I woke up one morning this summer with a pain in the area of my right shoulder blade.  I assumed that I’d just pulled or strained a muscle in my neck or back–that’s a fairly common but very temporary hazard of lifting weights and trying to maintain an active lifestyle for us "baby boomers".

Six weeks later, it was clear that there was more involved than just a muscle strain.  By the time my MRI revealed that I had several herniated discs in my neck, the discomfort and pain radiating down my right arm into my hand made it difficult–if not impossible–for me to work at my desk or on my computer for more than a few minutes at a time.

While I’ve managed to cope by answering emails on my iPhone, on my home laptop, or by installing an unwieldy device on my office chair, I feel like I’m functioning at perhaps 50% capacity and by the time I leave the office at the end of the day I can’t wait to collapse on a couch at my home with an ice pack on my aching shoulder.

Here’s the point I’d like to make today:  there’s absolutely no way anyone can tell how much pain and discomfort I feel–I have no cast, sling, nor any other visible signs to show that I have a condition that causes me great pain and will require surgery to correct.  

Not every disability is readily apparent. Board members and managers in resident owned communities are often requested to grant requests for reasonable accommodations under the Fair Housing Act to persons who show no outward signs of any disability.

I’ve continually stressed to ROC board members and managers the tremendous risks involved when a board refuses to grant a resident’s request for a reasonable accommodation simply because there’s no visible evidence that the resident is disabled.

As someone who has now "walked in the shoes" of many of these residents, I have a much better understanding of their anger and frustration when their legitimate requests are denied by ROC boards.  That anger and frustration may very well lead to a Fair Housing complaint and that’s certainly not in the best interests of an association or its members.

I’ll be submitting my materials for a board certification training seminar to the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes later this week and hope to have those materials approved within the next few weeks.  These materials will focus on training board members in resident owned cooperatives and once approved will be sufficient for those board members to meet the new board certification requirements under Chapter 719 of the Florida Statutes.

Once I get the approval from the Division, we’ll schedule a few board training seminars and I’ll post the times and locations on my blog.

In the meantime, I’ll be taking care of those herniated discs within the next few days and hope to be back at work and posting entries on this blog before all of our "snowbirds" return for the holidays!

 

 

In the week or so since my last entry, I’ve been contacted by managers and board members from several resident owned cooperatives who have received notices about the new recent requirement for mandatory homeowners associations to register with the State. 

I want to clarify that condominium associations formed under Florida Statute Chapter 718 and cooperative associations formed under Florida Statute Chapter 719 do not have to worry about this new requirement as these associations have already registered with Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

The new registration requirements apply to mandatory homeowners associations governed by Chapter 720 of the Florida Statutes –not condominiums or cooperatives.

I’d suggest that a manager or board member of any condominium or cooperative association that receives one of these notices contact his or her attorney and provide that attorney with a copy of that notice.   Other than the DBPR’s press release, which was included in my last entry, I don’t know of any other official notice that would be sent by the State and I’m concerned that one or more enterprising services may be offering to "help" an unsuspecting community register (for a fee, or course) even if the community is not required to do so.

Several of the resident owned cooperative associations we work with have the phrase "homeowners association" in their corporate name.  Those associations are nonetheless still cooperatives governed under Chapter 719 regardless of the fact that their unit owners refer to themselves as members of a "homeowners association". 

When it comes to some cooperatives (as well as some condominiums and non-mandatory homeowners associations), a rose by any other name may still be a rose.

Again, if you have any questions about whether these new registration requirements apply to your association, please contact your association’s attorney.

 

I was just forwarded a press release from Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation announcing the creation of its website for mandatory homeowners’ associations to register online.

As my blog readers may recall, Florida’s legislature recently passed a law that for the first time requires all mandatory homeowners’ associations (governed under Chapter 720 of the Florida Statutes) to provide certain information to the State.  Community Association Managers should remember that it appears from this legislation that any CAM that manages an HOA is responsible for filing this information.

The content of this press release follows:

To: Members of the media

Date: September 27, 2013

From: DBPR Communications Office, 850.922.8981

 

Registration website for HOA and Community Association Managers live

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) today launched the website where homeowners associations (HOA) and Community Association Managers (CAM) are now required to register. The website was created as part of recently passed state legislation (Chapter 720, FS), which requires community association managers, community association management firms or HOAs, in the absence of a CAM, to report information about the associations before the deadline of November 22, 2013.

 

“We’ve worked really hard to create a website that collects all of the data required by law to track the number of homeowners associations in the state,” said Secretary Ken Lawson. “It’s important that associations become aware of the new reporting requirement and meet the deadline.”

 

During the 2013 Legislative Session, HB 7119 made several changes to HOA governance, including the requirement for HOA associations to register with DBPR. Additionally, the legislation provided DBPR with authority to take administrative action against a community association manager’s license for violations of state laws relating to condominiums, cooperatives and homeowners’ associations that are committed during the course of performing contractual community management services.

 

Associations may now register with the Department at www.myfloridalicense.com/hoa. If individuals have any questions throughout the one-time registration process, they may contact the Department at 800.226.9101.

 

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s mission is to license efficiently and regulate fairly. The Department licenses and regulates more than one million businesses and professionals ranging from hotels and restaurants, real estate agents and certified public accountants to veterinarians, contractors and cosmetologists. For more information, please visit www.MyFloridaLicense.com.

We’ll next have to wait and see exactly what type of curriculum the DBPR’s developed to meet the new laws requiring newly appointed board members in cooperatives and mandatory HOA’s to meet the educational or certification requirements previously only applicable to board members in condominium associations.   That’s an entry for another day.

 

 The Sarasota Herald Tribune just published a very informative six day report on the reasons for the many bank failures in Florida during the "Great Recession."   

Since almost every ROC in our state has been affected by questionable loans that have been foreclosed or are currently in the process of foreclosure, I thought my blog readers might be interested in the Herald Tribune’s series.

I’m also posting the link to one of Tom Lyons’ columns in the Herald Tribune published earlier this week as a reminder to owners in resident owned communities.   There is a tax due and owing to the State of Florida when a mobile home, site built home, or condominium is rented on a "short term" basis and the failure to pay that tax will not be taken lightly by our state’s enforcement agencies.

Just a word to the wise:  pay the tax on those rentals!

Among the guests on this week’s edition of "Community Matters" is Sarasota County’s sheriff–I have a feeling that benefits and dangers of "neighborhood watch" programs will be one of the topics on the agenda.  I hope you’ll take the opportunity to listen to our guest host, Cindi Bass, this Saturday morning at eleven or on our podcast released early next week.

 

Briny Breezes is a resident owned manufactured housing cooperative located in Palm Beach County.

Two of the community’s sea walls that protected the cooperative property needed repairs and upgrades.   The directors of Briny Breezes, Inc., the cooperative association that owns and operates the community, hired an engineer who reported that the required repairs and upgrades to the seawalls would cost approximately $150,000.

While there were adequate funds in the association’s reserve account to pay for these repairs, Briny Breeze’s governing documents clearly prohibited the association’s board of directors from spending more than $30,000 for capital improvements or spending more than $30,000 for replacement of capital assets in any fiscal year.  According to the association’s governing documents, the affirmative vote of at least 51 per cent of the members was required for these expenditures.

Earlier this year, Briny Breeze’s manager asked the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes (the "Division") to determine whether the association’s board of directors could use the reserve funds to pay for the seawall repairs that were needed to protect the cooperative property without obtaining the approval of the association’s members.

The Division, in its Declaratory Statement issued this May, held that the association could use its reserve funds to make the needed repair to the seawalls without a vote of the membership.

The Declaratory Statement cited Florida Statutes Section 719.104(5), a federal bankruptcy court decision interpreting Florida law, several decisions of our state appellate courts and a decision rendered by one of the Division’s arbitrators. 

The Division noted that , even if expenditures result in alterations or improvements to the community’s common elements, it is within the board’s authority to authorize these expenditures without member approval where the expenditures for the alterations or improvements are needed to protect the common elements.

At the same time, the Division did caution that an association’s directors might very well be precluded from unilaterally spending money for upgrades that constituted material alterations to the common elements and went beyond the repairs required to protect the common elements.

The Division concluded that, while the "safest course for the board is to get a unit owner vote", the board should not be limited to "simply repair the sea wall to protect the common elements."

Hopefully, this Declaratory Statement will provide ROCs with some guidance in the future.

I’ll be discussing issues affecting aging members of resident owned communities this week on "Community Matters".

You’ll want to catch our next installment of "Community Matters" as Kevin Wells and I will be discussing therapy and companion pets and service animals with the manager of a large resident owned community in Sarasota County and a representative from Southeastern Guide Dogs.

"Community Matters" airs on WSRQ (1220 AM and 106.9 FM) on Saturday mornings from 11 to noon and online at www.sarasotatalkradio.com.   Podcasts of each of our shows are made available on Mondays after the show airs at the WSRQ site–just click on my photo and you’ll be able to listen to those podcasts.

If you have any questions about this topic or suggestions for future shows, please feel free to post a comment to my blog or email me at sgordon@lutzbobo.com.

I hope you enjoy this Saturday’s installment of "Community Matters".

I’ve written several entries on the risks that ROCs take when copyrighted music is played in their communities.

Last year, the National Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds ("ARVC") introduced a new benefit for its members–a combined music licensing agreement with two of the three major music license companies, ASCAP and BMI.

In connection with this new benefit, the ARVC prepared a very concise and informational "FAQ" sheet for its members.

While most of Florida’s ROCs are not members of the ARVC, I hope you’ll find that FAQ sheet–aptly titled "What You Need to Know About Music Licensing" educational and useful.

On last Saturday’s "Community Matters" radio show, I discussed hurricane preparedness with Ed McCrane, Sarasota County’s Emergency Management chief, and then spoke with State Representative Mike Fasano about the need to change the policy of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which currently may exclude some condominium developments from the Fund’s reinsurance coverage–which has the potential to substantially and negatively impact condominium associations and unit owners throughout the state.  The podcast of that show is now available at the "Community Matters" site.

The recent revisions to Florida’s laws governing condominium associations, cooperative associations, and mandatory homeowners’ associations updated the procedures for producing, inspecting and copying an association’s "official records".

Effective July 1, 2013, an association in Florida’s resident owned communities can satisfy the requirement that it make its official records available for inspection and copying by:

  • making the records available to a member electronically via the Internet or
  • allowing the records to be viewed in an electronic format on a computer screen and printed upon request

Board members and managers in resident owned communities should note that the association is not responsible for the use or misuse of the information provided to a member or that member’s representative when it complies with the requirements to produce official records for inspection or copying unless the association has an affirmative duty not to disclose that information–for example, if that information falls within the category of "protected" official records.

In addition, associations must now allow a member or his or her authorized representative to use portable devices, including smartphones, tablets, portable scanners, or any other technology capable of scanning or taking photographs, to make an electronic copy of the official records instead of the association providing that member or his or her representative with a copy of those records.  The association may not charge that member or his or her representative for the use of a portable device. 

Again, board members and managers should remember that certain information–while part of the association’s official records–is not to be produced to members and great care must be taken to carefully inspect all records and to remove or redact all information that is required to remain confidential or otherwise protected before those records are produced to the member or his or her representative.

When faced with requests to produce records for inspection or copying, an association should strongly consider consulting with its attorney before responding to that request.

We’ll be discussing hurricane preparedness and Citizens Insurance this Saturday from 11 to noon on Community Matters and I hope you’ll listen live or by podcast.

On Friday, June 14, Florida’s Governor signed into law several bills affecting community associations, including House Bill 73.

One of the important provisions of House Bill 73 amends the statutes governing cooperative associations in Florida by requiring board members in co-ops to meet the same certification requirements as condominium association board members.

Florida Statute Section 719.106 will now require a newly elected or appointed board member in a cooperative association to do one of the following within 90 days of that election or appointment:

  1. Certify in writing to the association’s secretary that the board member has read the association’s bylaws, articles of incorporation, proprietary lease (or occupancy agreement), and current written policies, and that the board member will work to uphold such documents and policies to the best of his or her ability, and that he or she will faithfully discharge his or her fiduciary responsibility to the association’s members
  2. Submit a certificate that the board member has–within one year before or 90 days after his or her election or appointment–satisfactorily completed the educational curriculum administered by an educational provider as approved by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Division of Condominiums,Timeshares, and Mobile Homes under the requirements established in Florida’s statutes governing condominium associations

This educational certificate is valid and does not have to be resubmitted as long as the board member serves on the board without interruption.

The association’s secretary is required to retain both of the written certifications described above as part of the association’s official records for 5 years after a director’s election or the duration of the director’s uninterrupted tenure, whichever is longer.

The educational curriculum requires that at least four of these topics be covered in sufficient detail:

  • Budgets and reserves
  • Elections
  • Financial Reporting
  • Cooperative Operations
  • Records maintenance, including unit owner access to records
  • Dispute resolution
  • Bids and contracts

The effective date of HB 73 is July 1, 2013.  I’ve been working on an outline of curriculum (those of you that attended FLAROC’s Board Training event in Punta Gorda in March had a preview of that outline) and hope to provide it to the DBPR for approval–and for use in our resident owned community seminars–within the next week.

I’ll keep you posted on this and other important impacts of HB 73 in future blog entries.

As many followers of this blog may already know, House Bill 87 was signed by Florida’s Governor last Friday.  This bill provides community associations with some hope that the foreclosure process–which seems to take an eternity before it concludes–will be expedited and that an association can have a meaningful voice in the foreclosure action. 

I discussed House Bill 87 and several other bills affecting resident owned communities last weekend with lobbyist Travis Moore on our inaugural hour of  "Community Matters," which airs every Saturday from 11 a.m. until noon on Sarasota TalkRadio, WSRQ–1220 AM and 106.9 FM.

In addition to providing our listeners with an explanation of House Bill 87 and its effect on the foreclosure process, Travis summarized a number of other provisions, including the following:

  • Changes to the fees to be paid by communities to the State of Florida for submerged land leases
  • A requirement that mandatory homeowners associations be registered with the State
  • Updates to statutes governing a unit or parcel owner’s right to copy the association’s "official records" which will expressly allow for such copying to occur by use of an iPad, tablet,  iPhone or similar device.
  • Provisions clarifying what information about a unit owner or parcel owner an association can safely include in its membership directory
  • Amendments to the statutes governing cooperative associations that will provide those associations with the same protections in regards to personnel matters and personnel records as found in the statutes governing condominium and mandatory homeowners associations
  • An additional amendment to Chapter 719 of the Florida Statutes requiring newly elected or appointed board members of cooperative associations to meet the same certification or education standards as board members in condominium associations

If you’d like to hear last Saturday’s show–here’s the link to the podcasts for "Community Matters": sarasotatalkradio.com/community-matters/  .  Just click on "read more" and you’ll find the podcast.

We’ll be discussing hurricane preparedness for the next two weeks. I hope you’ll listen live or to our podcasts and I’ll look forward to your questions and your suggestions for future topics for "Community Matters".