestyle Choice Realty did a fantastic job of coordinating these efforts and helping the residents keep their enthusiasm and optimism at the highest levels while working with lenders, engineers, vendors, insurance agencies, and many other outside parties throughout the process.

Several financial institutions, including Florida Shores Bank, First Community Bank of America, and Calusa National Bank helped residents finance individual membership share purchases and Bank of America's commitment to the association to provide the blanket loan was crucial to the association's ability to purchase the community.

The association had less than two months from the date that the offer to sell was received to raise the funds needed to complete the purchase.  What the residents lacked in time they more than made up in faith and hard work.  As a result,  Village at Riverwalk is now a resident owned community.

Congratulations and welcome to the residents of Village at Riverwalk!

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