Community Association Industry Legal Blog

Each year, children are injured or killed as a result of playground hazards, such as sharp edges, hot surfaces and surfacing, hard surfacing material, impacts from protrusions, poorly maintained equipment, or from head entrapments and entanglements. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that more than 200,000 children each year are injured severely enough on playgrounds to necessitate a trip to a hospital. Also the Commission estimates that between 5 and 15 children die each year as a result of dangerous or defective playgrounds.

Generally, the ability to serve on a condominium association’s board of directors is overlooked and not raised as an issue. While this may seem like good news for the association, it could create issues in the future. This blog will discuss the limitations on who may serve on the board of directors for a condominium association.

Determining the correct forum for any given dispute involving a Florida condo association or HOA can be confusing. Often times the board members, licensed managers and unit owners are unsure of where a dispute will be resolved if a party initiates formal legal action. Florida’s Condominium Act and HOA Act govern the procedures for community association disputes, and both Acts include arbitration, mediation and state court for resolving various issues. This blog post will provide an overview of the appropriate forum for both condo associations and HOAs to resolve certain disputes in Florida.

When deciding whether to pursue legal action, a condominium association board of directors may ask “can we recover the attorneys’ fees?” The good news for associations is that Florida Statutes and the governing documents of the community provide entitlement to the recovery of attorneys’ fees in many legal actions. The bad news is that this recovery is not without limitation. This blog will explore limitations on the recovery of attorneys’ fees and the provisions that may be important to include in the governing documents for the community.

Whether due to economic hardships, mismanagement, unforeseen circumstances, or even fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, a condo or homeowners association may find itself in desperate need of help.  Additionally, properties that have been neglected may also be running afoul of local code compliance regulations or may be so far […]

In Florida, one of the most attractive and desirable features of waterfront property is the incredible view. Concerning waterfront property ownership, it can be difficult to distinguish where your private land rights cease, where your neighbor’s private land rights begin, and the rights of the State with sovereign submerged land […]

Special assessments, under the Florida Condominium Act, are those assessments imposed against condominium unit owners, other than those assessments required by the association’s annual budget. See 718.103 (24) of the Florida Statutes. Regular assessments, on the other hand, are fees collected from condominium unit owners for the payment of common expenses of the association. See 718.103 (1) of the Florida Statutes. If a condominium board votes to pass a special assessment, such a decision will be subject to the business judgment rule. See Cedar Cove Efficiency Condominium Association, Inc. v. Cedar Cove Properties, Inc., 558 So. 2d 475 (Fla 1st DCA 1990). If that judgment is properly exercised, a Florida court will not supplement its judgment for that of the board.

Ownership of waterfront property is particularly desirable in Florida and often involves unique real property considerations.  It is often difficult to distinguish where the private land rights cease and the sovereign land ownership begins.  As a result, a subset of real property law has emerged to address what is called […]

I recently authored a blog on insurance coverage triggers for construction defects under Florida law. Insurance coverage for residential and commercial construction projects and understanding when coverage is implicated (triggered) is critical. In many cases, the applicable insurance policies are commercial general liability (CGL) policies. These policies are occurrence based and only provide for indemnification for property damage or personal injury that takes place during the policy period. In many situations, these CGL policies are the only possible avenue of recovery for damages.

“Who is going to fix this?” and “Who is going to pay for this?” These are common questions facing unit owners and associations when condominium property needs repair. The answer will most likely be found in the condominium declarations, which typically describe the boundaries of each unit. But sometimes the declarations fail to adequately describe those boundaries; and the fine line delineating who is obligated to repair becomes indiscernible and worse, debatable. This is especially true when describing windows, doors, sliders and skylights in the associated with the condominium unit. Because the materials used are exposed to both the inside and outside of each unit; the condominium declarations must be very clear where the unit owner’s interest begins, and also where it ends. This post provides a brief overview of the Florida condominium association’s obligation to repair and maintain windows under Florida law.