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STARTING THE YEAR OFF
RIGHT
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published January 9, 2017
The holidays are now in
the rear view mirror. It doesn’t have to be doom and gloom
however in your association. Resolve this year to start off on
the right foot, get rid of the clutter, get a grip on your
finances, and make sure you don’t get locked into bad deals for
yet another year. Here are some hints:
Getting out of bad
deals: Some associations reading our blog today are still
under developer control or recently were turned over to
majority unit owner control. Upon turnover, you may find
that the developer signed some bad deals on behalf of the
association with various companies or vendors. The Florida
Condominium Act would allow the association to get out of
many of these bad contracts with a 75% unit owner vote. So,
you’re not necessarily locked into a bad deal the developer
made at your expense.
Even if the developer
didn’t sign a bad contract binding the association, it’s
quite possible the Board did. Check all of your contracts to
find out when they expire. Many have automatic renewal
clauses that lock the association into long term agreements
if the association does not timely reject the automatic
renewal. If you want out……make sure you provide the vendor
with the appropriate time as required by the contract.
I’ve been
to many of your offices. They are a mess. Yes……I’m talking
to you. You have records in the office from the 1960s and
70s. You don’t need them any longer. There’s no reason to
hold on to a copy of the bill for the plumber who repaired
the sink in Unit 310 in 1968. Trust me, it’s out of warranty
by now. Generally speaking, if a record is more than 7 years
old, you need not keep a copy of it. In fact, all election
materials can be thrown out after only one year. Neatness
and organization count. If nothing else……it makes the
relevant records easier to find when the owners want copies
of them.
Stop looking at that
dangerous busted sidewalk or broken step, thinking that
somehow this is the year that it will magically repair
itself. It won’t. It’s time to step up to the plate and fix
it once and for all. You should thank your lucky stars that
nobody was hurt yet, because if someone does get hurt and
the plaintiff can prove the board members knew about the
danger and deliberately chose to ignore it, board members
may be sued in their individual capacity.
If your association
has not started a friendly newsletter, think about starting
one. A well informed community is usually a more peaceful
community. Unit owners can even tolerate increases in
assessments, if they feel that they are being kept in the
loop as to why the increases are necessary.
And most
important…………………..be kind to your lawyer.
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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 Associates, 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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