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WHAT IS “UNLICENSED PRACTICE OF LAW” IN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
October 21, 2016
I thought that the Florida Supreme Court made it very clear in
its “ADVISORY
OPINION -- ACTIVITIES OF COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MANAGERS”
dated May 14, 2015
how CAMs are limited
in providing “legal advice” to members of the community
they are working for.
The real problem we see daily in our community associations:
CAMS either haven’t read the Advisory Opinion of the Florida
Supreme Court or just chose to ignore it.
I get nearly daily
e-mails from owners forwarding me e-mails from CAMs that clearly
contain a “legal opinion” – contrary to the advisory opinion of
the Florida Supreme Court.
I think we have here
the exact same problem that we encounter daily when dealing with
the Florida Statutes regulating community associations: Nobody
cares, because there is really nobody to enforce these laws. And
very seldom anything happens to the violators of these laws and
rules, besides -- maybe -- a light slap on the wrist.
I always wonder why
our government officials – including the Florida Supreme Court –
create statutes and rules, only to see these rules being ignored
by the same folks these rules are created to regulate?
But the real issue
starts if board members follows this “legal advice” they
are getting from their CAM, only to get sued by an unhappy owner
who happens to know the laws and rules.
Then comes the
question: Who is paying for the damages caused by this “legal
advice” that actually falls under the category of “Unlicensed
Practice of Law”?
Normally the owners
who are unlucky enough to be owning property in this community.
And that is definitely wrong!
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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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