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

The last of our second series of seminars for the season is set for February 24th at Caribbean Isles in Apollo Beach.  We'll be starting our last set of presentations less than two weeks from now.

Here are the dates and locations of these upcoming seminars:

• Wednesday, March 3, at Japanese Gardens in Venice
• Tuesday, March 9, at Harbor Oaks in Fruitland Park in Lake County
• Tuesday, March 23, at Golf Lakes in Bradenton
• Thursday, April 1, at Enchanting Shores in Naples 

We'll be covering a number of very interesting topics, including a mini-orientation for ROC board members and a discussion of financial opportunities for ROCs in this challenging economy.  Current cases and pending legislation will be covered, including any additional information we've gathered on House Bill 419 and companion Senate Bill 864  that appear to be on the agenda of Florida's legislature during its upcoming session.  As always, we'll try to provide ample time for a general "question and answer" session.   The seminars will be begin at 10 a.m. and we should be finished by 12:30 pm at the latest.

Refreshments will be served, and there's no charge to attend.  If members of your community would like to attend any of these seminars, please rsvp by emailing either Kathy Sawdo at ksawdo@lutzbobo.com or Karen Midlam at kmidlam@lutzbobo.com.  Just let them know which seminar you'd like to attend, the name of your community and the number of residents from your community that will be attending, and whether you'll need directions to the host community.   We like to give each of our host communities a "head count" of attendees a few days prior to the seminar that community is hosting so, if at all possible, please rsvp at least a few days before the event you're planning to attend.

We hope to see you at one of these events.

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I just returned from a brief trip to Memphis, Tennessee and visited the National Civil Rights Museum, which is located at the site of the murder of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The museum has incorporated much of the Lorraine Hotel (including the room in which Dr. King stayed and the balcony outside that room where he was killed) as well as the apartment across the street from the hotel where James Earl Ray aimed and fired from a bathroom window and took Dr. King's life.   I recall the exact moment when I learned of Dr. King's death and to be able to view the site of his assassination in an "up close and personal" manner was an extremely powerful experience for me.   I highly recommend a visit to the museum if you are in the Memphis area and suggest that you view the short movie at the museum called "The Witness" before beginning to tour the exhibits.

As I made my way through the museum, I was reminded that many of the freedoms we take for granted today are the result of great sacrifices and courageous efforts by Americans of all colors and beliefs.   I couldn't help but marvel that less than fifty years ago, Dr. King was gunned down simply because many of his fellow countrymen could not accept the fact that all Americans were entitled to certain basic rights.   The fact that many of the injustices that Dr. King sought to overcome have been remedied speaks volumes to his legacy and to the laws that our federal and local legislators have enacted during the past five decades.

My visit to the museum reminded me about the direct connection between the Civil Rights laws and the Fair Housing and Disability laws that often create divisive problems for board members and other residents in the communities we work with.   Those Fair Housing and Disability laws built upon the earlier Civil Rights laws and extend rights of equality to which all Americans are entitled.  The underlying philosophy of all of these laws is simply that no American should be deprived of certain opportunities, whether in employment, or voting, or obtaining housing, simply because of his or her color or religion or disability.   Unless our legislators carve out an exception (such as the Housing for Older Persons Act), it's that underlying philosophy that should guide ROC board members.

Some forty-two years after Dr. King's death, it's an important lesson for all of us to remember.

Thanks to our friends at Francis I in Sebring for hosting last week's well-attended seminar.  We'll be at Windward Isles in Sarasota and Marco Shores in Naples this week and at Caribbean Isles in Apollo Beach during the last week in February.  If you'd like to attend one of these free seminars and haven't yet rsvp'd, please contact either Karen Midlam at kmidlam@lutzbobo.com or Kathy Sawdo at ksawdo@lutzbobo.com.  I hope to see you at one of these events.

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The dates and locations for the resident-owned community seminars we'll be conducting in February are now set.   We'll discuss helpful hints for conducting annual membership meetings and other unit owner meetings and will also provide some insights into the importance of screening potential owners, occupants, and guests in your communities.   We'll also leave time for our traditional "open forum" to answer general questions from the attendees.

Our first series of ROC seminars for this season were very well attended with lots of participation from our attendees.   We expect an even greater turnout for these upcoming events.   As always, there's no charge to attend and the refreshments are also provided free of charge.  The dates and locations of our February presentations are:

• Monday, February 1 at Francis I Mobile Estates in Sebring
• Wednesday, February 10 at Windward Isle in Sarasota
• Thursday, February 11at Marco Shores in Naples
• Wednesday, February 24 at Caribbean Isles in Apollo Beach

All of these seminars will be held in the clubhouses of our host communities and will start at 10 a.m.   We expect to wrap up the seminars by 12:30 p.m. at the latest.

Please call my assistants, Karen Midlam or Kathy Sawdo at 941-951-1800 or email them at kmidlam@lutzbobo.com or ksawdo@lutzbobo.com if you are interested in attending and provide them with the following information:

• The event your community wishes to attend
• The number of attendees from your community
• Whether you will need directions to the seminar

Our seminars are always a great opportunity to network with residents at other resident owned communities.   We hope to see you at one of these events.

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Last Sunday's edition of the Sarasota Herald Tribune featured two separate front page articles that highlight the decisions that helped lead us into our current economic mess and threaten to keep our economy from recovering in the near future.

• The first article focuses on a condominium project in Charlotte that finds most of its units "occupied" by "phantom purchasers" from Brazil who have not paid their maintenance fees and have left the few purchasers that actually live in the development facing substantial monthly expenses for the upkeep of the common areas.  While this is a lengthy report, I highly recommend it to members of resident owned communities.
• The other article detailed the failure and refusal of many of our major financial institutions to make loans to small businesses and homeowners in spite of the clear message sent to these institutions by our President and Congress.   In its own way, this article is as depressing and maddening as the first.

I'd also like to recommend L. Jon Wertheim's story in the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated.  It's entitled "The Games of Their Lives" and it describes the efforts of two athletes to fulfill a final dream--to compete in the Beijing Paralympics.   This bittersweet but uplifting depiction of the triumph of the human spirit and the tremendous support given to these two champions (in many cases, by total strangers) gave me a very helpful dose of perspective during this time of the year.

As many of you know, we've just completed our first set of seminars for the 2009-2010 season.   Thanks to the over 200 residents from almost 55 different communities throughout the state for attending and to our hosts at Molokai in Leesburg, Old Bridge Village in N. Fort Myers, Sandalwood Park in Venice, and Westwinds Village in Bradenton for their great hospitality.   We'll be posting the dates and locations for our next set of seminars within the next few weeks.   We hope to see you at one of those events!

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Given my most recent entry about the difficult decisions that ROC boards are facing due to the struggling state of our economy, I hope you'll find this article about the Red Hat Society that I read in  today's Sarasota Herald-Tribune interesting.   It seems all of my visits to the communities we represent coincide with some Red Hat Society event and I have a feeling that many readers of my blog may already know about the debate over whether dues should be charged to every "Red Hatter".  

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Our first set of ROC seminars for the 2009-2010 "season" have been scheduled.   We'll discuss how the new "Red Flag" identity protection rules will affect resident owned communities, cover election procedures and the differences between ballots and proxies, provide some updates on developments in the Fair Housing area and recent court cases and highlight proposed legislation that may impact community associations.   In addition to that rather full agenda, as always, we'll devote some time to an "open forum" for questions from our attendees. 

The seminars are scheduled as follows:

• Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at the Molokai community in Leesburg.
• Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at Sandalwood Park in Venice.
• Thursday, December 3, 2009 at Old Bridge Village in North Fort Myers.
• Thursday, December 10, 2009 at Westwinds Village in Bradenton.

The seminars start at 10 a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m. and all of the seminars will be held in the clubhouse at each of these communities.  We plan on covering the same topics at each of these locations so you can choose the date and location that's most convenient.

While the seminars are free of charge to all attendees, because we do serve refreshments and want to make sure that there is enough seating and space for everyone,  please notify us in advance if you wish to attend.   Also, please note that the seminar at Molokai is being held in conjunction with the monthly meeting of the Mid-Florida ROC group and if your community is located in or near Lake or Sumter County and is not yet a member of that group, please let us know when you make your reservation and we'll provide you with the contact information for one of the Mid-Florida ROC officers.

If you are interested in attending one of these seminars and your community hasn't already reserved seats, please email either Karen Midlam (kmidlam@lutzbobo.com) or Kathy Sawdo (ksawdo@lutzbobo.com).  They'll be able to provide you with directions and answer any other questions you might have.

We're looking forward to seeing you at one of these seminars and if you have any topics you'd like to have us discuss at future seminars, please email me at sgordon@lutzbobo.com.

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I'm writing this entry from Ft. Lauderdale, where I am attending the Institute on Condominium and Cluster Developments presented by the University of Miami School of Law.   This two day seminar has provided me with a wealth of material for future entries to this blog and has allowed me to spend some time learning and meeting with many of my fellow community association attorneys throughout Florida.   A colleague from our Tallahassee office, Karl Scheuerman, spoke at one of yesterday's sessions on the many issues facing "subsequent developers" of condominiums and other community developments.  Hopefully, these are issues that your community or association will never have to face.  

Karl and I attended the dinner meeting of the Florida Bar's Condominium and Planned Development Committee (which is part of the Bar's Real Property Probate and Trust Law Section) that was held at the end of yesterday's presentations.    Again, this event gave me the opportunity to discuss with a number of my colleagues problems facing ROCs and potential solutions to those problems.

As my blog followers know, I also attended the convention of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association at the Saddlebrook Resort north of Tampa earlier this month.   This annual event gives the members of our firm that work with the owners of manufactured housing communities the opportunity to network with those owners and many of the companies that provide important services to those communities.    A number of my colleagues from our firm, including Allen Bobo, Jody Gabel, Richard Lee, David Eastman, Karl Scheuerman, Carol Grondzik and I made presentations to convention attendees on a variety of topics, including:

• Evictions
• Fair Housing Issues
• Dealing with Abandoned Mobile Homes
• How to amend rental prospectuses

It was clear from our experiences at the FMHA convention that the current state of our economy has created an environment that is extremely challenging for community owners, whether they be private investors or ROCs. 

The FMHA is well aware of the importance of resident owned manufactured housing communities in Florida and will be making a concerted effort to encourage these communities to join FMHA and to participate in its activities.  I've always felt that the FMHA and the community associations that own and operate manufactured housing communities have many common interests and will be posting details on the FMHA's increased efforts to bring more ROCs into its organization in the future.

 I'll be posting the dates, locations, and topics of our upcoming November and December seminars next week.

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Several weeks ago I mentioned the educational opportunities offered at the upcoming annual convention of the Florida Manufactured Housing Association at the Saddlebrook Resort just north of Tampa on October 7 and 8.  

I received a memo earlier this week from the FMHA about a "Round Table Discussion" that will be held at the convention at approximately 3:15 p.m. on October 8.   This discussion is entitled "What Works to Fill Homesite Vacancies?" and will cover a variety of methods and ideas that can be used to help communities find prospective residents.

Given today's economic climate, this is a very timely and important subject for ROC managers and board members.   Please note that this "Round Table Discussion" is open to all FMHA members and if you have questions and want to attend the convention please contact the FMHA at info@fmha.org.

Speaking of "Roundtables," I am in the process of  scheduling our first set of seminars for the "season" to be held in November and December.    We try to have several "roundtable" seminars each year in communities that are located in the geographical areas that we serve and if your community would be interested in hosting one of these events, please contact me.  

As always, we welcome your input in helping us plan the topics for these educational seminars--so if you have any subjects, questions, or issues that you'd like us to cover, please let me know. 

I'll post the dates, times, and locations of our November and December seminars in the near future.

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The Florida Manufactured Housing Association's annual convention is scheduled for October 7th and 8th at the Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel, Florida, which is just north of Tampa.

Our firm sponsors the welcome reception on the evening of October 7th. This reception is a great way to network with managers and board members from other resident owned manufactured housing ROCs as well as investor owned communities.

The schedule of events for October 8th promises a full day of information that should be very useful to every manufactured housing community.   Topics that will be covered include evictions, Fair Housing,  how to comply with the provisions of Florida's landlord-tenant laws for manufactured housing communities, and how to deal with vacant homes.  An "Ask the Lawyers" session is also scheduled and I know from experience that the attendees always find this session entertainng and well worthwhile.

The FMHA wants ROCs to take advantage of this great educational opportunity and I've offered to help spread the word about this exciting event.   You'll find the links to the information about the annual convention at the FMHA's website.  

I hope you'll consider attending the convention and look forward to seeing you there.

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I've found a few more websites that ROCs, especially resident owned mobile home and RV communities, might want to visit.

• A county by county directory of Florida ROC websites can be found at Michael Freeman's website.  Please take a look at his site and if your community's website is not on the list, email him with your ROC's website address.
• About 50 ROCs in the Pinellas County area have established a "ROC forum" and their website describes the forum and lists member communities.  This website also has  contact email addresses for some of the other regional ROC groups in Florida.   Some of those groups, such as Mid-Florida ROC (in the Lake and Sumter County area) and LEEROC (which has expanded from Lee County into other counties in Southwest Florida and has been renamed SWFLROC), are very active and you might want to contact one of those groups if your ROC is located in or near an area served by one of these groups.  

I'll continue to post websites that may be of interest to ROCs and if you have any sites that might fall into this category, please send them to me.

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