Florida Association News Blog

3eaa781 Your association is gearing up for a large project. Maybe it’s time to re-do the clubhouse or plan for that $2M dollar concrete restoration project that was put off for far too long. Other large scale projects can include painting, concrete restoration, interior restoration, deck/paver repair or replacement, and foundation repairs, and so much more.
Too often, associations rely on untrained personnel to handle these projects such as a board member or manager. Doing so, is penny wise but pound foolish. Sure, the Board feels as though they pay a manager so the manager should manage the project, too – but remember the qualifications for being a licensed community association manager have very little to do with construction project management. In fact, often times, management contracts have disclaimers that limit management company liability when the assigned manager finds themselves involved with project management.

Gary Pyott, LCAM, who was involved with association management for over 20 years, is now a principal at Association 1st LLC, a Professional Project Management/Owners Rep company and he has a lot to say about this subject. Pyott explained that in his 20 years of association management he has seen case after case where the Board’s perception of their manager or management company experience regarding project management was over estimated. Pyott says, “associations hire attorneys to do legal work, accountants to complete financial work, engineers to write specifications, why not hire professionally trained Project Managers to manage large scale projects in the interest of all of the owners especially when millions of dollars of unit owner funds are on the line.”

All too often Pyott has witnessed the situation where an association allows their manager, and in some cases a board member or committee, to oversee large scale projects which, in the end, cost the association significantly more dollars in legal fees and remediation contractor fees to complete the project correctly. Without properly trained professionals to oversee and manage projects, the chances of having vendor and material issues increases, the time for project completion is more likely to far exceed the original timeline, and project budgets can experience significant overruns which can easily lead to another special assessment. By that time, the community is up in arms over the situation.
According to Pyott, a Project Manager/Owners Rep engaged by a community association has the responsibility to protect the association, its members and the board, too. He explained that there are three phases to project management of this scale.

1) Project Planning & Pre-construction Phase:
• Discuss project, construction methods & materials, and identify expectations from all parties.
• Prioritize the budget, schedule and project specific requirements.
• Identify any items which may not be included on permit/bid but which may impact cost, (municipal approvals, specialty trades, etc.).
• Coordinate with the association’s lawyer in regard to material alteration votes and loans.
• Provide preliminary schedule of values based on drawings from design team, and coordinate as needed with all parties (design team, contractors, vendors, specialty trades, etc.).
• Prepare preliminary cost estimates for specific line items or divisions for items beyond the scope of the general contractor, if applicable.
• Prepare formal comprehensive budget including items which may be excluded from the general contractor’s estimate.
2) Construction/Project Management Phase:
• Hold weekly meetings with contractors and project team, and provide report/minutes.
• Conduct regular scheduled and unannounced site visits.
• Require and monitor GC updates and maintain project schedule on a weekly basis, and identify any lags or delays in schedule
• Track contactor’s inspection progress
• Confirm status of long lead time orders
• Review and coordinate requests for information
• Review and coordinate change orders
• Track contractor deliverables such as shop drawings, submittals, and samples for approval.
3) Project Close-Out/Transition Phase:
• Monitor progress of final inspections.
• Confirm lender close-out requirements.
• Request and track subcontractor final release of lien.
• Track and confirm receipt of contractor’s close-out book to include: All as-built drawings. All equipment manuals. Warranties. Extra materials from project. Finish samples and identification of finishes used which are not identified in ID drawings.

These three phases have a multitude of additional items under each phase that a professional in the field of Project Management/Owners Rep will coordinate and oversee on behalf of the association. Spending time to evaluate and hire a Professional Project Manager/Owners Rep initially is a core responsibility of the board and should be the very first step in large scale project planning.

If your board has any specific questions or needs regarding project management you can contact Gary Pyott at Association 1st LLC, a Professional Project Management/Owners Rep, by emailing him at gary@association1st.com or by calling him at 305-588-7658.

Jeffrey Rembaum, Esq. of Kaye, Bender, Rembaum attorneys at law, legal practice consists of representation of condominium, homeowner, commercial and mobile home park associations, as well as exclusive country club communities and the developers who build them. He is a regular columnist for The Condo News, a biweekly publication and was inducted into the 2012, 2013 & 2014 Florida Super Lawyers. He can be reached at 561-241-4462.

Tags Condo, HOA, Project Management, Rembaum Association Roundup No Comments »

The background of this case is a typical scenario where Fox failed to comply with the association’s declaration and its rules and regulations which caused irreparable harm to other owners and residents within the association. The association’s complaint also alleged that Fox was engaged in a continuous course of conduct “designed and carried out for the purpose of harassing, intimidating, and threatening other residents, the Association and its representatives.” The trial court had entered a preliminary injunction and then the parties reached a settlement agreement in which Fox agreed to cease certain activities.

It did not take long for Fox to violate the terms of the settlement agreement. As a result, the association filed a motion for contempt and argued that Fox willfully and intentionally violated the terms of the settlement agreement, and thus the final judgment, too. The trial court found Fox in civil contempt and, in so doing, also ordered that Fox stop posting, circulating, and publishing any pictures or personal information about current or future residents, board members, management, employees, or personnel of the management company, vendors of the association, and any other management company of the association on any website, blog, or social media. He was further ordered to take down all such information currently on any of his websites or blogs. The trial court’s order also prohibited Fox from starting any new blogs, websites, or social media websites related to the association. If anyone reached out to Fox with inquiries regarding the association, pursuant to the court’s order, he was not allowed to post a response online. Instead, he would have to call the person to express his concerns verbally.

On appeal, Fox argued to the Court that the trial court’s punishment violated his right to speak freely. In the end, the Court agreed that the trial court’s blanket prohibition of Fox’s online speech constituted an unconstitutional prior restraint on his free speech rights. In so doing, the Court noted that “[i]t has been established that ‘[p]rior restraints on speech and publication are the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights.’” The Court also noted that the United States Supreme Court has “consistently classified emotionally distressing or outrageous speech as protected, especially where that speech touches on matters of political, religious or public concern.” The Court then cited other cases finding that statements on an individual’s blog constituted opinion speech protected by the First Amendment.

However, the Court wisely noted that “the right to free speech and the freedom of the press are not without their limits” and, in so doing, cited to prior United States Supreme Court opinions which reminds readers of that “[f]reedom of speech does not extend to obscenity, defamation, fraud, incitement, true threats, and speech integral to criminal conduct. Speech that does not fall into these exceptions remains protected.” If the writer/publisher prints libelous, defamatory, or an injury story, the remedy does not lie with an injunction, but rather with a claim for damages or criminal action after publication.

With the aforementioned in mind, the Court determined that the trial court erred when it prohibited Fox from making any statements at all pertaining to the association on his websites, blogs, and social media. Therefore, the trial court order was reversed in part, but only in regard to the complete prohibition imposed on Fox on posting on any website, blog, or social media. However, the Court also opined trial court did not err in determining that the previously agreed-upon settlement agreement could be enforced and it affirmed the contempt order. The case was then remanded back to the trial court for determination of an order consistent with the opinions of the Court.

Tags Facebook, Freedom of Press, Rembaum Association Roundup No Comments »

Flood warning concept with a yellow traffic sign flooded with water on a dangerous dark stormy cloud sky as a symbol of insurance risk and weather hazards as a natural disaster.

As we, our neighbors, families, and friends, here and in Puerto Rico, are picking up the pieces in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria, the prospect of making claims on our homeowner’s insurance policies can seem overwhelming in the face of the destruction caused by these storms. Much of the damage in our neighborhoods are caused by strong winds, including roof and fence damage. Wind related damages are generally covered by your windstorm insurance policy. The flooding from rainwater and storm surge is excluded from both your general liability and windstorm policies likely because flooding is the most common and costly natural catastrophe.

In Florida’s four southernmost counties — Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Collier — more than 1.3 million homes lie in high-risk flood areas, according to data from the National Flood Insurance Program. Of these 1.3 million homes, more than 861,000 of them do not have flood insurance! As for those homes that are not in designated flood zones, the number of homes having flood insurance are much worse. This is cause for concern because, depending on the source, as little as 20-25% up to more than 50% of flood events occur outside of designated flood zones. Though your home and community may be in a low-risk flood zone, there is never a no-risk flood zone. Remember, even if you live inland, Florida is a peninsula surrounded on three sides by water and is at sea level. Flooding is always a risk.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the governmental organization which designates flood zones and creates flood maps for most parts of the United States. Whether or not an area is a designated flood zone depends on numerous factors, including elevation, average rainfall, and proximity to waterbodies. Flood zones are organized into three categories: high-risk, moderate-low risk, and undetermined. Although some homeowners within certain flood zones are required to obtain flood insurance in order to obtain a federally insured mortgage, most are not.

Because the purchase of flood insurance policies is often not required by the declarations of covenants of many community associations, many homeowners’ and community associations alike opt not to purchase flood insurance to lower the cost of assessments. In low-risk and moderate-risk flood zone areas, premiums can be several hundred dollars per year for homes, depending on the value of the home and the contents covered under the policy. In high-risk flood zone areas, annual premiums can reach into the thousands.

While it is reported that most Floridians do not have flood insurance coverage, Floridians actually account for a third of all of the flood insurance policies nationwide. Without flood insurance coverage, flood victims must rely on savings and other assets to finance their recovery.

FEMA also administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which was created by the Federal government in 1968 to help control the growing cost of federal disaster relief. The NFIP offers federally secured flood insurance to community associations that adopt and enforce effective floodplain management policies to help reduce future flood losses. You can see if your community participates in the NFIP by visiting NFIP’s Community Status Book online through FEMA’s website. Is your community adequately covered in the event of a flood event? Check with your association’s insurance agent regarding flood insurance to find out more and remember this:

If you do not buy flood insurance for your home and your community association does not have flood insurance for its clubhouse and the like, then one day when you least expect it, you too, could be all wet and up the creek without so much as a paddle!

Tags Flood Insurance, Floods, Florida Flood Insurance, Florida Hurricane Season, Rembaum Association Roundup No Comments »

The FLCAJ (Florida Community Association Journal) Readers’ Choice Awards give communities and board members an opportunity to select their favorite service providers. These prestigious awards recognize service providers that offer superior service and demonstrate a commitment to the success of their communities.

Campbell Property Management has been voted South Florida’s highest rated community association management company the past four years, winning the highest level of recognition with the Diamond Award.

If you would like to cast a vote for Campbell, click here.

If you would like to cast a vote in the landscape management category for CPM (Complete Property Maintenance), click here.

To cast your vote in other categories, click here. Voting will run from now until December 15, 2017.

by Ashley Dietz Gray, Marketing Director, Campbell Property Management

Tags 2017 FLCAJ Readers' Choice Awards, FLCAJ 1 Comment

ghnw20150525-083609-148

As you all know by now, we were very fortunate that Irma caused very limited damage in Broward, Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties – especially as compared to what we were expecting last week.

However, more than 1/2 of the state of Florida is still without power and it is not practical to try and predict when power may be restored.

If you are serviced by FPL, you can click here to determine if your home has power.

Campbell hopes that you and your family are safe!

Tags FPL, Hurricane, Irma, Power Outage 1 Comment

The Deerfield Beach office of Campbell Property Management is finishing up preparations for Hurricane Irma.

Primary emergency phone number for owners: (954) 427-8770 or email Irma@campbellproperty.com.

Stay Safe!

Campbell_Irma

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NET_lunchmeeting_orig20120816-17262-14wk1no Despite all the great work done by volunteer condo and HOA board members, the actions of a few bad apples have resulted in law changes that could label a casual lunch meeting an illegal kickback!

Board Members (and Managers) cannot accept anything of value from someone providing or proposing to provide services to their association without paying for it. So, don’t assume your Vendor or Manager will pick up the tab when you meet for lunch to review a proposal or discuss service improvements if you are a board member in a condo. Managers and Vendors can still spend up to $25 per board member for food at a business meeting for HOA Board Members.

You can still have a free donut and coffee at the seminar, or take a pen and brochure from a trade show or educational event – regardless of whether you are a Board Member in a Condo or HOA.

Here are the laws:

Condominium Law

718.111 (1) (a)

An officer, director, or manager may not solicit, offer to accept, or accept any thing or service of value for which consideration has not been provided for his or her own benefit or that of his or her immediate family, from any person providing or proposing to provide goods or services to the association. Any such officer, director, or manager who knowingly so solicits, offers to accept, or accepts any thing or service of value is subject to a civil penalty pursuant to s. 718.501(1)(d). However, this paragraph does not prohibit an officer, director, or manager from accepting services or items received in connection with trade fairs or education programs.

HOA Law

720.3033

(3) An officer, director, or manager may not solicit, offer to accept, or accept any good or service of value for which consideration has not been provided for his or her benefit or for the benefit of a member of his or her immediate family from any person providing or proposing to provide goods or services to the association. If the board finds that an officer or director has violated this subsection, the board shall immediately remove the officer or director from office. The vacancy shall be filled according to law until the end of the director’s term of office. However, an officer, director, or manager may accept food to be consumed at a business meeting with a value of less than $25 per individual or a service or good received in connection with trade fairs or education programs.

by Dan Tiernan, COO, Campbell Property Management

Tags board members, Condominium Law, HOA Law, Kickbacks 3 Comments

beware-of-dog

Can a Florida condominium, homeowners’, and cooperative association have liability for its members’ dog bites? Apparently, the answer is yes, it surely can.

In 1996, the Fourth District Court of Appeal of Florida in Barrwood Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Maser, held that an association could be found liable where there was sufficient evidence from which a jury could determine that it was aware of a dog’s vicious propensities. In this case, there was a dog attack and bite to a minor child. The incident occurred on the Association’s common area. The issue in the case was whether or not the Association’s liability could be diminished due to the act of the dog’s owner, who was not named as a defendant in the case.

Thankfully, the court agreed that the Association’s liability could, in fact, be diminished even though the dog’s owner was not a party defendant in the litigation. In reaching its determination, the court affirmed a prior appellate decision reached in 1987 where a landowner could be held liable for damage caused by a dog on its property when there is sufficient evidence from which a jury could determine that the landlord had knowledge of the vicious dog’s presence and had the ability to control the premises. In the instant case, the court found that there was sufficient evidence for a jury to determine whether or not the defendant Association was aware of the dog’s vicious propensities.

In yet another 1996, Fourth District Court of Appeal of Florida case, Sanzare v. Varesi and Coconut Key Homeowners Association, Inc., the plaintiff sued the homeowners’ association after being bitten by a dog on a street owned by the Association. Procedurally, the appellate court initially affirmed the trial court’s summary judgment order reached in favor of the association. Shortly thereafter, the appellate court withdrew its opinion to be consistent with the Barrwood case.

In order for a trial court to grant a motion for summary judgment, there must be no material facts in dispute, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of the law. Furthermore, the court must draw every possible inference in favor of the party against whom the motion for summary judgment is sought. In fact, summary judgment cannot be granted unless the facts are so crystallized that nothing remains but questions of law.

In its reconsideration of its prior order, the appellate court determined that, in fact, there were factual issues remaining in dispute as to whether the homeowners’ association knew of the presence of and propensities of a vicious dog. In this case, the plaintiff was bitten by a dog owned by two people who leased the home within the homeowners’ association’s community. The bite occurred when the plaintiff was walking his own dog on a street running through the community. After being bit, the plaintiff filed a negligence action against the association. The association argued that it had no duty to the plaintiff. Initially, the trial court agreed, which is why the summary judgment was entered in favor of the homeowners’ association in the trial court. In reversing both the trial court’s summary judgment reached in favor of the homeowners’ association and the appellate court’s own initial ruling, the court noted, from a 1987 case, that a landowner may be liable for injuries resulting from an attack by a bad dog owned by a tenant, if the landowner knows of the presence of the animal and its vicious propensity and has the ability to control its presence.

The appellate court’s initial opinion was flawed because the appellate court had relied on a prior case where there were injuries caused by a dog on property not owned by landlord. In the instant case, the injuries occurred on the property owned by the Association. Therefore, the court relied on the reasoning set out in the Barrwood case.

The take away from all of this is that if a community association is aware that a dog who has a propensity for biting, takes no action and then, an incident occurs where someone is hurt as a result of that dog’s actions, such as a dog bite, then that association can share in the financial liability reached in favor of the victim.

Tags Dog bites, Dogs, Pets, Rembaum Association Roundup 2 Comments

woman cooling herself with fan

Every true Floridian knows that summers in The Sunshine State can be punishing. Florida is beautiful, but whoever said that the entire state is a paradise never actually spent all his or her summers here. And while air conditioning makes life bearable during the hottest months of the year, you probably wouldn’t be able to bear the astronomical energy bill you’re going to receive by the end of the summer.

Still, there are ways to save money on your summer AC costs in Florida. Here are some of them.

Set your thermostat at 78 degrees or higher

When it’s scorching hot, we all would like to set our thermostat at 70 degrees to keep cool. That, however, could double your energy costs. Stick to the higher and ultimately cheaper 78 degrees. It should be cool enough to keep you and your family comfortable.

Get it made in the shade

Intense sunlight is going to hit your house during the summer and make it hotter, which means your air conditioner has to work harder to keep you cool. You can, however, reduce the effect of direct sunlight on your home by planting trees and shrubs that could provide shade, particularly on the eastern and western parts of your residence. Drapes, curtains, and Venetian blinds should also help keep some of the sunlight out.

Give your AC a break and use fans for milder weather

Summers in Florida are hot, but there are days when the weather is cooler than usual. On such days, use fans at home because they use much less energy than your central AC unit.

Ceiling fans are life and energy savers

You can reduce your air conditioning costs in the summer by 15% to 25% by simultaneously running your ceiling fans and air conditioner. Just remember to set the thermostat to 80 or 81 degrees instead of the usual 78 degrees.

Keep your AC air filter clean

Dirty air filters can lead to restricted airflow, which, in turn, could force your unit to work so much harder just to keep your home cool. So check your AC air filter regularly to see if they need cleaning or replacing.

Keep the lights off during the day

Lights, especially traditional incandescent bulbs, contribute a lot to the heat in any room. Make a habit of turning off the lights when they’re not in use, or don’t turn on any of the lights during the day if you don’t really need them.

Cook outside

Traditional ovens also cause a lot of heat buildup. So instead of cooking inside the home and making it harder to cool, try cooking on a grill outside. If grilling is not your thing, you can always microwave food instead.

Cool your home, not the entire neighborhood

It would be great for energy savings if your entire home is properly insulated. Holes, cracks, and gaps should be sealed tight to keep the cool climate inside your home constant. You wouldn’t want any of that expensive cool air escaping through those gaps and raising your energy bill in the process.

Follow the tips given above, and you will see your energy bills in Florida drop.

Michelle West is a writer and the Senior Content Editor of Precision Air & Heating.

Tags AC, Air Conditioning, Florida, Saving Money, Summer No Comments »

Rembaum’s Association Roundup: Project Management: What Every Board Member And Manager Needs To Know

Rembaum’s Association Roundup: Did He Really Write That About Our Association On Facebook? Freedom Of The Press

Rembaum’s Association Roundup: Floods And Flood Insurance: Don’t Be Up The Creek Without A Paddle

FLCAJ Fifth Annual Readers’ Choice Awards – Voting Now Open!

How To Check If You Have Power at Your Home

Campbell Property Management Emergency Contact Information for Hurricane Irma

KICKBACKS: Don’t get accused of taking them

Rembaum’s Association Roundup: Community Association Liability For Dog Bites – Woof, Woof, Woof

Best Ways to Save Money on Your Summer Air Conditioning Costs in Florida

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