As a follow up to last night’s blog entry about Tropical Storm Debby,  Governor Scott has declared a state of emergency for Florida .

Again, managers, board members and residents of ROCs should follow any and all directives issued  by state or local authorities, including mandatory evacuation orders.

The National Hurricane Center’s most recent advisory has the storm almost stationary in the Gulf of Mexico for the next few days with landfall not occurring until Friday or Saturday.

Warnings for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes have been issued by the National Weather Service throughout the day and it is anticipated that additional warnings will be forthcoming.

 

I’ve spent most of the past two days following The Weather Channel and watching the water level in the retention pond behind our home continue to rise with each passing hour.  

While full-time Floridians like to joke that hurricane season doesn’t start in our neck of the woods until late July or August, Tropical Storm Debby has made it clear that there’s an exception to every "rule."

If you’ve been following Debby, you know that this storm has confounded both weather experts and computer models.  As of this Sunday evening, Debby’s center was located in the Gulf of Mexico about 270 miles from Sarasota.  Debby appears to be stationary at this hour and, although it’s "only" a tropical storm with sustained winds of 60 miles per hour, Debby’s caused at least one death (in Lake Placid in Highlands County) and substantial damage throughout the state.

Tropical Storm Debby highlights some very important reminders for ROC managers, board members, and homeowners:

  •   It’s imperative that we not let our guard down.   Last night at this time, the National Hurricane Center’s official storm track had Debby headed west toward Texas.   Predicting both track and intensity of tropical storm systems is extremely difficult and complex and conditions (and a storm’s path and intensity) can change drastically in a few hours.   There are numerous sites, including the National Hurricane Center’s Tropical Prediction Center and Weather Underground, that can provide current information.
  •   While Tropical Storms are not as "powerful" as hurricanes, they can still pack quite a punch.  We’ve had numerous tornadoes in Florida today, at least one older bridge has been partially washed away, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge was closed for part of the day, and many coastal areas have suffered substantial beach erosion–all of this from a tropical storm well offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. 
  •  It’s also important not to focus solely on a tropical system’s path, or the National Hurricane Center’s "cone".  Debby has spun off storms and tornadoes as well as pounding wave action throughout the day which have severely impacted communities throughout Florida–many of which are hundreds of miles away from Debby’s projected track.
  •   Finally, tropical storms and hurricanes are deadly serious events–not opportunities to appear on television (for example, the "surfers" that choose to take their boards into waters when riptide warnings are issued or the "thrill seekers" that feel the need to drive through flooded streets).   When a ROC is threatened by a tropical storm or hurricane, every resident must be prepared to follow the directives of state and local authorities–including a mandatory evacuation order.   As I’ve mentioned in other entries, "mandatory" means just that.  The failure or refusal to obey a mandatory evacuation order violates state law, and, unless the community’s clubhouse is a certified shelter, a resident cannot and should not simply "camp out" in that clubhouse when the evacuation order is issued.

This is the earliest date that we’ve had a fourth named tropical system in the Atlantic.  Whether or not this signals an extremely active hurricane season this year is unclear.  What is clear is that knowledge, preparation, and common sense in dealing with tropical storms and hurricanes can help spell the difference for ROC managers, board members, and homeowners.

Let’s hope that Debby is our only tropical "visitor" this season–but let’s be ready just in case!!

Yesterday’s edition of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel featured a column by Donna DiMaggio Berger, the executive director of the Community Advocacy Network and a partner in the Katzman, Garfinkel and Berger law firm.

In what Ms. Berger calls an "unprecedented move,"  The Federal Emergency Management Agency  recently announced that it would end a six year old program that allowed agents writing national flood insurance policies to rebate a portion of their commission to their customers.

Ms. Berger notes that these rebates have been allowed by statute in Florida since 1996 and correctly questions why, in the midst of difficult economic times, FEMA has chosen to "effectively take millions of dollars in flood-insurance savings" out of the pockets of Florida homeowners and the communities in which they reside.

According to Ms. Berger, over two million flood insurance policies are written in Florida.  Most of those policies cover homes in flood prone areas such as our coastline and the counties south of Lake Okeechobee, where more than eight million of us live.

The column includes a link to a petition urging FEMA to reconsider and reverse its decision before October 1 of this year, which is the date that the rebate program is scheduled to end.

With our hurricane season just beginning to brew, I’d suggest that NOW would be a very good time to sign this petition.

Please forward this entry and the link to the petition to your neighbors and other homeowners in your communities.

Florida statutes governing condominium and cooperative associations specifically provide that it is the association’s board of directors that is responsible for the administration of the association.   Similarly,  the governing documents for most mandatory homeowners associations governed by Chapter 720 of the Florida Statutes and community associations governed by Chapter 617 of the Florida Statutes provide for administration by a board of directors elected by the association’s members.

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for a President to overlook or ignore statutes and the association’s bylaws and attempt to bypass the association’s board (and in the most extreme situations, the association’s members) in making decisions or taking actions unilaterally.

These decisions or actions are often taken without any input from other board members or the community’s manager.   As a result, the President may have already committed the association to a particular course of action (such as entering into a contract to purchase a vehicle or other expensive piece of equipment) before anyone else in the community knows that the purchase has occurred.

In these situations, the President may have clearly exceeded his or her authority–however, he or she may have nonetheless bound the association under the doctrine of "apparent authority" and the association’s members would be obligated to honor a contract that the association’s board of directors never approved.

Presidents should be reminded that, in most, if not all, community associations, the President is elected by only a small group of individuals–the members of the Board of Directors.   The Board of Directors does not have the authority to delegate the power to run the association and the community to any one person, including the President.

The association’s members elect a Board of Directors and it is that Board–and not any one person– that is empowered with the administration of the ROC.  

Presidents should also remember that a Board that appoints one of its members as the association’s President has the power to remove that person from the office of President if that Board sees fit to do so.

Obviously, there are certain day-to-day operational decisions that should fall within the discretion of a President and/or ROC manager.   However, the President that chooses to exceed the scope of his or her authority does so at the President’s peril–and that of the association itself.

 

 

I’ve returned from a few days in Washington, DC at the American Bar Association’s 21st Annual Conference on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law.

The theme of the conference was "Making the Case for Affordable Housing and Community Development".  I attended a panel discussion on current Fair Housing Issues and a session on "hot topics" from the view of HUD representatives as well as an extremely informative discussion about the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

I was privileged to hear remarks from HUD’s General Counsel and found a presentation on Ethics in Affordable Housing Transactions thought provoking and illustrative of the challenges facing attorneys involved in the sale, purchase, and development of housing communities.

The continuing need for affordable housing in our country was highlighted by a discussion with two members of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission.

While much of the conference focused on government assisted multifamily housing, a number of panels and presentations dealt with other topics.  I was invited to serve on a panel discussing cooperatives as a tool for housing and social enterprise.  My fellow panelists included the Interim President and CEO of the National Cooperative Business Association and a representative from the Rural Development Program of United States Department of Agriculture.

Among the many things I learned from my participation in this panel:

  • All of us deal with cooperatives on a daily basis.  Many businesses (and many, if not all credit unions) are cooperatives.
  • There are many states that have no statutes or laws governing resident owned housing cooperatives.
  • Finally, 2012 is the International Year of Cooperatives!  Who knew?

Our resident owned manufactured housing cooperatives have a reason to celebrate in 2012!

 

 

 

Carol Grondzik,one of my colleagues in our firm’s Tallahassee office, just forwarded a link that answers many frequently asked questions about the pool accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.   As I mentioned in one of my earlier blog entries this year, those requirements were set to go into effect in March but have been delayed until at least May 21.  I hope the followers of my blog find this link helpful and informative.  As always, I suggest that ROC managers and board members obtain professional guidance in determining whether their community’s facilities must comply with any of these accessibility requirements and if so what type of equipment will satisfy the ADA standards.

I’m very excited to be spending a few days later this month in Washington, DC at the American Bar Association’s Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law.  I’ve been invited to be one of the panelists speaking about Cooperatives as a Tool for Housing and Social Enterprise.  I’ll also have the opportunity to attend workshops and seminars on Fair Housing and other issues affecting resident owned communities.  The Forum is being held from May 23 through May 25 and I’m sure I’ll be posting entries on this event on my return.

 

 

 

 

The number of schemes out there that seek to part us from our hard earned money continues to amaze me. 

Last month, the Manatee County Clerk’s Office issued a warning about a "Property Deed Solicitation Letter".   Some homeowners in Manatee County, including the Clerk of Court himself, received letters from companies offering to sell them a certified copy of their deed for prices ranging from $50 to $100 per deed.  Apparently, these letters periodically appear in that county and are often concentrated in a specific zip code or neighborhood with neighbors often receiving these letters at the same time.

As Manatee County’s Clerk stated in his news release, any home owner’s deed is a public record and is permanently maintained in the clerk’s office of the county where that home or unit is located.   You do not have to pay a fee to a private company for a copy.  

In Manatee County, any homeowner or unit owner can view and print–at no charge–a non-certified copy of the deed or assignment or memorandum of proprietary lease from the Manatee County website.   Many other, if not most counties, in Florida, offer the same service.   Residents in counties where this service is not provided merely need to make a trip to their County Clerk’s office a pay a few dollars to obtain a copy of their deed, assignment, or memorandum.

It’s very rare that a homeowner or unit owner will need either a regular or certified copy of a deed or other document showing ownership of a home or unit–and the cost of obtaining either type of copy should not exceed more than $5 dollars per page.

In the words of Manatee’s Clerk of Courts: "While there does not appear to be anything illegal about this offering, it is a totally unnecessary expense for a homeowner to incur."

Thanks to the Manatee County Clerk’s Office for its warning and to one of our legal assistants, Karen Midlam, for bringing the news release to my attention.

And if any of my  readers receive any of these types of letters, please let me know and I’ll spread the word on this blog.

 

As many of my readers know, among the topics frequently discussed on this blog are the many issues facing resident owned communities when dealing with the Fair Housing Act.

I’ve recently been speaking to community association managers and ROC board members about the importance of properly responding to and evaluating requests made by current or prospective residents for reasonable accommodations such as pets or caregivers.

I always begin my presentation with a brief history of the Fair Housing Act and its roots in the Civil Rights movement and the legislation that movement inspired–legislation enacted with the goal of eliminating unlawful discrimination on the basis of characteristics such as race, religion, or disability,

It appears that there is still much to be done before that goal is met.  Last Thursday’s Sarasota Herald Tribune reported that housing discrimination is still occurring in Sarasota County.   Investigators found numerous instances of discrimination against minorities and persons with disabilities in Sarasota, Venice, and North Port as well as in the unincorporated areas of Sarasota County.

The article notes that the investigation was conducted, at least in part, by "testers" posing as as persons seeking housing or financing to help purchase homes.

We’ve been cautioning ROCs for some time  that these "testers" would eventually turn their attention to other areas of our state after focusing on the larger cities on Florida’s east coast and the Orlando area.  

Managers and board members in resident owned communities clearly have yet another reason to comply with the Fair Housing Laws.

 

 

I wanted to post two recent  articles related to the death of Trayvon Martin.

The first discusses the potential liability facing the Retreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners’ Association as Trayvon was apparently shot and killed by a member of that  association’s "neighborhood watch" group.

The second release was published by the Community Associations Institute in response to this incident and contains much useful information.

I hope that any community association that has a "neighborhood watch" program or is considering starting a "neighborhood watch" group takes the time to review and carefully digest these two articles and would strongly suggest that ROC managers and board members consult with their attorneys and insurance professionals as part of their decision-making process.

I want to remind all of my blog readers that the PM-EXPO Trade Show is scheduled for Tuesday, March 27, at the Charlotte County Convention Center. 

This will be a day packed with fun and information with presentations on a number of very interesting topics. 

Here’s the link to the home page for the Trade Show:  www.pm-expo.com/sw-florida/

Admission at the Trade Show is free and so are the presentations, including my presentation that afternoon on dealing with Reasonable Accommodation Requests under the Fair Housing Act.

I hope to see many of our friends from the Southwest Florida at the Trade Show this Tuesday!