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IT’S
BACK TO SCHOOL TIME
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published August 25, 2014
It’s
the end of the summer. I
watched my kids suck it up this week, pack their school bags and
head off to school to return for another year of learning.
Millions of kids across our state did the exact same
thing. And if they
can do it five days a week for the next ten months, each of you
can do it for a one shot deal of three hours.
I’m talking of course about Condo and HOA Board
Certification.
There’s
a lot that goes into my job as a lawyer in this area of the law.
Working on the current cases I have, keeping abreast of
the changes in the law, advocating for legislative reform, doing
the Condo Craze Radio Show each week and writing this blog each
weeks as well. Without
a doubt however, my favorite part of what I do is teaching and
meeting all of you at our state-wide seminars.
As
you all know by now, condo and HOA directors must get certified
within one year prior to getting elected or appointed to the
board or within 90 days of actually getting elected or appointed
to the Board. They
can do so in one of two ways.
The first way is the chicken’s way out and quite
frankly is an embarrassing loophole in the law.
The law actually allows you to sign an affidavit which
basically states that you have read your association’s
governing documents and that:
“he or she
will work to uphold such documents and policies to the best of
his or her ability; and that he or she will faithfully discharge
his or her fiduciary responsibility to the association’s
members.”
Honestly, this is
ridiculous. Many of
you have illegal provisions in your governing documents.
Your affidavit apparently requires you to promise to
uphold these provisions even if they are illegal and
unenforceable. Worse
yet, the affidavit does not even require you to read or even
acknowledge Florida Statute 718 (the condo statute) or Florida
Statute 720 (the HOA statute).
Thank
heavens that the law provides that you can also get certified by
taking a DBPR approved course.
I fought hard two years ago to ensure that HOA members
had the ability to get certified by attending these classes and
am very proud of helping to pass legislation which did just
that. I am also
proud to say that I have taught the course to over 8,000 of you
all across the state. At
each class, not only do the attendees learn something, but I do
as well. So do the
attorneys in my firm. Your
questions always help raise awareness to so many issues and
often times you provide practical answers to what may seem like
complicated issues. The
bottom line is that we all learn from each other.
Whether
the issue is budgets, reserves, insurance, year-end financial
reporting, your fiduciary responsibilities as board members, the
election process, foreclosures, suspension of rights, access to
records, arbitration, mediation or even if the new laws that get
passed each year apply in your association (the answer may
surprise you), we really try to cover it all and a lot more.
Our
course not only certifies directors, but also provides three
continuing education credits for community association managers.
(2HR and 1OPP). It’s
great to see so many Board members take the course together with
their manager. We
always serve food and drink, we often assemble a panel of
experts, the setting is always first class, and best of
all….it’s completely free.
You even leave with a summary of everything we just
taught.
Our
first class is quickly approaching and it will be part of our
“Condo Craze Day of Education.”
It’s
on Saturday September 20th.
It will be here in
Broward
County
at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
There’s a lot in store.
The festivities get under way with check in and breakfast
at 8:00 a.m. You can
get to meet all of the radio show’s sponsors and eat some
breakfast. At 9:00
--- our Board Certification Course will start --- and of course
we will also be including a discussion of all of the new laws
for 2014. After our
seminar our guests can choose to also attend two of the
following classes: …
all for free:
WATCH YOUR WALLET – TAUGHT BY ASSOCIA MANAGEMENT
ROOFING 201 – TAUGHT BY BEST ROOFING
THE ELECTION AND RECALL PROCESS – TAUGHT BY AFFINITY MANAGEMENT
BUDGETS AND RESERVES - TAUGHT BY GERSTLE ROSEN AND GOLDENBERG, CPAs.
ENERGY SAVINGS 101 – TAUGHT BY ELCON ELECTRIC
ASPHALT 101 – TAUGHT BY DRIVEWAY MAINTENANCE
HOARDING 101 – TAUGHT BY SERVICEMASTER
SAVING CAPITAL (ALL ABOUT RESERVE STUDIES AND MORE) --- BY CUSTOM RESERVES
THE COMPLAINT PROCESS – TAUGHT BY THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION
We will also be teaching our Board Certification Seminar all over the state:
October 2nd, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. at the L & L Condo and HOA Expo in Miami;
October 15th, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. at the L & L Condo and HOA Expo in West Palm Beach;
October 22nd, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. the L & L Condo and HOA Expo in Tampa;
November 12th, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. at the PM Expo event in St. Petersburg.
December 11th, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. at the So. Fla Cooperator Expo in Ft. Lauderdale.
AND WE HAVE LOTS MORE IN STORE FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2015 --- ALL AROUND THE STATE. JUST KEEP CHECKING OUR WEBSITE.
In order to register, you can visit the show’s website at
www.condocrazeandhoas.com. Or……just download our new Condo Craze App on your I-Phone or Android device– and just click on the “Register for Our Seminars” Tab. Once registered, you will get an e-mail confirmation.
I really look forward to another year of meeting all of you. It is a true honor and privilege.
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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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