COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS ARE IN THE CROSSHAIRS- PART 1

By Eric Glazer, Esq.

Published February 5, 2024

 

Representative Vicki Lopez,  Senator Jennifer Bradley and Senator Jason Pizzo have filed companion bills  HB1021 and SB1178.  Leave no doubt, these bills take aim at community association managers and community association management companies.

 

I will tell you that in my 32 years of practice, too many times management companies have refused to provide or return copies of an association’s records after they have been terminated by the association.  These new bills address that head on and provide:

468.4334 Professional practice standards; liability.—

(3) A community association manager or a community association management firm shall return all community association official records within its possession to the community association within 20 business days after termination of a contractual agreement to provide community association management services to the community association or receipt of a written request for return of the official records, whichever occurs first. Failure of a community association manager or a community association management firm to timely return all of the official records within its possession to the community association creates a rebuttable presumption that the manager or management firm willfully failed to comply with this subsection. A community association manager or a community association management firm that fails to timely return community association records is subject to suspension of its license under s. 468.436, and a civil penalty of $1,000 per day for up to 10 days, assessed beginning on the 21st day after termination of a contractual agreement to provide community association management services to the community association or receipt of a written request from the association for return of the records,  whichever occurs first.  

I’ll say this…………it’s a law long overdue.  Condominium associations simply cannot function without a return of their records and there is no reason for a management company not to immediately return the records when fired.  Too many times I have seen the records kept by the management company simply because they were peeved that they were terminated.

This is going to be a very interesting legislative session coming up.  Community association managers and management companies have long had their way in Tallahassee.  It seems like there are a few new Sheriff’s in town that are about to change all that.

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About HOA & Condo Blog

Eric Glazer

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.

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 airing at 11 a.m. each Sunday on 850 WFTL. Recently, he moved the show to YouTube, transforming it into a more dynamic and interactive experience. This move not only allows viewers to engage in live chats with Eric and other participants but also enables a broader audience to access free advice, making valuable insights more widely available.

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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