When the original bill was filed that required condominiums to
have a website, the statute was only going to apply with
condominiums of 500 units or more. In effect, the statute would
have applied to less than one percent of all condominiums in the
state. I met with the legislator who drafted the bill and
suggested that the bill be revised to apply to all condominiums
with 50 units or more. The compromise was 150 units.
As we know, The Florida Legislature does not like to regulate
HOAs, so for whatever reason, HOAs with 150 homes or more are
not required to have a website. Instead, if a homeowner wants
access to records, they must make the request by certified mail,
return receipt requested. If the association ignores them, the
unit owner has to ask for pre-suit mediation. If that fails,
the unit owner has to file a lawsuit. All because they wanted
copies of some of the official records. It’s ridiculous.
Why not make your community more transparent and accessible
now? Who cares if you’re an HOA and you’re not required by law
to have a website? Set one up anyway, regardless of the number
of homes you have. Are homeowners in a 50 home community less
entitled to see the records than an owner in a 150 home
community? Of course not.
If you’re in a condominium of less than 150 units, I understand
that the law does not require your condominium association to
have a website containing the official records. So what?
Create one anyway. I can tell you that over the past two years,
as least as far as the larger condominiums go, there has been
less arguments between owners and the board when it comes to
being able to access the official records, simply because the
association is required to have these official records on an
association website.
I will also warn condominium associations that the DBPR is not
fooling around when making sure that condominium associations
with 150 units or more comply with the law. They will
investigate any complaint received from an owner who claims
their association is not complying with the law. They want
those records posted on-line. The association’s failure to do
so can and will result in a fine for several thousand dollars.
Placing the records on-line frees up the manager’s valuable time
because now they are less likely to have to respond to unit
owner requests for access to records. I’m looking forward to
see how Rafael feels about the law. Have you had success in
your community with the association’s website? If your
community doesn’t have one, would you want one?
