Exteriors of buildings aren’t always smooth brick walls. There are all sorts of indentations and protrusions, from terraces to stonework to cornices. There are also items that are not part of the building, but are affixed to it, like scaffo…
Q I live in a Florida HOA and we have had reserve accounts for our roofs/painting since our 1986 inception. Approximately $4.00 of every homeowner's maintenance fee goes into the reserve account that we have set up. However, at a recen…
Q There was recently a leak in the steam heating pipe leading into my neighbor's apartment below my own. The fixing of said leak falls to the condo board. I feel quite certain that the plumber they hired stole a necklace that was on a tab…
Q I live in a 55+ co-op community in Florida, where we have recently run into a problem for which we have gotten nothing but conflicting opinions. 1) Our bylaws state that our board should consist of seven directors, but recently several …
Few things can raise one's blood pressure like signing a big contract. That can be especially true for board members or managers signing sometimes mammoth contracts on behalf of a co-op or condo association, obligating their neighbors, fri…
While keeping the records of the association is not the most fascinating part of board membership, it is in some ways one of the most important. In fact, the flow of paperwork is the lifeblood of the community. The association’s decl…
At a recent board meeting, it was announced that the association of which I am a unit owner, would like to start collecting rent from tenants living in a unit where the owner is delinquent on their mortgage. I looked at the documents, and …
Every year the state of Florida experiences an ebb and flow of full-time and part time residents; as the seasons change, so does the population. Part-time residents from the northern United States and Canada live and work in Florida fo…
“Get it in writing,” is a time-honored axiom. For Florida condominium associations, cooperatives and homeowners’ association it is more than advice, it is the law. A primary responsibility of all association boards is to hold regular, a…
Differences and disputes happen. We’re only human, and that’s why laws and rules are in place. But, the federalist system of government we use in this country is far from the most efficient system. Layers and layers of laws, statutes, a…