SUPPOSE THE WALL
ISN’T ENOUGH?
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published February 6, 2017
So last week we made it
clear that you Board can install a wall or fence around the
community without a vote of the owners, even though it is a
material alteration that usually requires a 75% vote of the unit
owners. This is true, so long as the Board can establish that
they are doing so in order to prevent a pattern of crime in the
community.
Suppose the Board wants to
go even further and now install security cameras that watch your
every move while on the common areas? Can the Board do so
without a vote of the owners?
Installation of security
cameras on the common elements is a material alteration. Hickey
v. The Georgian Condo. Ass'n, Inc., Arb. Case No. 97-0201,
Summary Final Order (July 23, 1997); Terry v. Intercoastal Point
Condo. Ass'n, Inc., Arb. Case No. 2008-06-3347, Final Order on
Default (January 12, 2009). Therefore, unless the Association
establishes an exception to the required owner approval for a
material alteration, the Association violates the Declaration by
not obtaining owner approval for the installation of the
security cameras.
So, while a vote is not
required for the installation of a fence or wall, a vote of the
owners is required for the installation of security cameras.
Interestingly enough, over the years there are many cases where
the association is the one suing the owner for installation of a
security camera on the common elements near their unit. Each
time, the arbitrator has ruled that this is a material
alteration requiring a unit owner vote. An exception to this was
when an owner installed small cameras on their balcony that did
not physically modify the building nor did the cameras palpably
or perceptively vary or change the form, shape, elements or
specifications of the building. Therefore, the cameras were held
not to constitute a material alteration or addition.
Let’s say that approval is obtained from the
community to install a security camera and a unit owner wants a
copy of a surveillance recording from the association. Is that
recording an “official record” of the association that the unit
owner is entitled to obtain? Up until last year, the answer may
have been yes, but not any longer as the access to records
statute was amended to clearly state that only “written” records
can be official records of the association.
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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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