It's likely that at some point during your community's lifespan, new construction will occur nearby and the impact on your residents will vary both short and long-term depending on the steps your Board takes early in the process. Sometimes new construction is welcomed enthusiastically by...
If your community is a seasonal one that tends to thin out over the summer months, what rules or policies do you have in place to ensure that your association continues to operate smoothly and transparently over the summer months? The less crowded summer months in...
Whether we call them mistakes, oversights, slip-ups or boo boos, we all make them including volunteer board members who are often hamstrung by both operational and time constraints. The new year provides an optimal opportunity to correct items from 2017 or even earlier. The law allows...
Every year, I attend many of my clients' annual meetings and elections and it is always disappointing when some members' election ballots must be discarded due to avoidable errors. For Florida condominiums and HOAs who have adopted a "condominium style" election process, the election protocol that...
Historians believe that the ancient Babylonians were the first people to make New Year's resolutions approximately 4,000 years ago. During a religious festival known as Akitu which lasted for a lengthy 12 days, the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the...
HOAs certainly have their share of detractors. Many HOAs operate a community of detached, single family homes which begs the question: it's my house; it's my yard; other than the local building code, why should my HOA be able to restrict what I can do...
By July 1, 2018, a Florida condominium association with 150 or more units which does not manage timeshare units must have an independent website or web portal wholly owned and operated by the association or a website or web portal operated by a third-party provider. Creating...
Bullying in any form cannot be condoned either in schools, workplaces or communities. While a newly filed bill by Rep. Emily Slosberg (HB 123) has the laudable goal of protecting Florida's senior citizens from being bullied, just how feasible is it in a community association...
Even in the frenzy of post-Irma repairs, ordinary life continues and for most volunteer boards and professional managers that means screening applicants who wish to lease or purchase in their communities. However, purchase and rental screening has become such a part of the fabric of community...
I had planned another blog post for today about boards' screening ability regarding sales and leases. However, I woke up to the news of yet another mass shooting and loss of life; this time in Las Vegas. I sat down this morning and wrote the...
