Many community associations including HOAs, Condo Associations and Cooperatives all have similar characteristics. However, there exist differences depending on the types of residences under management and the type of financial arrangement made by the owners of the homes. There are four distinct types of association in the state of Florida. Planned Community HOAs Planned communities…
The recent tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida has drawn the nation’s attention to condo associations in this state. Much of this attention centers on the roles, characteristics and responsibilities of condo associations throughout Florida. Florida condo associations are fiduciaries, (usually) non-profit entities, consist of decision-making panels of community representatives and are…
Chapter 760 of the Florida Statutes protects residents of the state who need emotional support animals (ESA) while penalizing providers of fake online certificates that are designed to claim that any animal is an ESA. The statute specifies the type of certification used to verify an ESA, therefore protecting those who have legitimately documented animals…
Many Florida-based planned communities were started with a Homeowners Association already in place. However, a number of existing neighborhoods in the State of Florida have not yet formed an HOA to govern their communities. In such cases, a group of residents may take it upon themselves to launch an HOA. Doing so requires a degree…
The State of Florida has regulations in place to protect the rights of homeowners who use renewable energy practices and install solar panels and other renewable energy hardware. While homeowner associations (HOAs) define the aesthetic of their neighborhoods with rules on what improvements can be made, they have limited leeway in restricting residents’ rights to…
Many associations in the state of Florida manage their properties by hiring a property management company. A property management company is a third-party entity that is contracted to handle the day-to-day operations of a real estate asset. Whether or not to hire a property management company depends on a number of factors that includes the…
The Homeowner’s Association (HOA) or Condo Association is the governing administration of a housing or condominium community. The vast majority of new developments and nearly every condo or townhome development in the State of Florida has an HOA board that is made up of volunteer homeowners. There are some basics that all residents who are…
Homeowners associations (HOAs) and condo associations, from time to time, end up in potential legal conflicts with their residents. These HOA or condo association disputes are often resolvable through means other than going to court. While residents may represent themselves in these disputes there are distinct advantages to hiring an attorney experienced in handling similar…
Property management companies need to be aware of the potential areas of risk and exposure in the typical elevator maintenance contract. In general, these contracts renew automatically at the end of each term and there may be little opportunity to renegotiate the contract once it is signed. However, these are often not contracts of adhesion,…
A Florida homeowners’ association (HOA) consists of homeowners from a particular geographic area who oversee the rules and regulations regarding what goes on in the community in which they live. HOAs arrange for maintenance of the common areas and they govern the community according to provisions and legal clauses in their bylaws and articles of…
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