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COMMUNITY
ASSOCIATIONS --- IT’S TIME TO REPORT!
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published
February 17, 2014
In
the world of community associations, this is a pretty important
time of year. In
most associations, the fiscal year ends on December 31st.
The condo, HOA and co-op statutes provide:
Within 90 days after
the end of the fiscal year, or annually on a date provided in
the bylaws, the association shall prepare and complete, or
contract for the preparation and completion of, a financial
report for the preceding fiscal year. Within 21 days after the
final financial report is completed but not later than 120 days
after the end of the fiscal year or date as provided in the
bylaws, the association shall mail to each unit owner or hand
deliver to each unit owner, a copy of the financial report or a
notice that a copy of the financial report will be mailed or
hand delivered to the unit owner, without charge, upon receipt
of a written request from the unit owner.
In
sum, by the end of April, your association better have completed its
year end financial report so that
the owners know how their money was spent.
I can tell you that the Department of
Business and Professional Regulation takes this requirement very
seriously and associations
who
fail to have the reports ready can be subject to thousands of
dollars in fines.
The question is….what type of financial report must your
association prepare, and the answer depends on the size of the
association’s budget. Associations
with budgets between $150,000.00 and $300,000.00 must hire a CPA to
perform a compilation. Associations
with budgets between $300,000.00 and $500,000.00 must hire a CPA to
prepare a review. Finally,
associations with budgets of $500,000.00 or more must hire a CPA to
prepare an audit.
By the way…..many of you reading this blog are getting ready
or have already done your 2013 taxes.
Guess what? Your
association needs to do the same.
Many boards of directors are surprised to learn that your
association is required to file a federal tax return even though you
are a not for profit corporation.
Are your associations complying with these laws?
Are year end financial reports being prepared?
Are the owners being made aware that these reports are
available to them? How
many of you even bother to take a look at them at all?
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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 is currently entering his 20th year as a
Florida
lawyer practicing |
community association law and is the owner of
Glazer and Associates, P.A. an eight attorney law firm in
Orlando
and Hollywood. For the past two years Eric has been the host of Condo Craze and
HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show 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 7,000 Floridians. He is certified as a
Circuit Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has
mediated dozens of disputes between associations and unit
owners. Finally, he recently argued the Cohn v. Grand
Condominium case before The Florida Supreme Court, which is
perhaps the single most important association law case decided
by the court in a decade.
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