For Florida Homeowners and Condominium Associations, following these basic guidelines will help make your Official Records Inspections run smoothly, and take time and hassle out of arranging Official Records access, for you and your Association Management:

Think of your Annual Meeting as a Theatrical Production to Ensure Success It's Showtime! Your annual meeting is the most important meeting of the year and it is your time to shine. Think of your annual meeting as a theater production and your owners are the audience. If the production is appealing, they will attend.

ATTENTION BOARD MEMBERS! It has been brought to our attention some management companies and/or companies are offering board certification classes. Please understand that the new law is very clear that effective July 1, the previous board certification classes are not "legitimate" classes and do not meet the requirements of the new 4-hour class. If you should be invited to one of these classes, do your homework. Ask if the class is the new class that meets the July 1 requirements and if it was approved by the State. Is it an attorney or another industry professional that is presenting the class?

In the aftermath of the recent hurricane season, many Associations will be faced with hiring one or more construction contractors, contractors for remediation or contractors for other Association work. If your Association is faced with choosing and retaining a Contractor or other vendor, hiring the wrong Contractor can be costly or problematic for the Association.

So, what happens when your Association doesn’t submit it’s filed annual report on time? Short answer: nothing good. As you likely know, filing a corporate report each year with the Florida Department of Corporations is a statutory requirement – regardless of what type of Association you are.

Given their age, many Florida community associations are (often unknowingly) allowing their covenants to expire. Unfortunately not all such communities choose to use an attorney, or at least one whose procedures include notifying associations in advance that their covenants will expire under the Florida Marketable Record Title Act (“MRTA”). That expiration customarily (but not necessarily) occurs 30 years after the date the Declaration of Covenants was first recorded in the County Public Records. Avoiding this expiration is crucial; covenants cease to be enforceable once they expire, and remain unenforceable until they are “revitalized” through a fairly costly and time-consuming process. Essentially, the association has no covenants to enforce once they expire.

Anyone seeking to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of a Florida Community Association will need to determine their eligibility to run for the Board, or to be appointed as a member of the Board of Directors.

Starting a new resident off in your community may be one of the most important tasks you do as a Board Member. If a resident is welcomed into the community and in a warm, friendly manner advised of their responsibilities as a member of a deed restricted community, it can pay off in dividends to the community. They can be a friendly resident and supportive of the Association’s rules and regulations and a productive, involved resident. Or they can become one of your worst nightmares.

Unfortunately, the risks to associations continue to escalate. As many of you are aware, associations often can be at risk for violations of the Fair Housing Act, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). One of the issues that seems to be emerging deals with the risk associated with associations’ websites failing to be ADA compliant.

Installing security cameras at community entrances, or elsewhere within the community, may sound like an excellent idea – it could deter nefarious acts, assist in determining who is causing problems, and create evidence of bad acts. Community association directors may, however, be unaware that it could also increase the association’s risk.