SO WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN 2024?

By Eric Glazer, Esq.

Published December 4, 2023

 

I just finished watching the meeting before The Regulated Industries Committee in The Florida Senate.  The topic, Florida condominiums and The DBPR.

 

I must say I found the meeting very interesting.

 

The testimony of the former Florida Condominium Ombudsman, Spencer Henning, was truly compelling.  He spoke of how corrupt boards who want to remain in power literally never have to agree to turn over power, even if they lose an election and even if they are recalled.  If you don’t like what they’re doing, you can sue them.  That is if you have $200,000.00 of your own money you’re willing to spend on attorneys. He spoke of how, even if you sue them in court, they drag it out long enough so that the new election comes around, making your case moot and subject to dismissal.

 

Worst of all, he spoke of how powerless his position was.  People heard the term Florida Condominium Ombudsman” and they assumed he had powers of the almighty to correct wrongs in their community;  especially when clear cases of theft or other wrongdoing was going on.  They were wrong.

 

After Spencer came a prosecutor with The Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office.  He worked on The Hammocks case and told everyone how he had to fight long and hard for years to get access to records and that if he couldn’t get access to records, what chance does a regular unit owner have?

 

The topic of Arbitration came up.  Of course they spoke about what we already knew.  Arbitrators can enter orders that nobody has to listen to because their orders are appealable to the circuit court for a trial de novo.

 

Here’s the scary part………….we now have to budget for mandatory reserves and are passing special assessments in the tens of millions of dollars.  The bad guys will soon have their hands on a lot of money.

 

So, The Florida Legislature now knows that these are the problems that are currently plaguing condominiums.  You’re The Florida Legislature.  What law would you create?

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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 that airs at 11:00 a.m. each Sunday on 850 WFTL.

   

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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