Month: March 2020

Coronavirus: What Condominium Associations Need to Know

With the coronavirus having been declared a pandemic and rapidly spreading throughout the United States, many Florida community associations are confronting unique issues and need to know how to combat the spread of coronavirus and comply with recommendations from health professionals while remaining compliant with governing documents and Florida law. If you serve on your association’s board, you may be asking:

  1. What are the association’s emergency powers?
  2. Can the association reschedule or cancel board and membership meetings or prohibit members from attending meetings in person?
  3. Can the association close the recreational facilities and amenities?
  4. Should the association forgive payment of assessments for owners facing hardship due to the coronavirus or stop its collection efforts?
  5. Should the association stop sending violation let­ters or imposing fines?

The answers to some of these questions will de­pend on the language in your community’s governing documents and you may need to consult with the Association’s counsel regarding your unique legal situation. Notwithstanding, this article is intended to give general guidance and a place to start when looking for answers to coronavirus questions. Continue reading “Coronavirus: What Condominium Associations Need to Know”

Coronavirus: What Homeowners’ Associations Need to Know

With the coronavirus having been declared a pan­demic and rapidly spreading throughout the United States, many Florida community associations are con­fronting unique issues and need to know how to com­bat the spread of coronavirus and comply with recom­mendations from health professionals while remaining compliant with governing documents and Florida law. If you serve on your association’s board, you may be asking:

  1. What are the association’s emergency powers?
  2. Can the association reschedule or cancel board and membership meetings or prohibit members from attending meetings in person?
  3. Can the association close the recreational facilities and amenities?
  4. Should the association forgive payment of assess­ments for owners facing hardship due to the coro­navirus or stop its collection efforts?
  5. Should the association stop sending violation let­ters or imposing fines?

The answers to some of these questions will depend on the language in your community’s governing doc­uments and you may need to consult with the Associ­ation’s counsel regarding your unique legal situation. Notwithstanding, this article is intended to give gener­al guidance and a place to start when looking for an­swers to coronavirus questions. Continue reading “Coronavirus: What Homeowners’ Associations Need to Know”

New Florida Law Bars Community Associations from Prohibiting Law Enforcement Vehicles

Clint Morrell
Clint Morrell

On February 21, 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill 476, which amends Chapters 718, 719, and 720 to bar condominium associations, co-ops, and homeowners associations, respectively, from prohibiting parking of law enforcement vehicles within the community. The statutory language incorporated into Chapters 718 and 719, and substantially similar language in Chapter 720, provides:

An association may not prohibit a law enforcement officer, as defined in s. 943.10(1), who is a unit owner, or who is a tenant, guest, or invitee of a unit owner, from parking his or her assigned law enforcement vehicle in an area where the unit owner, or the tenant, guest, or invitee of the unit owner, otherwise has a right to park. Continue reading “New Florida Law Bars Community Associations from Prohibiting Law Enforcement Vehicles”