Countless communities within the State of Florida have private roads and are gated. This often leads to the owners, the residents, the association and, in fact, the directors believing that the association is actively providing “security”. Unfortunately, all too often, the association is only providing gate access “control”. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Please appreciate that if the association purports to provide security (and/or has led the residents to believe that it is providing security), ostensibly, the association may have a duty to reasonably do so. This, unfortunately, puts the association at risk. In fact, successful suit(s) against association(s) have resulted in verdict(s) in the millions of dollars.

I am frequently asked to explain in layman’s terms what legal terms mean. Here’s a fun little list of fancy words with a no-nonsense take.

A new law took effect July 1, 2019, which would allow the cultivation of vegetables and fruits on residential properties.

Few statutory provisions are more exploited by owners, cause more expense and (legally permissible) harassment, or disrupt an association's operation, more than Fla. Stat. §§ 718.111(12)(c) (relating to condominium associations) and 720.303(5) (relating to community associations other than condos, timeshares, and cooperatives). Those subsections require that such communities make certain association records available within 10 working days of receiving a statutorily compliant request. As you may have learned during our Board Member Certification courses, the records which must be produced in response to such a request include essentially all written association records, with limited statutory exemptions (i.e., individual owners' confidential information, attorney-client privileged communications, etc.). If associations have no policy limiting the frequency or length of these inspections, owners could ostensibly issue requests on a weekly or even a daily basis, effectively forcing the community’s operation to a halt. Thus, it would benefit all communities to implement such reasonable limitations, in addition to undertaking steps to facilitate production of records rather than having owners visit management, counsel's offices, or for self-managed communities without a clubhouse or similar facility, having to incur the cost of renting space or even having someone come to an individual Board Member’s home, to complete the inspection.

As Floridians should be aware, Florida is inundated with bears. In fact, many communities experience bears riffling through their dumpsters and trash cans. Therefore, Owners need to be vigilant with respect to when their garbage is put out, as well as, how it is contained. Hopefully, your community is aware that members can purchase and obtain “bear-proof” trash cans. However, you may not be aware that communities with dumpsters can actually purchase bear proof dumpsters. Unfortunately, communities whose dumpsters are not bear proof, or where the residents fail to properly place their trash in the dumpster and properly close and secure the dumpster – it may be at risk.

Numerous communities throughout Central Florida are experiencing encounters, many are very unpleasant, with coyotes. Numerous coyotes are in the Metro West area and are responsible for the deaths of several pets. West Orange County Cities, Ocoee, Windermere, and Winter Garden also report sighting of this predator roaming their neighborhoods. Osceola County issued a rabies alert after two people were bitten by a rabid coyote. A Manatee County family’s four dogs were left in their fenced yard while the owner was shopping and all four dogs were killed by a coyote.

Most Florida Community Associations, (Condominiums, Homeowners Associations and Cooperative Associations) are organized as “Not-for-Profit” Corporations. So, no need to file a tax return-right?

Changes to the Marketable Record Title Act affecting all homeowners associations incoming!

In real estate, it is all about “location, location, location”, and more often than not that can be directly tied back to the community around that location. When you think about a community many things come to mind. Too often most people think of a bad experience they might have had with a member of an Association’s Board of Directors. These experiences can have the negative effect of ensuring that capable individuals will never even consider becoming a member of an Association Board out of disdain for one bad event. While sometimes tedious, a Community Association’s Board of Directors serves a vital purpose to any community, and the value of being one of the members of the board making those decisions cannot be overstated...

Florida has established a system to protect underground utilities from damage during construction and excavation, under the “Underground Facility Damage Prevention and Safety Act” (Chapter 556.105, Florida Statues).