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HB 1021 AND SB 1178 – LIABILITY FOR BAD ACTORS?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published February 2, 2024
Senator Jennifer Bradley (SB
1178) – the sponsor of last year’s SB 154 – and
Representative Vicki Lopez (HB
1021) are this year again trying to make serious changes
to FS 718 and FS 719. So far the bill has 114 pages full of good
provisions!
And since the agency in charge of CAM regulation (DBPR – CAM
Licensing) fails to do its job, they added some serious
provisions, including punitive damages for violating the laws.
It has always been very difficult for associations to get
ALL their documents back from the CAM (or Management
Company) in a timely manner after terminating their contract.
In a time where records are normally kept in digital form it
should be easy for the CAM to return the complete records in a
very short period of time.
But we have seen in the past that terminated CAMs are playing
games by not returning the records, just to get back at the
association for terminating the contract.
This “game” can get now, if the bill is enacted as written,
pretty expensive, considering the “punitive” provision in this
bill:
A community association manager or a community association
management firm that fails to timely return community
association records is subject to suspension of its license
under s. 468.436, and a civil penalty of $1,000 per day for up
to 10 days, assessed beginning on the 21st day after termination
of a contractual agreement to provide community association
management services to the community association or receipt of a
written request from the association for return of the records,
whichever occurs first.
But this is a provision in the bill that even allows the CAM or
CAM company 20 business days (that’s more or less a whole month)
to return the records.
468.4334 Professional practice standards; liability.—
(3) A community association manager or a community association
management firm shall return all community association official
records within its possession to the community association
within 20 business days after termination of a contractual
agreement to provide community association management services
to the community association or receipt of a written request for
return of the official records, whichever occurs first.
I think the time should be shortened. What’s the association
going to do without records for a whole month? What about bills
which need to be paid? What to do about any other obligations
which require attention in a timely manner?
There has to be a seamless transition from one CAM(company) to
the next. Would 20 business days guarantee this?
Would the language in the bill actually solve all the problems
with record transition we have seen in the past?
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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