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CAN I GET A REFUND?
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published October 26, 2020
Talk about beating a dead horse. I have been asked over and
over and over again, by unit owners all across the state if:
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They are entitled to a refund at the end of the year or;
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They can currently withhold portions of their monthly
assessment,
because the pool, restaurant, club, spa, gym, card room, library
or any other common facility has been closed during the Coronavirus
pandemic.
The simple answer is NO. And it is driving a lot of people
crazy. As you know, the budget for 2020 was probably passed in
October or November of 2019. The budget included the
anticipated 2020 expenses including insurance that covered the
pool, restaurant, club, spa, gym, card room, library or any
other common facility. The budget covered the maintenance of
the pool that was never discontinued. The budget covered
maintenance of the property, landscaping, director and officer
insurance, management fees, accounting fees, legal fees, fees
payable to the DBRP (if you’re a condo), security, reserve
accounts, repayment of bank loans in some circumstances, office
supplies, major and minor repairs and so on and so on and so on.
NONE OF THESE EXPENSES CEASED DURING THE CORONAVIRUS SHUTDOWN.
For all intents and purposes, the expenses of the association
stayed the same in 2020, and in some cases actually went up,
where the association decided to hire extra cleaning staff
during the crisis to help keep the property spic and span.
So…..for those of you who have threatened to withhold your
assessments. Please don’t. Trust me on this…..instead of owing
$300.00 you will quickly owe $3,000.00 or more. Hopefully, we
are turning the corner, our facilities will soon be opened and
we can all meet again, sit in the theater again, play cards,
exercise and swim together. In the meantime, wishing you and
your families only the best of health.
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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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