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TERM-LIMITS FOR CONDO BOARD
MEMBERS?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published October 9, 2020
When HB 841 [FS
718.112(2)(d)2.] was enacted in 2018, we saw, for the first
time, that legislators actually enacted term limits for
condominium board members here in Florida.
This was the actual
wording of the bill regarding this topic: “A
board member may not serve more than 8 consecutive years unless
approved by an affirmative vote of unit owners representing
two-thirds of all votes cast in the election or unless there are
not enough eligible candidates to fill the vacancies on the
board at the time of the vacancy.”
From the discussions at the committee meetings hearing this bill
it was pretty obvious that the legislators intended to make this
provision retro-active. But the actual wording failed to make it
clear.
And as soon as the bill was enacted the big so-called “association
law firms” challenged the wording claiming that the
provision couldn’t be enforced retro-actively.
The reason: These firms were afraid that the provision would
remove many of the long-term board member “friends” from office
and that they would no longer be able to serve on their boards,
meaning they could no longer sign their checks.
And as we all know only too well, new boards often change law
firms – see recalls. More than 90% of new boards change the law
firm and the management company as soon as they take over after
a successful recall.
And the law firms succeeded -- to the dismay of many condo
owners. Now the actual date when this provision first becomes
effective is 2026. WHAT A SHAME!
Because of the
apathy of many condo-owners it is often very difficult to change
boards, even if they are useless and create dictatorial rules. A
wide majority of condo-owners only start participating in condo
business after they received a demand for payment of a special
assessment in the amount of thousands of dollars. But then it’s
normally too late to make any changes.
Condo owners have to
realize that being a condo owner in Florida doesn’t mean “EASY
LIVING” as advertised, but that bad board decisions can
ruin their private finances real fast.
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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