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ALL ABOUT E-MAILS
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published March 8, 2021
There
really is a lot to know when it comes to e-mails. Here’s a
brief outline:
Can Directors Communicate and Vote By e-mail?
Members of the board of administration may use e-mail as a means
of communication but may not cast a vote on an association
matter via e-mail.
Example: Friday night is a board meeting. On the agenda is
whether or not to hire Joe’s Landscaping Service. Between now
and Monday the Board members can send e-mails to each other
suggesting whether or not to hire Joe’s. Even if all decide to
hire Joe’s, that vote must still take place Friday night at the
properly noticed Board meeting.
Are these e-mails official records of the association,
accessible to the unit owners?
E-mails on the personal computers of individual directors are
not official records of the condominium association. The property of an individual
director does not become the property of the association because
of his office on the board.
Even if directors communicate among themselves by e-mail strings
or chains, about the operation of the association, the status of
the electronic communication on their personal computer would
not change.
Similarly, an e-mail to
an individual director or to all directors as a group, addressed
only to their personal computers, is not written communication
to the association. This must be so because there is no
obligation for a director to turn on the personal computer with
any regularity, or to open and read e-mails before
deleting them.
The
conclusion may be different if the association owns a computer
on which the management conducts business including e-mails (analogous to
government public records); or if e-mails are
printed up and passed around for discussion at a board meeting.
Does that Mean A Director’s E-mail can Never Be Seen By Anyone?
Just because the e-mail may not be an “official record” of the
association does not mean that nobody can ever get to see it.
Trust me, if the association is involved in litigation, and I
serve a subpoena on a director for their e-mails which may have
relevant information, the court will require production of those
e-mails. So board members be warned, before you hit the SEND
button think about whether or not you would be comfortable with
a judge, jury or opposing counsel reviewing it as well.
Are the E-mail Addresses of the Unit Owner’s an Official Record
obtainable by an Owner?
E-mail addresses are not accessible to the unit owners, unless
the reason why the association is in possession of that e-mail
address is because the unit owner signed a form consenting to
receive notices by e-mail.
Have any additional questions? Send me an e-mail.
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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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