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ARE YOUR ASSESSMENTS LOW? THEN YOU’RE LIVING A
LIE
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published July 26, 2021
How many times have you heard someone bragging about how cheap
their monthly expenses are at their condo? How many times have
you heard comments like “We have a great board – the assessments
are so cheap.”
It turns out that those boards were not doing you a favor by
keeping your assessments low. They were hurting you. Sooner or
later, everyone who lives in a condo is going to have to pony up
a lot of money to fix the condo, if reserve accounts were no
being funded.
Roofs are expensive to replace. Painting and concrete
restoration are expensive. In Champlain Towers, the unit owners
were getting hit with special assessments totaling nearly
$100,000.00 per unit. How many owners can come up with that
much money in a lump sum?
Our buildings and structures are aging. These types of repairs
aren’t just necessary in buildings on the water. Eventually,
every building needs these repairs. Your building will not
escape this.
So, knowing the inevitable, the question is: how do you prepare
for the inevitable? And the answer is simple, you prepare for
the inevitable by:
MANDATORY RESERVES
1.
Having a reserve study done by a licensed architect or engineer
once every five years, not Harry the guy who drove a cab in NYC
for 35 years. Let an expert tell you how long the roof has, the
paint, the balconies, the parking areas, the electrical, the
plumbing, the elevators and HVAC systems. Let the expert
determine a cost of replacement for each and then plug those
numbers into the association’s budget and force the owners to
pay each month into the condominium’s reserve account. The
ability of unit owners to completely waive contributions to a
reserve account is absurd, It has to stop or many people will
be foreclosed upon when large special assessments become a
reality.
MORE BUILDING INSPECTIONS
2.
It is insane that a building can be built and then never
inspected by a building official for another 40 years. And the
40 year recertification process only applies in Dade and Broward
counties. Building officials need to not only worry about the
unit owner who is installing kitchen cabinets or doing minor
electrical work without a permit, but they also must at least
do some visual inspection of the condominiums within their
jurisdiction, looking for concrete spalling and/or cracks in
support columns or in the foundation. If found, the association
must immediately be put on notice to repair same.
MANDATORY EDUCATION
3.
As you all know, Board members are required to get certified
within 90 days of being placed on the board. The problem is
that The Division of Condominiums still lets directors get
certified by simply signing that stupid self-serving document
you get off the internet that says you read your governing
documents and promise to enforce them. Many documents have
illegal provisions and yet you are promising to enforce the
illegal provisions contained in those documents as a condition
of certification.
Condominium education in order to be certified must be
mandatory. As you know, this is something that is near and dear
to my heart; having certified approximately 21,000 board
members. I have taught them what reserves are, how they need to
be calculated, the danger of waiving reserves and the difference
between straight line and pooled reserves. Everyone benefits
and is safer when board members are certified through an
education requirement. You would be surprised at how many
boards have no idea that reserves must be calculated and placed
in the budget every single year.
I can tell you that all of the above measures are being
discussed by The Florida Bar and recommendations on each will be
made to The Florida Legislature in the upcoming session.
Changes will definitely be made and it’s vital that everyone
stay tuned.
What other suggestions do you have in order to prevent future
tragedies like the Champlain Towers in Surfside?
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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 three decades and is the owner of
Glazer and Sachs, P.A. a five attorney law firm with
offices in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
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Eric is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in
Condominium and Planned Development Law.
Since 2009, Eric has been the host of Condo Craze
and HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show that airs at 11:00 a.m.
each Sunday on 850 WFTL.
See:
www.condocrazeandhoas.com.
Eric is the first attorney in the State of
Florida that designed a course that certifies condominium and
HOA residents as eligible to serve on a Board of Directors and
has now certified more than 20,000 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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