|
HERE ARE THE NEW LAWS EFFECTIVE JULY 1ST
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published May 17, 2021
So The Florida Legislature has ended their session and I’m sure
everyone wants to know what association laws passed this year.
So here we go…..
Subrogation
New law: If a condominium association’s insurance policy does
not provide rights for subrogation against the unit owners in
the association, an insurance policy issued to an individual
unit owner in the association may not provide rights of
subrogation against the condominium association. SO WHAT
DOES THAT MEAN IN ENGLISH?
Let’s say you damage someone’s property and their insurance
company pays them the damages you caused. The insurance company
would now be able to sue you to get back the money they paid
their insured. That’s called subrogation. But they can only do
that if the insurance policy covering the unit owner says they
can do it. So now, let’s say the condo’s insurance policy does
not let them exercise subrogation against a unit owner who
causes damages. The new law now says that the owners in that
condominium will not be allowed to purchase a policy that allows
their insurance policy to subrogate against the association
should the association be negligent and cause damage to a unit
owner’s property. It levels the playing field on subrogation.
Time On The Board
New Law:
You know that law in a condo that says once you served eight
years on a board it’s harder for you to get elected – because
you need 2/3 of the votes or there are not enough candidates?
Well……we don’t have to worry about that law any longer until
2026 because the legislature says we start counting the first
year of service in 2018. Evn though the law was passed to
immediately PREVENT THE SAME PEOPLE FROM BEING ON THE BOARD
YEAR AFTER YEAR, suddenly we start counting the first year
in 2018.
Transfer Fees
New Law:
The transfer fee amount --- meaning the amount an association
can charge a new rental applicant or buyer went up from $100.00
to $150.00 and Such fees must be adjusted every 5 years
according to the Consumer Price Index. No doubt this is a good
change. SOME ASSOCIATIONS LOSE MONEY DOING THE BACKGROUND
CHECK.
Natural Gas Vehicles
New Law:
Here’s one that I don’t understand the need for --- but ---
remember my office drafted a statute a few years ago that allows
you to put in an electric vehicle charging station in your
limited common element parking spot if you buy an electric
car? Well --- now you can put in a natural gas charging
station too. And the Board can put a charging station on the
common elements. I have no idea why this law was so important
to pass right now as I don’t know of a single automobile in
Florida that runs on natural gas.
Arbitration and Mediation
New Law:
Here is a big change in the law. As you know most condo
disputes have to start out in arbitration. unfortunately,
while the intentions of the arbitration program were originally
good, the process had flaws which actually made the program more
costly than going to court. That is why I always thought the
condo statute should be amended to mirror the HOA statute and
require disputes to start off in mediation, rather than
arbitration. Well, the next best thing happened. From now on,
the Plaintiff in a condo case will have the option of filing the
case in arbitration --- or taking the case to pre-suit
mediation. That is something I thought was long overdue and I
am glad to see that pass.
These bills
have been signed and are sitting on the Governor’s desk waiting
for signature. It is always possible that a bill can be vetoed,
but it appears very unlikely.
So……….what
do you think about these new laws?
|
|
About
HOA & Condo Blog
 |
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
|
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 11:00 a.m. 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.
|
