Article
Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By Joe
Kollin
Published
May 16, 2007
Residents
of homeowner and condo associations got some good news this legislative
session -- but not much.
Legislators said homeowner associations and co-ops can join with condos to
form self-insurance pools for windstorm protection as a way to save money (HB
7031). It takes at least three associations to form a pool.
The Legislature also approved a bill that would require homeowners
association boards to give owners 45 days to pay an overdue assessment
before a lien can be filed (CS/SB 1844). Now, no notice is required.
Another measure would make it easier for developers to buy out a condo and
replace it with a new high-rise, even if old-timers in the building don't
want to move (CS/SB 314). Initially proposed as a way to make it easier to
replace a building destroyed by a storm, under the approved bill, 80 percent
of owners can decide to sell the property just because it is old.
Legislators also approved a measure that would let a community whose
covenants lapsed a few years ago become a homeowner association again --
even if some owners bought their homes because they wanted to live in a
neighborhood without an association (CS/SB 902).
These bills now go to Gov. Charlie Crist for approval or veto.
But the news was not as good for those hoping for the right to hang a
religious symbol on a condo door, or to keep a medically necessary pet or to
be protected from foreclosure over a $25 late fee.
The recently ended 60-day session of the state Legislature didn't approve
those bills.
Other measures that didn't pass: creation of a state ombudsman for
homeowners; clarification of owners' right to have hurricane shutters; a
limitation on the right of condo boards to enter an owner's bedroom; and a
prohibition on associations requiring buyers to prove their financial worth.
Those who represent unit owners say legislators were anti-owner this year.
"They passed nothing. The leadership was against anything that was
consumer friendly," said Jan Bergemann, president of Cyber Citizens for
Justice (www.ccfj.net), a volunteer organization that successfully lobbied
legislators in previous years to rein in the power of boards.
Those who represent boards called the session productive.
"It was a successful session, good bills were passed to benefit
associations," said attorney Yeline Goin, the new co-executive director
of CALL, the Community Association Leadership Lobby (www.callbp.com). The
lobbying group is an arm of the Becker & Poliakoff law firm that
represents 4,300 associations.
Q&A
Q Dick Weinstein, a director in the West Lakes Home Owners
Association west of Boca Raton, is concerned about rules banning pickup
trucks. His association bans them, but the rules were written before many
people used pickups and vans instead of cars, and certainly before Detroit
created the pickup-SUV combo and made it a luxury vehicle.
Although Weinstein's board let two owners have luxury vehicles that are
partly pickup, he wants to know where to draw the line. Should a pickup, van
or combo without commercial signs be allowed even if a rule prohibits them?
A We asked William Sklar, a West Palm Beach attorney who specializes in
community association law and was co-chairman of the 2003-2004 Florida
Homeowners' Association Task Force.
The board should be uniform and consistent in its implementation of existing
rules, he said. Typically, restrictions are based on commercial markings on
vehicles and the state's classification of vehicles, which are based on
weight.
Because of the popularity of luxury SUVs, most of those vehicles are not
considered commercial, which would be restricted, he said. Therefore, the
board should consider updating and revising its rules to take into account
such items as commercial markings and weight limitations, as well as whether
the vehicle has a full passenger compartment as opposed to being mostly a
pickup or service-use. That would constitute a commercial vehicle and be
restricted.
Staff
Writer Joe Kollin discusses condo and homeowner association issues in this
space every other Wednesday. Please let us know those issues that concern
you. E-mail us at [email protected] or call 954-385-7913 in Broward
or 561-243-6503 in Palm Beach County. Kollin has covered condo and homeowner
association issues in the Sun-Sentinel since 1986.
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