Community Association Archives - Kaye Bender Rembaum

June 5, 2024October 27, 2024

The Importance of Updating Your Governing Docs | June 4, 2024

**Important** Viewing this on-demand video WILL NOT satisfy Florida state requirements for new Board Members; NOR will this recorded version offer CEUs for CAMS. It is for informational purposes only and is not to be considered as legal advice. Should you have any questions, contact your association counsel.

Presented by Artemis Lifestyles. Course provided by Kaye Bender Rembaum, taught by Kerstin Henze, Esq. Learn how changing outdated rules, ambiguous information, and vague rights in governing documents can impact your association for the better!

May 29, 2024October 27, 2024

Conflicts of Interest – What You Need to Know | May 29, 2024

Presented by Trident Management. Course provided by Kaye Bender Rembaum, Instructor: Michael S. Bender, Esq. BCS

Identify potential conflicts of interest (plus definitions), how to document disclosures, internal controls and training staff, directors and officers, new statutory requirements and penalties and best practices for associations.

January 4, 2024January 4, 2024

The Federal Corporate Transparency Act Requirements Affecting All Community Associations

Rembaum’s Association Roundup | Jeffrey A. Rembaum, Esq., BCS | Visit HERE

What Every Board Member and Manager Must Know

In January 2021 the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) was enacted by Congress. In 2024 its far-reaching requirements are planned to go into effect. The CTA was adopted by Congress to provide additional transparency in entity structures and ownership in an effort to combat tax fraud, money, laundering, and other illicit activities. It is designed to capture more information about the ownership of specific entities operating in or accessing the United States marketplace. A recent Small Business Administration reports over 27 million small businesses that are considered non-employer firms and thus have no employees. Learning of the beneficial ownership of these entities, Congress hopes to crack down on their misuse. The CTA is particularly targeted to these types of small businesses operating as so called “shell companies.”

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December 22, 2023January 4, 2024

Florida Legislature to Pass Law Prohibiting Associations From Charging Estoppel Fees

Rembaum’s Association Roundup | Jeffrey A. Rembaum, Esq., BCS | Visit HERE

YOUR ASSESSMENTS ARE ABOUT TO GO UP AGAIN

Act Now Before It’s Too Late!

Of all the subjects I never would have thought I would be writing to you about, it is this: the Florida Legislature is dangerously close to passing legislation that prohibits a Florida community association from charging a fee for the preparation and delivery of an estoppel certificate!!! The text of Senate Bill 278, along with its companion House Bill 979, fully prohibits condominium and homeowners’ associations from being able to charge the requesting party a fee for the preparation of the estoppel certificate. But, however, the professional who assists the association prepare and issue the estoppel, such as the management company and attorney, will now charge the association and not the party who requested the estoppel. This year’s legislative session starts very early, on January 9th. Your legislators need to hear from you that you do not want them to support these bills because they will cause financial harm to your association…

Read the rest at Rembaum’s Association Roundup…Click Here

December 12, 2023December 12, 2023

Political Yard Signs and Political Events

Rembaum’s Association Roundup | Jeffrey A. Rembaum, Esq., BCS | Visit HERE

PROBHIBITING POLITICAL YARD SIGNS

Unless you share similar political views, your neighbor’s front yard sign supporting a favorite political candidate may be upsetting. Can a Florida community association demand the sign’s removal? A well-crafted and properly adopted board rule prohibiting all signs, as compared to just prohibiting political signs, is likely enforceable with this caveat.

Section 720.304 of the Florida Homeowners’ Association Act provides that any parcel owner may display a sign of reasonable size provided by a contractor for security services within 10 feet of any entrance to the home. In examining an association’s “no-sign” rule, let us first address the argument heard most often, “This is America! The First Amendment protects the right of all homeowners to display political signs in their front yard!”

This is simply not true, and wishing this to be true will not help. In fact…

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November 7, 2023December 12, 2023

Is It Time to Consider Removing an Association’s Right of Self-Help to Cure an Owner’s Violation from the Declaration?

Rembaum’s Association Roundup | Jeffrey A. Rembaum, Esq., BCS | Visit HERE

Through the years Florida’s community associations have relied upon the court decisions that had routinely agreed that the provisions of Florida Statutes that expressly authorize an association to entitlement to an injunction (i.e., a judicial order requiring a person to take action) superseded the common law standard of the requirement that there be no adequate remedy at law before a party could seek an injunction. In other words, an association could pursue injunctive relief and seek a court order to force an owner to wash their dirty roof even if the governing documents also permitted the association to enter upon the lot and cure the maintenance violation by cleaning the roof (this remedy is often called “self-help”).

However, due to rulings from both the 2nd District Court of Appeals in April 2022 and now the 6th District Court of Appeals in August 2023, that may no longer be the case. As you may recall, the April 2022 appellate case requiring a community association to first exhaust its permissive right to use “self-help” and cure an owner violation of the covenants before seeking an injunction was addressed…

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October 4, 2023October 4, 2023

Board Member Certification | Should It Be Just The Beginning?

Rembaum’s Association Roundup | Jeffrey A. Rembaum, Esq., BCS | Visit HERE

The Florida legislature requires board members to be “certified” in order to be properly qualified to serve on the board of a residential community association. By now you might think that the requirements are exactly the same for condominium boards as compared against homeowner associations’ boards, but they differ with regard to how long the association is obligated to keep the proof of director certification.

The Florida Condominium Act, more specifically §718.112(2)(d)4.b., Florida Statutes, and the Florida Homeowners’ Association Act, more specifically §720.3033(1)(a), Florida Statutes, require the following:

Within 90 days after being elected or appointed to the board of an association of a residential condominium, each newly elected or appointed director shall certify in writing to the secretary of the association that he or she has read the association’s declaration of condominium, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and current written policies; that he or she will work to uphold such documents and policies to the best of his or her ability; and that he or she will faithfully discharge his or her…

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June 19, 2023September 2, 2023

Guns in the Clubhouse: What Can a Community Association Do?

Rembaum’s Association Roundup | Jeffrey A. Rembaum, Esq., BCS | Visit HERE

The he right of the people to carry and bear arms without governmental infringement is a right which stems from both the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Florida. The State of Florida recently adopted new gun legislation, effective July 1, 2023, which allows the everyday citizen to carry a concealed weapon without first obtaining a concealed weapons permit. This raises interesting questions for community associations such as, is the right to carry a concealed weapon absolute? Can a community association adopt a rule that prohibits the carrying of concealed weapons in the clubhouse or other common area facilities?

Before we get too far in our analysis, it is important to point out that the intent of this article is not to advocate for gun control or the right to carry. Rather, the intent of this article is to examine the rulemaking authority of a board of directors of a community association…

Read the rest at Rembaum’s Association Roundup..Click Here

January 4, 2023March 3, 2023

New Legislation Needed for Required Maintenance Affecting Condominium Building Structural Integrity and Safety

Rembaum’s Association Roundup | Jeffrey A. Rembaum, Esq., BCS | Visit HERE

Material Alterations, Special Assessments, and Borrowing

As to the title of this article, anyone familiar with Senate Bill 4-D and the newly required milestone inspection reports and structural integrity reserve studies primarily applicable to condominium and cooperative buildings three stories and higher knows that material alterations, special assessments, and the authority to borrow funds are not mentioned in the legislation. So why write this article about those subjects? Because the milestone reports and structural integrity reserve studies will no doubt also lead to both expected and unexpected required repairs and replacements. In effectuating such repairs and replacements, an association’s board of directors needs i) the ability to approve material alterations under certain circumstances that sometimes arise in connection with such work, ii) the ability to levy special assessments to pay for the work, and iii) the authority to borrow money that is often needed to pay for such repairs and replacements so that the special assessment payments can be amortized over time, thereby lessening the financial strain on the owners.

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December 2, 2022March 3, 2023

Senate Bill 4-D Glitches That Must Be Addressed

Rembaum’s Association Roundup | Jeffrey A. Rembaum, Esq., BCS | Visit HERE

Despite the Florida legislature’s best efforts, there nevertheless remains confusion with the interpretation of Senate Bill 4-D (SB 4-D), which provides for condominium and cooperative milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to many of these glitches in hopes that the 2023 Florida legislature will address these issues by passing a glitch bill to provide needed and worthwhile clarity for Florida’s community association board members affected by this game-changing legislation. First, a couple of glitches applying to the entirety of SB 4-D are addressed, followed by the glitches related to the required milestone report, and then glitches related to the structural integrity reserve study requirements are addressed. This article does not go into detail explaining the requirements of SB 4-D as that was the subject of a prior article from August 2022 FLCAJ, which can be easily found and read HERE.

Read the rest at Rembaum’s Association Roundup!