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I’M NOTICING AN UNUSUAL TREND
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published May 4, 2020
Most weeks we blog about particular statutes, laws, cases or
regulations. This week we’re going to blog about something that
may be more important than all of those things. Our behavior.
Our interaction with each other. How we treat each other.
I think this blog is going for about a decade now. You can just
imagine how many negative comments were left by readers about
board members, and how many board members left negative comments
about jerks that live in their community. I’m sure it would
fill volumes.
So we have been under a lockdown now for nearly two months. Many
of us, including yours truly, are going a little stir crazy. We
are all a little emotionally screwed up right now.
So, you would think that may translate into me receiving more
e-mails or telephone calls to the Condo Craze radio show about
nasty board members or big mouth unit owners, out of control
rules and regulations, unit owners who won’t comply with social
distancing. But here’s the thing…….. it didn’t happen. In
fact, the reverse happened. During this Coronavirus crisis the
fighting, bickering, wining, complaining and usual belly aching
from both sides actually went down.
Sometimes and unfortunately, it takes a crisis to put things in
perspective. When we are trapped in our homes, a thousand
Floridians have died, millions are laid off and there are food
lines that stretch for miles, suddenly the fact that you’re not
thrilled with the carpet in the lobby isn’t that important or
that the maintenance man hasn’t gotten around to painting the
speed bumps in the community.
Boards who are normally aggressive in collecting association
assessments, are suddenly realizing that it does no good to lien
and foreclose on their neighbor’s home if they temporarily lost
their job and can’t even collect an unemployment check because
the system is months behind. Instead, as suggested by a prior
blog, there is compassion, there is common sense.
On the flip side, Boards have been forced to make tough
decisions. Do they stop guests, prevent new renters, keep out
repairmen? Difficult questions at a difficult time. But unit
owners far and wide stood by the decisions of their Board
members and deep down were happy it wasn’t them being forced to
make these extraordinary decisions.
I remember after 9-11, how the entire country was so patriotic.
I’m sure you didn’t forget all of the cars with flags hanging
out the windows. Another example of coming together after a
tragedy. But the flags and the comradery didn’t last long. I’m
hoping for a better result in our Florida community
associations. So far, we are off to a great start.
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About
HOA & Condo Blog
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Eric Glazer graduated from
the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 after
receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has practiced community
association law for more than 2
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decades and is the owner of Glazer
and Sachs, P.A. a seven attorney law firm with offices in
Fort Lauderdale and Orlando and satellite offices in Naples,
Fort Myers and Tampa.
Since 2009, Eric has been the host
of Condo Craze and HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show that airs
at noon each Sunday on 850 WFTL.
See:
www.condocrazeandhoas.com.
He is the first attorney in the
State of Florida that designed a course that certifies
condominium residents as eligible to serve on a condominium
Board of Directors and has now certified more than 10,000
Floridians all across the state. He is certified as a Circuit
Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has mediated
dozens of disputes between associations and unit owners. Eric
also devotes significant time to advancing legislation in the
best interest of Florida community association members.
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