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55
AND OVER COMMUNITIES – A PRIMER
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published 2, 2014
I
remember as a kid when Century Village was being built and Red
Buttons was all over the TV in New York telling everyone why
they need to retire to one of the fine “adult only”
communities that are being built in South Florida.
Dare I say it, but in a couple of more birthdays, I’m
eligible to move in.
So,
what actually is a “55 and over” community?
Generally speaking, state and federal law prohibit an
association from discriminating against families with children.
This simply means that a community cannot say that
children are not allowed to live here.
The exception to the rule is when the community provides
“housing for older persons” and is a 55 and over community.
In
a 55 and over community, the declaration of condominium or
declaration of covenants must specifically state that at least
one person age 55 or older must live in the unit or home.
Moreover, in order to qualify as a 55 and over community,
at least 80% of the units or homes must be occupied by one
person age 55 or older. There
is often times confusion about this 80% number.
In sum, the 80% number is simply a threshold that must be
maintained in order to be classified as a 55 and over community.
It does not mean that if the community already has 95% of
the units being occupied by someone 55 and older, the
association must now allow a unit to be occupied by someone who
is not age 55 or older.
Associations must also register with the Florida Commission on Human Relations by sending a letter to the Commission to register as a facility for older persons. The letter must be on the letterhead of the facility or community, and it must be signed by the president of the facility or community and mailed to the Commission. A fee of $20.00 is required.
Additionally,
ownership of the units are not a concern.
The unit can be owned by anyone and their age is
irrelevant. An 18
year old can own the unit. The
critical issue in a 55
and over community is occupancy, not ownership.
One
serious problem that 55 and over communities face is that they
can lose their exemption to preclude children, if at least once
every two years the association is not taking reliable surveys
to ensure that the units are occupied by at least one person age
55 or older. When
taking these surveys, the association can ask for copies of
birth certificates, driver’s licenses, passports or other
identification from which the age of the occupant can be
determined.
As
we all know, the baby boomer generation has already started
making their way south. I
think that we will continue to see these communities being built
to accommodate the massive influx of expected retirees.
It’s not a place for everyone however, as some people
don’t mind hearing the cry of a baby, kids playing ball in the
street or some kid playing the drums in their apartment.
Although, I’m guessing that my neighbors from Brooklyn
wished many a time that I had never bought that damm set of
drums. Man, what I
must have put them through as a kid.
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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 7,500 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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