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WOW – THINGS HAVE CERTAINLY CHANGED
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published May 11, 2020
I was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1992. In nearly 30 years,
it’s amazing how technology has and continues to change both my
job as an attorney and yours, as officers and directors.
On Thursday, I was a mediator, mediating a dispute between
owners and their association. What usually takes place in
several conference rooms, took place over the computer with
on-line video. All the attorneys and the parties saw and spoke
with each other. It worked perfectly.
In 1992, when a new Board was elected, the forms for the
Secretary of State needed to be mailed in. Now it’s done
instantly by computer.
Of course the election itself can now be done electronically, if
the Board wants it that way.
Records requests had to be done in person – today many
communities have websites that contain all of the association’s
official records.
Copies of the records were always made by the association at
about 25 cents per page. Today, you can take pictures for free
with your digital camera, cell phone or portable scanner.
If a Board member couldn’t attend a meeting – they simply missed
out. Now they can appear through video or audio technology.
To be official, a proxy had to be hand delivered or mailed.
Today, a proxy can be faxed, e-mailed, sent by text. No
problem.
Meetings between the association and their counsel were always
face to face. Not any more. Video conferencing has become the
norm within the past two months.
I love teaching and certifying directors at crowded seminar
locations. Over the past two months however, I have certified
close to 1,000 people over the computer.
Paying your assessments were done by dropping off or mailing a
check to the office. Today your bank sends it automatically.
I’m probably leaving out numerous other examples of how our
lives in our communities have changed as a result of
technology. At first glance, all of these changes sound and
seem wonderful. They have certainly made our lives easier to
some degree. So why am I not head over heels about them? I
think the answer is because we have far less personal
interaction with each other than we used to. We’re home
communicating by pressing buttons instead of speaking with each
other face to face; finding out how our neighbors are doing, how
their kids are doing, getting to know each other.
Unfortunately, I don’t see technology slowing down and now we
don’t even accidentally bunk into each leaving the house to go
to work because we are working at home.
Are you happy with how technology has changed our lives? Are we
slaves to our computers and phones? Do you miss the interaction
we at least used to have with each other? I certainly do and
hate the fact that in person interaction and communication is
far less common than it used to be. I still think it’s
necessary.
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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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