August 7, 2025 • 51 mins
Community Association Florida laws HOA Condo Florida Laws
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Ask The Experts Florida is broadcast live Mondays at 9AM ET and Thursdays at 5PM ET on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Ask The Experts Florida is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Ask The Experts Florida Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No
liability explicitor implies shall be extended to W four CY
Radio or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments
should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for
(00:20):
choosing W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to the Ask the Experts Show on W FOURCY
Radio and Talkboard TV, where we bring you educational information
from top local experts in the fields of legal, health,
financial and home improvement. Now sit back and listen to
experts in family law, association, law, hearing laws, business brokers, homecare,
(00:48):
along with many other topics. Now here are your hosts,
Spevo and Sophia.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Hey, good afternoon, South Florida. Welcome to another sc expert
show where we bring you the finest experts in the
field of legal, health, financial and home improvement. This is
the first Thursday of the month. That means, Hey, bender Rimbaum,
Now I got to tell you. This show and two
(01:17):
of the shows have been with us for basically the
last twelve years. Our company has compiled over forty three
hundred emails and texts. We decided to do a survey
on our most popular show, and we sent out an
(01:39):
email blast to forty three hundred people who we know
has written us in the past. The number one rated
show of all and we do thirty five shows a
month of all Verse Show, the Thursday Show, the South
(02:05):
Florida Show. Now they do a show in Orlando, and
that was our top ten, and so was our Tampa
they were in our top ten. But this show is
rated our number one show. Good afternoon, Robert.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Hey, good afternoon, Hello everybody.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I thought that was so cool we got I mean,
first of all, it'll surprised how many people responded to
do a survey, but you've got the number one show
of all of our shows. I thought that was.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
There's a lot of interest in this topic.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
For sure. You know what though, rob Okay, Yeah, there's
a lot of interest in this topic. But I got
to tell you, the way you explain things, people really
appreciate that. And you know, I don't know how many
of your clients share with you. But we have a
lot of board members that just set the five o O
(03:13):
o'clock out our first Thursday of the month, set it
aside and listen. And they don't just listen to five
or ten minutes. They listen to the entire show. And
one other thing I want to tell you is people
really appreciate the effort that you give, because I mean,
(03:35):
you've got a busy law practice, and people really appreciate
the time you give and they share that with us.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Also, well, it's always been actually fun for us to
do this, so it works both ways. We're having fun
and they're getting good information.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Well, I got to tell you, you know, we never
your show is so easy to do because we get
so many letters to people with their questions and we
actually have to decide which ones because the show is
only fifty minutes. But we have got a ton of shows,
and I you know, everybody wanted to know about the
(04:22):
new laws, and we've actually decided that there's better ways
to educate, especially board members, And so if you've got
a question, we're going to kind of stay away from
that topic. It might have some questions that might come
close to that, but I want to ask you with
(04:45):
all the laws, and it seems like it's mostly condo
Robert more than they shows. Did you have a favorite?
I mean, we're overall happy with the new laws, are
still dissatisfied.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
I don't think happy is the way to describe with
new legislation. We try and hope that the negative aspects
of it are minimized, but there are as There tends
to be a number of things that, you know, we're
(05:25):
overdone and over legislated and in a way that tends
to create more problems than it's trying to fix. And
we understand the intentions are good, but it seems like
the people that are putting these things together would benefit
(05:46):
from more input from people like myself in the industry
that aren't necessarily looking to benefall without creating more problem
(06:11):
One example, there's a concept that's been in the statute
for fifty years. If the board adopts a budget in
a condominium that's more than fifteen percent than the year before,
the owners would have an option to create a substitute
budget and up on a vote of the owners, past
that instead. It's something that I've never seen actually successfully done,
(06:37):
but it's an option that existed so What they did
this year is eliminate that and require the board to
create two budgets, one that incorporates their needs and then
a second one that takes away quote discretionary items. But
(06:57):
that's not defined. So what's discretionary. Your adopt a budget
to cover what you need to spend, So where is
the benefit? So now the owners no longer have an
option to create an alternative budget. That's gone. I don't
know what the logic was on that, but that was
(07:19):
one of the things that stands out to me when
I look at these things. A lot of things that
they do and they are don't do a whole lot,
but there are things that tend to create more problems
than they fix. Well.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
One of the things also that we get from letters,
it's so amazing your show has been running I think
twelve years now. It's so amazing that people are still
first buying the show. Tell people about Cape into Rimbo Okay.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Bend Around Mom is a lot firm that specializes in
the field of community association lot condominiums, homeowner association cooperatives. Primarily,
we represent associations in this aspect of it. I've been
doing so continuously since nineteen ninety two. I myself have
(08:15):
been focusing in this area since nineteen eighty seven. We
have four offices, our main offices in Pompino Beach, we
have some Pommeage gardens, an office in the Orlanda area
and Winter Springs, and one in Tampa. But we pretty
much can cover the whole state given the ability to
(08:37):
do stuff remotely, as so many people do now. We
have a large portion of our general association attorneys are
board certified by the Florida Bar in the area, which
is a higher level of specialization recognized by the Bar
that requires a certain level of experience, level of continuing
(09:02):
education as well as the passing of the test that
is geared to be not an easy test and covers
a lot of areas. So of the twenty attorneys, they
don't all do a community association general representation, but we
(09:27):
have ten or so that our board certified in that
and one that's board certified in construction defect matters, so
we have extensive expertise in the area. We have built
our reputation based on providing high quality legal services in
(09:47):
a cost effective manner relatively, I mean the legal services
are never entirely inexpensive, and we present in a way
that's understandable to our clients. We've had many clients come
to us. They've had the prior legal counsel that takes
(10:07):
weeks to answer relatively simple questions and then provides them
with things that they read and they don't understand what
they're reading because the technical terminology is very extensive. So
we present in a way that would be most understandable
(10:28):
by the lay person. Because our clients are not experts
in the field, they're volunteers working for the betterment of
their community, and we recognize that.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Well, what we do here is we go by your
letters and you can text them to nine to five
four three three six three seven six seven. We have
got a ton of questions today, so we're going to
go get to those questions. We're going to start off
(11:01):
with Don in Miami. He wants to know if a
current Board of Directors member it's the eight year term
in a year and a half into a two year term,
is he or she automatically off the board or does
he or she get to finish the term before being
(11:22):
termed out.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Well, this is a kind of medium question, and want
to remind our listeners Sunday send these things to identify
if you're talking about condom mediums or hoa's or cooperatives.
In twenty eighteen, and who would have thought we'd reached
this point. The legislation was adopted to limit the ability
(11:47):
of a board member to serve more than a consecutive
year years and there are exceptions that are allowed if
that were to happen, So it always seem like it
was so far in the distance, So that doesn't kick
in until July of twenty twenty six. When that does
(12:10):
kick in. If you have someone who's been on the
board for eight consecutive years and they're in the middle
of a term, they're not off the board. It just
limits the ability for them to run at the next selection,
And if there aren't enough candidates to fill the board,
(12:31):
then they'd be able to continue to run, or if
super majority of the union owners vote in favor of
them I believe it's two thirds, then they can run
again so or serve again, so they wouldn't be automatically
off the board. They'd be allowed to finish out their term.
(12:54):
But that's something that doesn't kick in until next year.
Assuming the legislature doesn't decide to change that in their
next session, which is always a possibility.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Beth and Delray Beach. What can a member do? Oh,
this is an h o A Robert. What can a
member do to enforce a violation? The ARC states it
will not be enforcing certain violations like running a business
out of your home or not following a color look.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Well, it's an interesting suggestion. The HRC is supposed to
be Architectural Review Commission committee that deals with exterior appearances
of homes, so the issue of running a business would
not fall within their purview. Typically, that's for the board
to enforce. If the governing body, be it the board
(13:51):
or some committee that the board appoints to handle enforcement,
is not uniformly or fully enforcing restrictions within the community,
they would be subject to claims of being in breach
of their fiduciary duty to the community, which is to
fully and uniformly enforce the restrictions of the covenants, and
(14:16):
that it could be a lawsuit that owners can bring
against the association. The preferred method of resolving issues of
that nature is more through the election and or recall
process in changing who's on the board. It's a lot
less expensive and time consuming to change the people who
(14:40):
are on the board than it is to file a
lawsuit to compel the association to enforce documents that they
haven't been enforcing. When an association doesn't enforce restrictions within
the covenants for a period of time in excess of
one year, it creates a fence to all owners cuts
(15:04):
waiver as well as selective enforcement for any future enforcement,
and the association would be precluded from bringing any enforcement
on that particular topic until such time as the board
republishes the restriction through a notice sent to the entire community,
(15:27):
identifying the specific restriction that hadn't been enforced, in identifying
a date when it would be with the requirement to
grandfather in existing violations. So it's going forward enforcement, and
so then they'd have to figure out a way to
keep track of the existing violations. It can be complicated.
(15:48):
It makes the operation of an association smoother and better
if the board or committees in charge of such things
uniformly and fully enforce all of the restrictions, and that's
their function.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Can a board vote on a communications policy enforceable by
fines to stop owner from writing emails directly to vendors
are directly to board members.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Well, emails to board members is a little more problematic
because I think owners have a right to communicate with
board members, and board members might not want to be
on the board if they feel they need to insulate
themselves from receiving communication from their membership. Communicating with outside
(16:46):
vendors is a bigger problem and should never happen union owners.
They're not entitled by virtue of being an owner to
communicate with vendors, so that has to go through the
proper channels of the associateation. Fines can be set up
for that. I don't necessarily believe finding is the best
(17:08):
remedy to resolve that. Unfortunately, the only other method would
be through court action and obtaining an injunction to compel
the person to stop interfering with the operation and the association.
It would be the intent to pursue the legal fees
(17:29):
and costs that are expended in having to take such action.
But in each case, we want to review the documents
and see what our opportunities are in dealing with the enforcement.
I wouldn't say there's a blanket policy that's better than
any other.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
We're going to get this last question in before we
go to break Jerry in Pompino once. Is it okay
for a condo board president to walk through the community
answering residents questions about hoa business.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Well, legally it's okay. There's no law that precludes a
board member or president from discussing association business with the membership.
With the caveat that if there's something sensitive, if there's
pending litigation, if there's thoughts of litigation or negotiations involved
(18:32):
in with third parties, either in contracts or construction defect issues,
or whatever it might be, and certainly the assessment accounts
of owners should not be discussed in such a form.
But in general terms, there's not a legal problem in
(18:53):
doing so as long as they stay away from what
would be sensitive issues.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
We're gonna go to a short break. When we come back,
we're going to talk God, you've got a lot of
classes coming up. We're going to talk about many.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
This is a short month.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I thought it was a lot of them. When we
come back, we're going to go over those classes and
reach your office.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
You can reajest by writing to info at kbr Lingal
dot com. You can go to our website KBR lingal
dot com and you can fill out a contact box
that's on the main page, or you can call us
at eight hundred and ninety seven four zero six eight zero.
That number is good for all four emphasis.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Okay, we're going to go to our break, the short break.
We'll be right back with more of your questions and
Attorney Robert k We'll be right back.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
Kay Bender Rembaum is a full service community association law
firm dedicated to the representation of community associations throughout Florida.
On KBR legal dot com, you can learn more about
their offices in Pompino Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Orlando, Tampa,
as well as throughout Miami Dade by appointment. Several k
(20:30):
Bender Rembaum attorneys are board certified specialists in condominium and
plan development law and assist clients with all matters of
community association legal issues while keeping them up to date
on new developments that affect their associations. K Benda Rembaum
is also a well known provider of free legal education
for managers and board members. Contact k Beender Rebbaum today
(20:53):
by calling eight hundred nine seven four zero six eight zero.
That's eight hundred seven zero six eight zero to reach
any of their locations. You can also visit them online
at KBR legal dot com or write to them at
info at KBR legal dot com.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
And we are back with the Ask the Expert Show
on W FOURCY Radio and Talk for TV with your
hosts Stevo, Sophia and their expert guests.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
And we are back. We're here with Attorney Robert k
at the kbender Rim Law Firm here representing throughout the
state of Florida. We just got a message from a
long time listener wanting to know. Let's know if an
(21:45):
HLA board is allowed to tell a person how much
they have to sell their home.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Far in general terms, it's likely now, but that on
the provisions of the governing documents, it's conceivable that the
declaration can be amended or may originally have provided that
allows for some involvement of the board in the sale
(22:16):
of units within the community. But honestly, I've never seen it.
I think that's a bit of an overreach for the board.
Legally possible, but unlikely.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Okay, let's talk about the classes you've got coming up
in August.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Okay, well, according to my information, our first one isn't
until August twentieth, which is still a ways off to zoom.
From noon to two pm on HOA Financial Literacy and Transparency,
Kirsten Hens from Tampa will be presenting. There's two CEUs
(23:01):
and two HOA board member CEUs toward their annual requirement
and on August twenty first, at eleven am to two pm.
These are all zoom. By the way, HOA board member
certification will be presented by Danielle Brennan from our pum
Each Garden's office and co hosted by GRS Community Management.
(23:25):
On August twenty second, at eleven am to noon, there's
another zoom on guest restrictions and screening tenants and new owners.
Kirsten Hens from Tampa will be presenting this as well.
There's one cam CEU and one HOA board member CEU.
It's co hosted by Artemis Lifestyles. On August twenty seventh,
(23:51):
we have a live event at the Tamarat Community Center
down here in South Florida from five to six thirty pm.
We haven't asked the atne Ernie's open for him. That
was an old favorite of yours. Andrew Blast from our
Pompano office will be presenting. Attendees will basically run that
(24:15):
presentation by whatever questions they bring to the table. They'll
also be light refreshment, sir. So that's at five pm
on August twenty seventh. On August twenty ninth, at ten
am to two pm, it's our big Zoom the kind
of board Member Certification course, which is tag team by
(24:38):
Kirsten Hunts from Tampa and Allen Shortside from Orlando office.
That's all we have for August, but we have an
asked the attorney in the r and I know you
like that.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Yep, I love It's I got to tell you I
went to several blows and it was amazing. I was
watching a guy sitting right next to me and he
was looking like he was kind of bored. When he
came in and he told the guy, I got a question.
This guy stayed for the entire hour and a half
(25:15):
and ended up with like seven questions. It was amazing.
Someone came with one question, but people start asking questions
and then you get more questions.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
Well, COVID in Zoom seemed to have cause that to
be far last. But you remember pre COVID days, we
would do five or six of those a year, and
if you're in the area, certainly feel free to come
out make a note.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
They were amazing. Okay, let's get back to all the questions.
Let's let's go with Richard and West Palm Beach first,
Thank you so much for your show. Our board members
always listen. Many residents are installing spotlights now audio video
cameras on their garages. Does this require a vote of
(26:11):
the community?
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Do this questioner indicate condo ha.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
It doesn't say I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
Okay. Well, for in eh Oa, that's going to be
a document driven issue, and it's hard to predict whether
the documents have such a requirement. Typically they do not.
In the condominiums, there's usually restrictions on owners being able
(26:43):
to do anything outside of their units. The question whether
it would be considered a material alteration there requires a
unit on or vote. If the association's not doing it,
but the owners are doing it themselves, that could be
outside the scope of the material alteration aspect of the statue,
(27:07):
but it's still one that would require some authority in
the documents to allow for that to happen. So in
both cases, I'm going to say that that's going to
be an issue that needs a review of the documents
and they should check with their association attorney on a
more detailed answer on that.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
You know, Robert, with hurricane season right around the corner,
we're in the middle of it. Yeah, we've already been
getting a lot of questions, and mainly people want to
know they tell their next door neighbor to trim their
(27:50):
trees because of a hurricane or tornado, and they don't
do it and hurricane comes around and a tree falls
on their roof, who who is responsible for fixing that roof?
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Well, it's a tricky question in that setting because the
general rule in Florida is that the homeowner that is
damaged is usually responsible for their own losses from flying
debris that comes. And a caveat on that is that
(28:34):
the neighbor would have had to have been negligent in
the way they handled the tree trimming and tree maintenance.
That was a direct cause of the tree coming loose
and falling onto their neighbour's property. And that's a pretty
high bar to clear to prove that negligence. Now, just
(28:58):
because the one neighbor believes there's an issue and just
say trim their tree doesn't mean there actually was an
issue and it was just an act of nature that
it was a hurricane, and lots of trees blow over
and hurricanes that are otherwise perfectly healthy. So in all
(29:21):
likelihood it falls to the property owner who's damage to
handle the repairs. And the same thing. If a tree
falls down in your backyard that from your neighbor doesn't
land on your house, but your backyard's full of tree,
that's your responsibility to clear out, not theirs, even though
it was their tree. Once it crosses the property line,
(29:44):
that makes it your responsibility. And this goes along the
lines with overhanging branches. When owners are unhappy with their
neighbors overhanging branches, then they want them to trim them.
Whatever's crossed your property line, you're allowed to trim, and
as long as you don't do harm to the tree
(30:08):
in the process.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Robert, I'm gonna stick this in because I was just
thinking about it. You know, every time I've been to
your office in Pompino, there's always two or three ladies
at the front desk, And I'm bringing this up because
customer service, I know is so important to your firm,
(30:35):
and I get letter I'm sorry. I get letters from people,
people saying to us, you know they the firm that
was representing them, you would they would call them up
and it would take weeks weeks to get calls back.
And I just I want people to know out there
(30:58):
because this is an area that's so important to us
customer service.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Absolutely, when we get calls from our clients, they're not
calling because they just want to chat or they're checking
in to how we're doing. They're kind because they have
of what they believe to be a problem that needs
a fairly immediate resolution. Oftentimes, we're having a board meeting
(31:25):
tomorrow morning, and we need to know what the situation
is with whatever we're calling about, and we got to
get that to them that same day, and we do that.
That's what we recognize we're in the service industry that
owners need to be served.
Speaker 6 (31:43):
Board members anyway, Well, I know with you being the
senior partner, I know how important that is to you
and how important customer services.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
And I hear about the complaints out there.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
So in the philosophy of the firm since day one,
and that's that's how.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
We grew Edwin and boker ratone hoa. Is it true
a board can only enforce the newly mended covenant on
the homeowners had voted for ed or purchased their house
after the covenant was enacted.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
This refers to provisions and a lot of started in
condominiums and then was adopted for hoa's But it's not
all covenant amendments that they're talking about. It's only rental restrictions.
And so the legislation was adopted in condominiums sometime around
(32:47):
two thousand and six, and it provided that any amendments
that affect rental rights in a nutshell limiting or if
you're making more expansive, that's different. Like you say, if
your documents say you can only lead for six months
(33:08):
and you change it to twelve months, that provision is
not going to apply. But if you sit if you're
changing it from twelve months to six months, restricting the
rental ability, then it's only going to apply to those
who vote in favor of it or those who purchased
the unit after the amendment's been adopted. That was added
to the HOA Statutes a couple of years ago. I
(33:29):
think it was in twenty four. And the issue for
hoas is a little more complicated, probably the same issue
in condominiums, but it was never really raised that way.
The concept what's called Kaufman language is a provision in
(33:51):
the law that the constitution says that the state cannot
adopt the law that will impair an existing contract. That's
both the state constitution in the US Constitution. The declaration
of covenants is a contract and it has vested rights
of the owners and the association and certain changes that
(34:14):
they make in the law. If they don't have certain
language in the declaration that incorporates future changes in the
law under a strict legal interpretation, then new changes would
not apply. So this is one of those things. The
ability to lease and to mend your documents relative to
(34:35):
leasing is a substantive, vested right. That's the legal terminology.
It's substantive as opposed to procedural. Substantive. Changes to the
statute cannot be retroactive. They can't be applied to existing circumstances,
only on future circumstances. So your documents have to contain
(34:56):
language language that incorporates the Joy Statute to Chapter seven
twenty and Florida Statutes. The magic language is as amended
from time to time. Most Joy documents do not have that,
so if the legislation came after your declaration, then the
(35:19):
legal position is that it doesn't apply. So the issue
on the rental change in amendments is one of those.
Another one is on the commercial vehicle freedom that the
statute put in limiting abilities of associations to enforce some
(35:40):
certain types of vehicles. Is another substantive change that would
require what's called the Kaufman language in your declaration for
it to be enforceable in your community, and that has
created a lot of issues around the state.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
Here's a I've never heard of this before as long
as we've been doing the show, Harry in Fort Lauderdale.
She says, is there any legal recourse that can be
taken against a board of directors if their a decision
to cancel? This is why I've never heard this before.
A no change order contract for a fifty year restoration
(36:26):
project ultimately turns out to cost the association more. Well.
Speaker 4 (36:37):
I think we need more facts to give a complete
answer on that one, but in general terms, for a
board member.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
To be as you have no change order, it has
to do.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
With the contracts that's being performed by the contractors. So
I'd need to know more specifically what it's referencing, but
in more general terms, in order to hold a board
member personally liable for anything, you'd have to be able
(37:13):
to prove that they acted in willful disregard of what
they knew to be wrong, or were grossly negligent, which
is along the same lines as that or it did
intentional misconduct, or received an improper personal gain from the
(37:33):
decision that they made of a financial nature. So if
a board member makes a mistake out of negligence, they
whatever this fact situation is on a change no change order,
the board member decides without getting sufficient guidance, or and
(37:55):
it turns out to be wrong, that's not going to
be a personal obligation of that board number. That could
be the association having some culpability for it. But it's
unlikely that an owner can sue themselves in that regard
based on their insurance. So it's a complicated problem. I'd
(38:19):
like to give more of an answer, but I need
more information to do that.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Okay, I know a law was passed about restricting work
vehicles with writing on it. Is that for condos as well?
Speaker 4 (38:36):
That's what we were just talking about. A couple of
minutes ago. Now that was an HOA change only there
is no vehicle issue in the kind of miniamac relative
to protecting vehicles from enforcement.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
This is a condo Friutian Miami. Are we allowed to
have a line item on our budge for social events?
Must we have a community vote or can the boardgeous
vote on it.
Speaker 4 (39:08):
That's going to depend on what your declaration of condominium
identifies as proper expenses of the association. In order to
have social events in your budget, there has to be
some authorization to spend common funds on social functions. Sometimes
(39:34):
it's containing the powers of the associations for health, safety,
welfare and recreation. There does need to be some express
authority in order to spend money that way.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
Barbara and Dewry Beach. Once she's a condo. Committee meetings
have to be posted and owners are allowed to sit
in via zoom.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
Four kind of midiums. Most committee meetings are of that nature.
When a quorum of the committee needs to conduct the
business of the committee, they are treated the same way
as a board meeting. There has to be the proper
notice out there, and there has to be the opportunity
for owners to attend and participate. Whether or not at
(40:34):
ZOOM depends on whether or not they're doing their meetings
at LAY and ZOOM is not mandatory. That's an option.
The committee can do it just in person if it
chooses to do that.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
Stephen fort Lauderdale, can this is a condo? Can a
seven eighteen condo association change their budget midyear without notice
the owners and a board vote.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
The answer to that is no. The board can change
their budget mid year, but they cannot do it without
the same notice they are required to give when they
adopt the budget in the first place, and they can't
do it without a board vote because it's a board
adopted budget. That's express power of the board is to
(41:30):
adopt the budget, and the board would have to then
change the budget. So hopefully that's not happening for Steve.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
Yeah, Christian Boyden. Is it legal to access a owner
before contract repair has approved and signed?
Speaker 4 (41:51):
Access?
Speaker 3 (41:52):
What? I guess, access a unit owner's unit.
Speaker 4 (42:00):
We read that again, because it sounds likely.
Speaker 3 (42:05):
Legal to access a unit owner before a contract repair
is approved and signed.
Speaker 4 (42:16):
I'm not following the question. I guess we need to
go onto the next one.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Yeah, Sophie and Lake Clark Chores. What is my name?
Oh that's another tree one Kathy and both caratone condo.
What if a board calls for a workshop to avoid
committee means they still have to give us notice.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
Well, it depends on what we're talking about as a
workshop and what they're doing. The law requires that when
the board a corner of the board needs to conduct
association business, it's required to post notice and allow owners
to attend and participate.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
It.
Speaker 4 (43:04):
The phrase conducting association business is not defined by the
statu It's not defined by any court decision, but has
been considered through the years to mean taking formal action,
so being presented with the issue or resolution for consideration
(43:26):
and a vote of the board on the issue and
a final decision made. That would fall within the definition
of a board meeting that is required to be posted
and noticed. Factfinding, gathering and informal discussions on topics are
(43:48):
things that don't qualify as a board meeting that requires
the posting and owner attendance and participation, And the same
would be true if the workshop consists of less than
a quorum of the board. So it really depends on
what they're doing as to whether or not they're required
(44:12):
to open it up and allow owners to be there
and participate. In many instances, workshops do include a majority
of the board or on the board, and they're talking
about things and deciding things even though they're calling in
a workshop. So they do tend to post notice and
(44:33):
allow owners to attend. But it's not a good idea
to try and circumvent the statutory requirements because that tends
to get them in trouble.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
Nancy and book ratone wants to know if a quorum
of directors is meeting with the contractor and engineer to
discuss work progress, is it required that this meeting the
posted and owner participation be allowed.
Speaker 4 (45:05):
See, that's an instance that they're not conducting association business,
And in all likelihood they're not acting in their capacity
as the board, but more likely in their capacity as
the officers of the association. In dealing with the day
to day aspects of the operation, decisions aren't being made
(45:26):
per se as they would in a board meeting. There
it's more of a day to day function issue. If
decisions are made outside the scope of a meeting because
of circumstances that come up during the handling of the project,
(45:49):
those should be addressed at the next opportunity at a
properly posted meeting as an agenda item and gratified.
Speaker 3 (46:01):
Kurt and Boca Ratone. I guess he is a condo president.
He says, we have one hundred and twenty residents. Should
they be invited to meet and tour with any contractors
working on our building?
Speaker 4 (46:18):
Well, I think that's along the same lines of an
open meeting. If board members are walking the property with
contractors to either show them so they can prepare specifications
and quotes for work, that's not a meeting of the
(46:38):
board that requires posting an owner of participation. So the
answer to that is, in all likelihood no.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
You know, it's amazing. When we first started doing the show,
we used to get so many letters about support animals, and.
Speaker 4 (46:58):
Yes, we rarely well, I've it's been around for a one time,
so most of the questions are springs.
Speaker 3 (47:07):
He says. We have a no pet policy in our docs.
We accept service animals and emotional support animals. Some people
have not filed any paperwork. We know we can find them,
but what recourses there?
Speaker 4 (47:24):
Well, when you're dealing with emotional support animals in a
residential setting, you have to be very careful in what
you do, because it's very easy for somebody to claim discrimination,
and the governmental agencies that review these things tend to
(47:46):
view these more favorably from the complainer's perspective than the associations.
So you want to make sure that you're protect acting
yourselves and the association by following a very strict procedure.
(48:08):
So the first thing that you need from a requesting
owner is information to support their claim of the need
for this emotional support animal. The law provides for a
qualified medical professional to provide some form of authorization and
(48:29):
written form that identifies the need without necessarily getting into
what the physical issue is or emotional issue is with
the owner and what the specific the animal does to
alleviate that problem, and it has to be of a
major life function, and you're entitled to request and receive
(48:53):
that information before they're able to pro properly bring the
animal into the community. We have a package that we
create for our clients that contain application forms and information
to share with the requesting owners and have them submit
it back to the board for them to evaluate and approve.
(49:17):
It's dangerous to simply say no to a request or
without getting sufficient information, so you want to that's going
to be your primary pursuit, and you should involve your
association attorney as early as possible. Do get a package
that you can use for requests, and if there's anyone
(49:41):
who's not following it, do be sure to get legal
advice as to the best method of addressing that on
a case by case basis.
Speaker 3 (49:55):
Well, you know, Robert, that's going to actually do it
for us today. I just want to people also thank you.
A lot of people go back to listen to your shows.
I see how the numbers go up a couple of
days after your show, and we just we appreciate our listeners,
our viewers and Robert you know, congratulations, you are our
(50:20):
top show. It's a pretty big deal with all the
people that we.
Speaker 4 (50:25):
Honored at the distinction. I'm very much appreciated.
Speaker 3 (50:31):
We love you. Tell people how they can reach your
office again.
Speaker 4 (50:35):
You can call us at eight hundred and ninety seven
four zero six eight zero. You can write to us
at info at KBR legal dot com. You can go
to our website KBR legal dot com and fill out
a contact information box on the main page and you
will hear from us relatively quickly.
Speaker 3 (50:55):
Robert's with us every month for Thursday of the month.
Robert have a wonderful we can take care. That's at
Bernie Robert Kay. He's a senior partner at k bender Rimbaum,
their community association law firm. That's going to do it
for us today. Thank you our great producer one, and
(51:19):
we will see you all next week with more experts.
Speaker 2 (51:24):
Thanks for tuning in today to the Ask the Experts
show on W four c Y Radio and Talk for TV.
Tune in next week and every week to hear more
from our experts on personal injury, insurance, air condition repairs,
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of legal, health, financial and home improvement. See you next week.
The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
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liability explicitor implies shall be extended to W four CY
Radio or it's employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments
should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for
(00:20):
choosing W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to the Ask the Experts Show on W FOURCY
Radio and Talkboard TV, where we bring you educational information
from top local experts in the fields of legal, health,
financial and home improvement. Now sit back and listen to
experts in family law, association, law, hearing laws, business brokers, homecare,
(00:48):
along with many other topics. Now here are your hosts,
Spevo and Sophia.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Hey, good afternoon, South Florida. Welcome to another sc expert
show where we bring you the finest experts in the
field of legal, health, financial and home improvement. This is
the first Thursday of the month. That means, Hey, bender Rimbaum,
Now I got to tell you. This show and two
(01:17):
of the shows have been with us for basically the
last twelve years. Our company has compiled over forty three
hundred emails and texts. We decided to do a survey
on our most popular show, and we sent out an
(01:39):
email blast to forty three hundred people who we know
has written us in the past. The number one rated
show of all and we do thirty five shows a
month of all Verse Show, the Thursday Show, the South
(02:05):
Florida Show. Now they do a show in Orlando, and
that was our top ten, and so was our Tampa
they were in our top ten. But this show is
rated our number one show. Good afternoon, Robert.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Hey, good afternoon, Hello everybody.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I thought that was so cool we got I mean,
first of all, it'll surprised how many people responded to
do a survey, but you've got the number one show
of all of our shows. I thought that was.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
There's a lot of interest in this topic.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
For sure. You know what though, rob Okay, Yeah, there's
a lot of interest in this topic. But I got
to tell you, the way you explain things, people really
appreciate that. And you know, I don't know how many
of your clients share with you. But we have a
lot of board members that just set the five o O
(03:13):
o'clock out our first Thursday of the month, set it
aside and listen. And they don't just listen to five
or ten minutes. They listen to the entire show. And
one other thing I want to tell you is people
really appreciate the effort that you give, because I mean,
(03:35):
you've got a busy law practice, and people really appreciate
the time you give and they share that with us.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Also, well, it's always been actually fun for us to
do this, so it works both ways. We're having fun
and they're getting good information.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Well, I got to tell you, you know, we never
your show is so easy to do because we get
so many letters to people with their questions and we
actually have to decide which ones because the show is
only fifty minutes. But we have got a ton of shows,
and I you know, everybody wanted to know about the
(04:22):
new laws, and we've actually decided that there's better ways
to educate, especially board members, And so if you've got
a question, we're going to kind of stay away from
that topic. It might have some questions that might come
close to that, but I want to ask you with
(04:45):
all the laws, and it seems like it's mostly condo
Robert more than they shows. Did you have a favorite?
I mean, we're overall happy with the new laws, are
still dissatisfied.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
I don't think happy is the way to describe with
new legislation. We try and hope that the negative aspects
of it are minimized, but there are as There tends
to be a number of things that, you know, we're
(05:25):
overdone and over legislated and in a way that tends
to create more problems than it's trying to fix. And
we understand the intentions are good, but it seems like
the people that are putting these things together would benefit
(05:46):
from more input from people like myself in the industry
that aren't necessarily looking to benefall without creating more problem
(06:11):
One example, there's a concept that's been in the statute
for fifty years. If the board adopts a budget in
a condominium that's more than fifteen percent than the year before,
the owners would have an option to create a substitute
budget and up on a vote of the owners, past
that instead. It's something that I've never seen actually successfully done,
(06:37):
but it's an option that existed so What they did
this year is eliminate that and require the board to
create two budgets, one that incorporates their needs and then
a second one that takes away quote discretionary items. But
(06:57):
that's not defined. So what's discretionary. Your adopt a budget
to cover what you need to spend, So where is
the benefit? So now the owners no longer have an
option to create an alternative budget. That's gone. I don't
know what the logic was on that, but that was
(07:19):
one of the things that stands out to me when
I look at these things. A lot of things that
they do and they are don't do a whole lot,
but there are things that tend to create more problems
than they fix. Well.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
One of the things also that we get from letters,
it's so amazing your show has been running I think
twelve years now. It's so amazing that people are still
first buying the show. Tell people about Cape into Rimbo Okay.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Bend Around Mom is a lot firm that specializes in
the field of community association lot condominiums, homeowner association cooperatives. Primarily,
we represent associations in this aspect of it. I've been
doing so continuously since nineteen ninety two. I myself have
(08:15):
been focusing in this area since nineteen eighty seven. We
have four offices, our main offices in Pompino Beach, we
have some Pommeage gardens, an office in the Orlanda area
and Winter Springs, and one in Tampa. But we pretty
much can cover the whole state given the ability to
(08:37):
do stuff remotely, as so many people do now. We
have a large portion of our general association attorneys are
board certified by the Florida Bar in the area, which
is a higher level of specialization recognized by the Bar
that requires a certain level of experience, level of continuing
(09:02):
education as well as the passing of the test that
is geared to be not an easy test and covers
a lot of areas. So of the twenty attorneys, they
don't all do a community association general representation, but we
(09:27):
have ten or so that our board certified in that
and one that's board certified in construction defect matters, so
we have extensive expertise in the area. We have built
our reputation based on providing high quality legal services in
(09:47):
a cost effective manner relatively, I mean the legal services
are never entirely inexpensive, and we present in a way
that's understandable to our clients. We've had many clients come
to us. They've had the prior legal counsel that takes
(10:07):
weeks to answer relatively simple questions and then provides them
with things that they read and they don't understand what
they're reading because the technical terminology is very extensive. So
we present in a way that would be most understandable
(10:28):
by the lay person. Because our clients are not experts
in the field, they're volunteers working for the betterment of
their community, and we recognize that.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Well, what we do here is we go by your
letters and you can text them to nine to five
four three three six three seven six seven. We have
got a ton of questions today, so we're going to
go get to those questions. We're going to start off
(11:01):
with Don in Miami. He wants to know if a
current Board of Directors member it's the eight year term
in a year and a half into a two year term,
is he or she automatically off the board or does
he or she get to finish the term before being
(11:22):
termed out.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
Well, this is a kind of medium question, and want
to remind our listeners Sunday send these things to identify
if you're talking about condom mediums or hoa's or cooperatives.
In twenty eighteen, and who would have thought we'd reached
this point. The legislation was adopted to limit the ability
(11:47):
of a board member to serve more than a consecutive
year years and there are exceptions that are allowed if
that were to happen, So it always seem like it
was so far in the distance, So that doesn't kick
in until July of twenty twenty six. When that does
(12:10):
kick in. If you have someone who's been on the
board for eight consecutive years and they're in the middle
of a term, they're not off the board. It just
limits the ability for them to run at the next selection,
And if there aren't enough candidates to fill the board,
(12:31):
then they'd be able to continue to run, or if
super majority of the union owners vote in favor of
them I believe it's two thirds, then they can run
again so or serve again, so they wouldn't be automatically
off the board. They'd be allowed to finish out their term.
(12:54):
But that's something that doesn't kick in until next year.
Assuming the legislature doesn't decide to change that in their
next session, which is always a possibility.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Beth and Delray Beach. What can a member do? Oh,
this is an h o A Robert. What can a
member do to enforce a violation? The ARC states it
will not be enforcing certain violations like running a business
out of your home or not following a color look.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Well, it's an interesting suggestion. The HRC is supposed to
be Architectural Review Commission committee that deals with exterior appearances
of homes, so the issue of running a business would
not fall within their purview. Typically, that's for the board
to enforce. If the governing body, be it the board
(13:51):
or some committee that the board appoints to handle enforcement,
is not uniformly or fully enforcing restrictions within the community,
they would be subject to claims of being in breach
of their fiduciary duty to the community, which is to
fully and uniformly enforce the restrictions of the covenants, and
(14:16):
that it could be a lawsuit that owners can bring
against the association. The preferred method of resolving issues of
that nature is more through the election and or recall
process in changing who's on the board. It's a lot
less expensive and time consuming to change the people who
(14:40):
are on the board than it is to file a
lawsuit to compel the association to enforce documents that they
haven't been enforcing. When an association doesn't enforce restrictions within
the covenants for a period of time in excess of
one year, it creates a fence to all owners cuts
(15:04):
waiver as well as selective enforcement for any future enforcement,
and the association would be precluded from bringing any enforcement
on that particular topic until such time as the board
republishes the restriction through a notice sent to the entire community,
(15:27):
identifying the specific restriction that hadn't been enforced, in identifying
a date when it would be with the requirement to
grandfather in existing violations. So it's going forward enforcement, and
so then they'd have to figure out a way to
keep track of the existing violations. It can be complicated.
(15:48):
It makes the operation of an association smoother and better
if the board or committees in charge of such things
uniformly and fully enforce all of the restrictions, and that's
their function.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Can a board vote on a communications policy enforceable by
fines to stop owner from writing emails directly to vendors
are directly to board members.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Well, emails to board members is a little more problematic
because I think owners have a right to communicate with
board members, and board members might not want to be
on the board if they feel they need to insulate
themselves from receiving communication from their membership. Communicating with outside
(16:46):
vendors is a bigger problem and should never happen union owners.
They're not entitled by virtue of being an owner to
communicate with vendors, so that has to go through the
proper channels of the associateation. Fines can be set up
for that. I don't necessarily believe finding is the best
(17:08):
remedy to resolve that. Unfortunately, the only other method would
be through court action and obtaining an injunction to compel
the person to stop interfering with the operation and the association.
It would be the intent to pursue the legal fees
(17:29):
and costs that are expended in having to take such action.
But in each case, we want to review the documents
and see what our opportunities are in dealing with the enforcement.
I wouldn't say there's a blanket policy that's better than
any other.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
We're going to get this last question in before we
go to break Jerry in Pompino once. Is it okay
for a condo board president to walk through the community
answering residents questions about hoa business.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Well, legally it's okay. There's no law that precludes a
board member or president from discussing association business with the membership.
With the caveat that if there's something sensitive, if there's
pending litigation, if there's thoughts of litigation or negotiations involved
(18:32):
in with third parties, either in contracts or construction defect issues,
or whatever it might be, and certainly the assessment accounts
of owners should not be discussed in such a form.
But in general terms, there's not a legal problem in
(18:53):
doing so as long as they stay away from what
would be sensitive issues.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
We're gonna go to a short break. When we come back,
we're going to talk God, you've got a lot of
classes coming up. We're going to talk about many.
Speaker 4 (19:09):
This is a short month.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I thought it was a lot of them. When we
come back, we're going to go over those classes and
reach your office.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
You can reajest by writing to info at kbr Lingal
dot com. You can go to our website KBR lingal
dot com and you can fill out a contact box
that's on the main page, or you can call us
at eight hundred and ninety seven four zero six eight zero.
That number is good for all four emphasis.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Okay, we're going to go to our break, the short break.
We'll be right back with more of your questions and
Attorney Robert k We'll be right back.
Speaker 5 (20:09):
Kay Bender Rembaum is a full service community association law
firm dedicated to the representation of community associations throughout Florida.
On KBR legal dot com, you can learn more about
their offices in Pompino Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Orlando, Tampa,
as well as throughout Miami Dade by appointment. Several k
(20:30):
Bender Rembaum attorneys are board certified specialists in condominium and
plan development law and assist clients with all matters of
community association legal issues while keeping them up to date
on new developments that affect their associations. K Benda Rembaum
is also a well known provider of free legal education
for managers and board members. Contact k Beender Rebbaum today
(20:53):
by calling eight hundred nine seven four zero six eight zero.
That's eight hundred seven zero six eight zero to reach
any of their locations. You can also visit them online
at KBR legal dot com or write to them at
info at KBR legal dot com.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
And we are back with the Ask the Expert Show
on W FOURCY Radio and Talk for TV with your
hosts Stevo, Sophia and their expert guests.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
And we are back. We're here with Attorney Robert k
at the kbender Rim Law Firm here representing throughout the
state of Florida. We just got a message from a
long time listener wanting to know. Let's know if an
(21:45):
HLA board is allowed to tell a person how much
they have to sell their home.
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Far in general terms, it's likely now, but that on
the provisions of the governing documents, it's conceivable that the
declaration can be amended or may originally have provided that
allows for some involvement of the board in the sale
(22:16):
of units within the community. But honestly, I've never seen it.
I think that's a bit of an overreach for the board.
Legally possible, but unlikely.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Okay, let's talk about the classes you've got coming up
in August.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
Okay, well, according to my information, our first one isn't
until August twentieth, which is still a ways off to zoom.
From noon to two pm on HOA Financial Literacy and Transparency,
Kirsten Hens from Tampa will be presenting. There's two CEUs
(23:01):
and two HOA board member CEUs toward their annual requirement
and on August twenty first, at eleven am to two pm.
These are all zoom. By the way, HOA board member
certification will be presented by Danielle Brennan from our pum
Each Garden's office and co hosted by GRS Community Management.
(23:25):
On August twenty second, at eleven am to noon, there's
another zoom on guest restrictions and screening tenants and new owners.
Kirsten Hens from Tampa will be presenting this as well.
There's one cam CEU and one HOA board member CEU.
It's co hosted by Artemis Lifestyles. On August twenty seventh,
(23:51):
we have a live event at the Tamarat Community Center
down here in South Florida from five to six thirty pm.
We haven't asked the atne Ernie's open for him. That
was an old favorite of yours. Andrew Blast from our
Pompano office will be presenting. Attendees will basically run that
(24:15):
presentation by whatever questions they bring to the table. They'll
also be light refreshment, sir. So that's at five pm
on August twenty seventh. On August twenty ninth, at ten
am to two pm, it's our big Zoom the kind
of board Member Certification course, which is tag team by
(24:38):
Kirsten Hunts from Tampa and Allen Shortside from Orlando office.
That's all we have for August, but we have an
asked the attorney in the r and I know you
like that.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Yep, I love It's I got to tell you I
went to several blows and it was amazing. I was
watching a guy sitting right next to me and he
was looking like he was kind of bored. When he
came in and he told the guy, I got a question.
This guy stayed for the entire hour and a half
(25:15):
and ended up with like seven questions. It was amazing.
Someone came with one question, but people start asking questions
and then you get more questions.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
Well, COVID in Zoom seemed to have cause that to
be far last. But you remember pre COVID days, we
would do five or six of those a year, and
if you're in the area, certainly feel free to come
out make a note.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
They were amazing. Okay, let's get back to all the questions.
Let's let's go with Richard and West Palm Beach first,
Thank you so much for your show. Our board members
always listen. Many residents are installing spotlights now audio video
cameras on their garages. Does this require a vote of
(26:11):
the community?
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Do this questioner indicate condo ha.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
It doesn't say I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
Okay. Well, for in eh Oa, that's going to be
a document driven issue, and it's hard to predict whether
the documents have such a requirement. Typically they do not.
In the condominiums, there's usually restrictions on owners being able
(26:43):
to do anything outside of their units. The question whether
it would be considered a material alteration there requires a
unit on or vote. If the association's not doing it,
but the owners are doing it themselves, that could be
outside the scope of the material alteration aspect of the statue,
(27:07):
but it's still one that would require some authority in
the documents to allow for that to happen. So in
both cases, I'm going to say that that's going to
be an issue that needs a review of the documents
and they should check with their association attorney on a
more detailed answer on that.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
You know, Robert, with hurricane season right around the corner,
we're in the middle of it. Yeah, we've already been
getting a lot of questions, and mainly people want to
know they tell their next door neighbor to trim their
(27:50):
trees because of a hurricane or tornado, and they don't
do it and hurricane comes around and a tree falls
on their roof, who who is responsible for fixing that roof?
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Well, it's a tricky question in that setting because the
general rule in Florida is that the homeowner that is
damaged is usually responsible for their own losses from flying
debris that comes. And a caveat on that is that
(28:34):
the neighbor would have had to have been negligent in
the way they handled the tree trimming and tree maintenance.
That was a direct cause of the tree coming loose
and falling onto their neighbour's property. And that's a pretty
high bar to clear to prove that negligence. Now, just
(28:58):
because the one neighbor believes there's an issue and just
say trim their tree doesn't mean there actually was an
issue and it was just an act of nature that
it was a hurricane, and lots of trees blow over
and hurricanes that are otherwise perfectly healthy. So in all
(29:21):
likelihood it falls to the property owner who's damage to
handle the repairs. And the same thing. If a tree
falls down in your backyard that from your neighbor doesn't
land on your house, but your backyard's full of tree,
that's your responsibility to clear out, not theirs, even though
it was their tree. Once it crosses the property line,
(29:44):
that makes it your responsibility. And this goes along the
lines with overhanging branches. When owners are unhappy with their
neighbors overhanging branches, then they want them to trim them.
Whatever's crossed your property line, you're allowed to trim, and
as long as you don't do harm to the tree
(30:08):
in the process.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Robert, I'm gonna stick this in because I was just
thinking about it. You know, every time I've been to
your office in Pompino, there's always two or three ladies
at the front desk, And I'm bringing this up because
customer service, I know is so important to your firm,
(30:35):
and I get letter I'm sorry. I get letters from people,
people saying to us, you know they the firm that
was representing them, you would they would call them up
and it would take weeks weeks to get calls back.
And I just I want people to know out there
(30:58):
because this is an area that's so important to us
customer service.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Absolutely, when we get calls from our clients, they're not
calling because they just want to chat or they're checking
in to how we're doing. They're kind because they have
of what they believe to be a problem that needs
a fairly immediate resolution. Oftentimes, we're having a board meeting
(31:25):
tomorrow morning, and we need to know what the situation
is with whatever we're calling about, and we got to
get that to them that same day, and we do that.
That's what we recognize we're in the service industry that
owners need to be served.
Speaker 6 (31:43):
Board members anyway, Well, I know with you being the
senior partner, I know how important that is to you
and how important customer services.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
And I hear about the complaints out there.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
So in the philosophy of the firm since day one,
and that's that's how.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
We grew Edwin and boker ratone hoa. Is it true
a board can only enforce the newly mended covenant on
the homeowners had voted for ed or purchased their house
after the covenant was enacted.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
This refers to provisions and a lot of started in
condominiums and then was adopted for hoa's But it's not
all covenant amendments that they're talking about. It's only rental restrictions.
And so the legislation was adopted in condominiums sometime around
(32:47):
two thousand and six, and it provided that any amendments
that affect rental rights in a nutshell limiting or if
you're making more expansive, that's different. Like you say, if
your documents say you can only lead for six months
(33:08):
and you change it to twelve months, that provision is
not going to apply. But if you sit if you're
changing it from twelve months to six months, restricting the
rental ability, then it's only going to apply to those
who vote in favor of it or those who purchased
the unit after the amendment's been adopted. That was added
to the HOA Statutes a couple of years ago. I
(33:29):
think it was in twenty four. And the issue for
hoas is a little more complicated, probably the same issue
in condominiums, but it was never really raised that way.
The concept what's called Kaufman language is a provision in
(33:51):
the law that the constitution says that the state cannot
adopt the law that will impair an existing contract. That's
both the state constitution in the US Constitution. The declaration
of covenants is a contract and it has vested rights
of the owners and the association and certain changes that
(34:14):
they make in the law. If they don't have certain
language in the declaration that incorporates future changes in the
law under a strict legal interpretation, then new changes would
not apply. So this is one of those things. The
ability to lease and to mend your documents relative to
(34:35):
leasing is a substantive, vested right. That's the legal terminology.
It's substantive as opposed to procedural. Substantive. Changes to the
statute cannot be retroactive. They can't be applied to existing circumstances,
only on future circumstances. So your documents have to contain
(34:56):
language language that incorporates the Joy Statute to Chapter seven
twenty and Florida Statutes. The magic language is as amended
from time to time. Most Joy documents do not have that,
so if the legislation came after your declaration, then the
(35:19):
legal position is that it doesn't apply. So the issue
on the rental change in amendments is one of those.
Another one is on the commercial vehicle freedom that the
statute put in limiting abilities of associations to enforce some
(35:40):
certain types of vehicles. Is another substantive change that would
require what's called the Kaufman language in your declaration for
it to be enforceable in your community, and that has
created a lot of issues around the state.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
Here's a I've never heard of this before as long
as we've been doing the show, Harry in Fort Lauderdale.
She says, is there any legal recourse that can be
taken against a board of directors if their a decision
to cancel? This is why I've never heard this before.
A no change order contract for a fifty year restoration
(36:26):
project ultimately turns out to cost the association more. Well.
Speaker 4 (36:37):
I think we need more facts to give a complete
answer on that one, but in general terms, for a
board member.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
To be as you have no change order, it has
to do.
Speaker 4 (36:51):
With the contracts that's being performed by the contractors. So
I'd need to know more specifically what it's referencing, but
in more general terms, in order to hold a board
member personally liable for anything, you'd have to be able
(37:13):
to prove that they acted in willful disregard of what
they knew to be wrong, or were grossly negligent, which
is along the same lines as that or it did
intentional misconduct, or received an improper personal gain from the
(37:33):
decision that they made of a financial nature. So if
a board member makes a mistake out of negligence, they
whatever this fact situation is on a change no change order,
the board member decides without getting sufficient guidance, or and
(37:55):
it turns out to be wrong, that's not going to
be a personal obligation of that board number. That could
be the association having some culpability for it. But it's
unlikely that an owner can sue themselves in that regard
based on their insurance. So it's a complicated problem. I'd
(38:19):
like to give more of an answer, but I need
more information to do that.
Speaker 3 (38:25):
Okay, I know a law was passed about restricting work
vehicles with writing on it. Is that for condos as well?
Speaker 4 (38:36):
That's what we were just talking about. A couple of
minutes ago. Now that was an HOA change only there
is no vehicle issue in the kind of miniamac relative
to protecting vehicles from enforcement.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
This is a condo Friutian Miami. Are we allowed to
have a line item on our budge for social events?
Must we have a community vote or can the boardgeous
vote on it.
Speaker 4 (39:08):
That's going to depend on what your declaration of condominium
identifies as proper expenses of the association. In order to
have social events in your budget, there has to be
some authorization to spend common funds on social functions. Sometimes
(39:34):
it's containing the powers of the associations for health, safety,
welfare and recreation. There does need to be some express
authority in order to spend money that way.
Speaker 3 (39:55):
Barbara and Dewry Beach. Once she's a condo. Committee meetings
have to be posted and owners are allowed to sit
in via zoom.
Speaker 4 (40:11):
Four kind of midiums. Most committee meetings are of that nature.
When a quorum of the committee needs to conduct the
business of the committee, they are treated the same way
as a board meeting. There has to be the proper
notice out there, and there has to be the opportunity
for owners to attend and participate. Whether or not at
(40:34):
ZOOM depends on whether or not they're doing their meetings
at LAY and ZOOM is not mandatory. That's an option.
The committee can do it just in person if it
chooses to do that.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
Stephen fort Lauderdale, can this is a condo? Can a
seven eighteen condo association change their budget midyear without notice
the owners and a board vote.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
The answer to that is no. The board can change
their budget mid year, but they cannot do it without
the same notice they are required to give when they
adopt the budget in the first place, and they can't
do it without a board vote because it's a board
adopted budget. That's express power of the board is to
(41:30):
adopt the budget, and the board would have to then
change the budget. So hopefully that's not happening for Steve.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
Yeah, Christian Boyden. Is it legal to access a owner
before contract repair has approved and signed?
Speaker 4 (41:51):
Access?
Speaker 3 (41:52):
What? I guess, access a unit owner's unit.
Speaker 4 (42:00):
We read that again, because it sounds likely.
Speaker 3 (42:05):
Legal to access a unit owner before a contract repair
is approved and signed.
Speaker 4 (42:16):
I'm not following the question. I guess we need to
go onto the next one.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Yeah, Sophie and Lake Clark Chores. What is my name?
Oh that's another tree one Kathy and both caratone condo.
What if a board calls for a workshop to avoid
committee means they still have to give us notice.
Speaker 4 (42:41):
Well, it depends on what we're talking about as a
workshop and what they're doing. The law requires that when
the board a corner of the board needs to conduct
association business, it's required to post notice and allow owners
to attend and participate.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
It.
Speaker 4 (43:04):
The phrase conducting association business is not defined by the
statu It's not defined by any court decision, but has
been considered through the years to mean taking formal action,
so being presented with the issue or resolution for consideration
(43:26):
and a vote of the board on the issue and
a final decision made. That would fall within the definition
of a board meeting that is required to be posted
and noticed. Factfinding, gathering and informal discussions on topics are
(43:48):
things that don't qualify as a board meeting that requires
the posting and owner attendance and participation, And the same
would be true if the workshop consists of less than
a quorum of the board. So it really depends on
what they're doing as to whether or not they're required
(44:12):
to open it up and allow owners to be there
and participate. In many instances, workshops do include a majority
of the board or on the board, and they're talking
about things and deciding things even though they're calling in
a workshop. So they do tend to post notice and
(44:33):
allow owners to attend. But it's not a good idea
to try and circumvent the statutory requirements because that tends
to get them in trouble.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
Nancy and book ratone wants to know if a quorum
of directors is meeting with the contractor and engineer to
discuss work progress, is it required that this meeting the
posted and owner participation be allowed.
Speaker 4 (45:05):
See, that's an instance that they're not conducting association business,
And in all likelihood they're not acting in their capacity
as the board, but more likely in their capacity as
the officers of the association. In dealing with the day
to day aspects of the operation, decisions aren't being made
(45:26):
per se as they would in a board meeting. There
it's more of a day to day function issue. If
decisions are made outside the scope of a meeting because
of circumstances that come up during the handling of the project,
(45:49):
those should be addressed at the next opportunity at a
properly posted meeting as an agenda item and gratified.
Speaker 3 (46:01):
Kurt and Boca Ratone. I guess he is a condo president.
He says, we have one hundred and twenty residents. Should
they be invited to meet and tour with any contractors
working on our building?
Speaker 4 (46:18):
Well, I think that's along the same lines of an
open meeting. If board members are walking the property with
contractors to either show them so they can prepare specifications
and quotes for work, that's not a meeting of the
(46:38):
board that requires posting an owner of participation. So the
answer to that is, in all likelihood no.
Speaker 3 (46:47):
You know, it's amazing. When we first started doing the show,
we used to get so many letters about support animals, and.
Speaker 4 (46:58):
Yes, we rarely well, I've it's been around for a one time,
so most of the questions are springs.
Speaker 3 (47:07):
He says. We have a no pet policy in our docs.
We accept service animals and emotional support animals. Some people
have not filed any paperwork. We know we can find them,
but what recourses there?
Speaker 4 (47:24):
Well, when you're dealing with emotional support animals in a
residential setting, you have to be very careful in what
you do, because it's very easy for somebody to claim discrimination,
and the governmental agencies that review these things tend to
(47:46):
view these more favorably from the complainer's perspective than the associations.
So you want to make sure that you're protect acting
yourselves and the association by following a very strict procedure.
(48:08):
So the first thing that you need from a requesting
owner is information to support their claim of the need
for this emotional support animal. The law provides for a
qualified medical professional to provide some form of authorization and
(48:29):
written form that identifies the need without necessarily getting into
what the physical issue is or emotional issue is with
the owner and what the specific the animal does to
alleviate that problem, and it has to be of a
major life function, and you're entitled to request and receive
(48:53):
that information before they're able to pro properly bring the
animal into the community. We have a package that we
create for our clients that contain application forms and information
to share with the requesting owners and have them submit
it back to the board for them to evaluate and approve.
(49:17):
It's dangerous to simply say no to a request or
without getting sufficient information, so you want to that's going
to be your primary pursuit, and you should involve your
association attorney as early as possible. Do get a package
that you can use for requests, and if there's anyone
(49:41):
who's not following it, do be sure to get legal
advice as to the best method of addressing that on
a case by case basis.
Speaker 3 (49:55):
Well, you know, Robert, that's going to actually do it
for us today. I just want to people also thank you.
A lot of people go back to listen to your shows.
I see how the numbers go up a couple of
days after your show, and we just we appreciate our listeners,
our viewers and Robert you know, congratulations, you are our
(50:20):
top show. It's a pretty big deal with all the
people that we.
Speaker 4 (50:25):
Honored at the distinction. I'm very much appreciated.
Speaker 3 (50:31):
We love you. Tell people how they can reach your
office again.
Speaker 4 (50:35):
You can call us at eight hundred and ninety seven
four zero six eight zero. You can write to us
at info at KBR legal dot com. You can go
to our website KBR legal dot com and fill out
a contact information box on the main page and you
will hear from us relatively quickly.
Speaker 3 (50:55):
Robert's with us every month for Thursday of the month.
Robert have a wonderful we can take care. That's at
Bernie Robert Kay. He's a senior partner at k bender Rimbaum,
their community association law firm. That's going to do it
for us today. Thank you our great producer one, and
(51:19):
we will see you all next week with more experts.
Speaker 2 (51:24):
Thanks for tuning in today to the Ask the Experts
show on W four c Y Radio and Talk for TV.
Tune in next week and every week to hear more
from our experts on personal injury, insurance, air condition repairs,
estate planning, Medicare, and many other topics in the areas
of legal, health, financial and home improvement. See you next week.
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