Do you have questions or need clarification regarding your Association’s Insurance? Insurance can be a complicated subject and entails a unique vendor relationship. Here are some commonly asked questions about Association insurance:
What insurance must an association carry?
Can they be Self Insured?
What is the role of the Insurance Agent?
How is Association Insurance “Shopped” or “Bid Out”?
How does the Association know they’re getting the best deal available to them?
What is the difference between an “Admitted” and “Non-Admitted” Carrier?
If you are looking for answers to any of the above questions, this short video will answer them for you:
If you would like to learn more about the increase of insurance rates and the general State of the Market, please Click Here to watch our Insurance Increases Webinar from October 5th.
Your lakes and ponds have many different functions and vary from community to community. For the most part, they collect sediment and flowing water during rainstorms, operate as fishing spots, and serve as beautiful ecosystems to enjoy year round. But when they are unmanaged, they can have physical and chemical imbalances that affect the lifespan of the waterbody and affect the surrounding ecosystem.
You should contact an experienced professional to discuss the options to fix and then protect these imbalances. Aeration is one thing that many associations turn to in order to fix years of problems. It may not be the first solution that comes to their mind, however if you have a lake covered in algae, the resulting circulation and oxygenation from aeration can make a huge difference in the long term sustainability and effectiveness of a good management plan.
Well-oxygenated water can help prevent the occurrence of undesirable algae by increasing the activity of aerobic bacteria and facilitating the conversion of phosphorus to forms that do not sustain algae growth. It can also adjust pH and other related water quality to help improve the growth of fish, native organisms and healthy green phytoplankton. Improved oxygenation and water circulation can help reduce the accumulation of organic sediment at the bottom of the waterbody. Your lake or pond will be healthier and less likely to require algaecide treatments or costly dredging.
There are four (4) types of aeration systems which you can consider.
Floating Fountain Aerators
Surface Lake and Pond Aerators – these are especially good for shallow waterbodies
Submersed Diffused Aeration – these are good for deep waterbodies
Nanobubble Aeration Treatments
Again, make sure that you talk to a professional about what lake management options work well for your community.
There’s news once again reporting food and product supply shortages are on the horizon, if not already here, due to what can only be described as a logistics disaster. This morning’s news reported that there are thousands of shipping crates snarled in a logistical nightmare waiting to be off loaded with no relief in sight. One news source reported 250,000 crates are waiting to off load. While no one is yelling “fire in a crowded theater,” (yet) it likely makes sense to get ahead of your association’s inventory needs. That said, hoarding is never a good idea. But, keeping extra inventory on hand may make sense until the supply chains are working correctly again.
Sources for the following include CBS News, the Wall Street Journal and Axios:
“American families are going to face a two-pronged assault:
1. Empty shelves at toy and grocery stores 2. Inflated prices on the toys and groceries that are available.
At this very moment, there are 250,000 shipping containers stuck at sea off the east and west coasts, waiting to be unloaded and it could be months before they get to store shelves. But Biden is presiding over one of the biggest supply chain bottlenecks since WWII: [via CBS News]
Ships cant dock because ports are full
Ports are full because there aren’t enough truck drivers to take the shipping containers away
When truckers do arrive, the ports are poorly staffed and they can’t offload fast enough, resulting in truck drivers who used to pick up 20 loads/week, now only able to take six
The cost of shipping a container from China to the U.S. is now $20,000, four times higher than this time last year.
It’s already begun: Stores across the country are already restricting supplies. Try not to have flashbacks to March 2020, but Costo and Walmart have announced they are limiting sales of toilet paper in some stores. And around the country, there are shortages of goods on shelves in Target, Costco, Home Depot, and Sears.
Warning about your Christmas feast: Axios is reporting that food supplies will also be impacted: “Grocery stores could have limited quantities of a number of products heading into the holidays after some of the country’s biggest food manufacturers say they’re short on supply.”
The Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” comes to mind!
by 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. Mr. Rembaum is a Certified Specialist in Condominium and Planned Development Law. He is the creator of ‘Rembaum’s Association Roundup’, an e-magazine devoted to the education of community association board members, managers, developers and anyone involved with Florida’s community associations. His column appears monthly in the Florida Community Association Journal. Every year since 2012, Mr. Rembaum has been selected to the Florida Super Lawyers list and was also named Legal Elite by Florida Trends Magazine. He can be reached at 561-241-4462.
Few professions have more demands placed upon them than that of the Florida licensed community association manager (CAM). Depending on whom you ask, the CAM is the organizer, rules enforcer, keeper of secrets (meaning confidential and statutorily protected information not limited to the medical record of owners and attorney-client privileged information), best friend, the “bad guy” (a frequent misconstruction), and the first person in the line of fire when things go wrong; in other words, the one who takes all the blame and gets little credit when things go right.
When things at the association go wrong, what comment is most likely heard? “It’s the manager’s fault!” But, is it? Unless the manager failed to carry out a lawful directive from the board, breached a management contract provision, or violated a Florida statute, then in all likelihood, the manager has no culpability. CAMs are licensed by the State of Florida pursuant to Part VIII of Chapter 468 of the Florida Statutes, and there are statutory standards by which CAMs must conduct themselves.
Pursuant to §468.4334, Florida Statutes, “[a] community association manager or a community association management firm is deemed to act as agent on behalf of a community association as principal within the scope of authority authorized by a written contract or under this chapter. A community association manager and a community association management firm shall discharge duties performed on behalf of the association as authorized by this chapter loyally, skillfully, and diligently; dealing honestly and fairly; in good faith; with care and full disclosure to the community association; accounting for all funds; and not charging unreasonable or excessive fees.”
As set forth herein, statutory standards provide guidance to CAMs as to how they should conduct themselves. They must discharge their duties with skill and care and in good faith. They must act with loyalty to their association employer and deal with the association both honestly and fairly. They must provide full disclosure, which can be interpreted as both keeping the board informed of current events and providing disclosures of any conflict of interests. They must be able to account for all funds, too, which means both assessment income and expenditures; in other words, they must mind the budget.
Best practices for CAMs include becoming extremely familiar with the governing documents of the association (including the declaration, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and rules and regulations) and the financials of the association, walking the physical property, engaging with their team and residents, as well as providing weekly status updates to the board regarding all ongoing association business. If you are a CAM and do these things, then you have an opportunity to shine and stand head and shoulders above your peers and competition. This weekly status report is an excellent communication tool yet seems to be a rarity. CAMs should also make themselves available to owners. However, when an owner becomes offensive or insulting, the CAM should politely and firmly request that the owner communicate respectfully and in a professional manner. A CAM should always be financially transparent and should be extremely familiar with the management contract to fully understand her obligations and authority; for example, the limitation to spend association funds. Finally, the CAM should strive to keep a written record of her activities.
The two most obvious and biggest ways to get in trouble include committing acts of gross misconduct or gross negligence in connection with the profession or contracting on behalf of an association with any entity in which the CAM has a financial interest that is not disclosed. Disciplinary actions against a CAM fall under the purview of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). Section 455.227, Florida Statutes, governs grounds for discipline, penalties, and enforcement.
For example, the following activities constitute grounds for which disciplinary actions may be taken by the DBPR (this list is not all inclusive):
(i) making misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent representations in or related to the practice of the CAM’s profession; (ii) intentionally violating any rule adopted by the DBPR; (iii) being convicted or found guilty of, or entering a plea of guilty or nolo contendere (“I do not wish to contend”) to, a crime in any jurisdiction which relates to the practice of, or the ability to practice, a CAM’s profession; (iv) having been found liable in a civil proceeding for knowingly filing a false report or complaint with the DBPR against another CAM; (v) attempting to obtain, obtaining, or renewing a license to practice a profession by bribery, by fraudulent misrepresentation, or through an error of the DBPR; (vi) failing to report to the DBPR any person who the CAM knows is in violation of the laws regulating CAMs or the rules of the DBPR; (vii) aiding, assisting, procuring, employing, or advising any unlicensed person or entity to practice a profession contrary to law; (viii) failing to perform any statutory or legal obligation; (ix) making or filing a report which the licensee knows to be false; (x) making deceptive, untrue, or fraudulent representations in or related to the practice of a profession or employing a trick or scheme in or related to the practice of a profession; and (xi) performing professional responsibilities the licensee knows, or has reason to know, the licensee is not competent to perform.
The Florida Administrative Code, in Rule 61E14-2.001, also provides standards for professional conduct which are deemed automatically incorporated as duties of all CAMs into any written or oral agreement for community association management services. A CAM must adhere to the following standards:
comply with the requirements of the governing documents by which a community association is created or operated
only deposit or disburse funds received by the CAM or management firm on behalf of the association for the specific purpose or purposes designated by the board, community association management contract, or the governing documents of the association
perform all community association management services required by the CAM’s contract to professional standards and to the standards established by §468.4334(1), Florida Statutes
in the event of a potential conflict of interest, provide full disclosure to the association and obtain authorization or approval; and
respond to, or refer to the appropriate responsible party, a notice of violation or any similar notice from an agency seeking to impose a regulatory penalty upon the association within the timeframe specified in the notice.
In addition, during the performance of community association management services pursuant to a contract with a community association, a CAM cannot withhold possession of the association’s official records or original books, records, accounts, funds, or other property of the association when requested in writing by the association to deliver the foregoing to the association upon reasonable notice. However, the CAM may retain those records necessary to complete an ending financial statement or report for up to 20 days after termination of the management contract. Additionally, a CAM cannot (i) deny or delay access to association official records to an owner, or his or her authorized representative, who is entitled to inspect and copy the association’s official records within the timeframe and under the applicable statutes governing the association; (ii) create false records or alter the official records of an association or of the CAM except in such cases where an alteration is permitted by law (e.g., the correction of minutes per direction given at a meeting at which the minutes are submitted for approval); or (iii) fail to maintain the records for a CAM, management firm, or the official records of the association as required by the applicable statutes governing the association.
How do you know if your association requires a licensed community association manager? Pursuant to §468.431, Florida Statutes, if the association has 10 or more units or has a budget of $100,000 or more and the person is conducting one or more of the following activities in exchange for payment, the person must be a licensed CAM:
controlling or disbursing funds of a community association
preparing budgets or other financial documents for a community association
assisting in the noticing or conduct of community association meetings
determining the number of days required for statutory notices
determining amounts due to the association
collecting amounts due to the association before the filing of a civil action
calculating the votes required for a quorum or to approve a proposition or amendment
completing forms related to the management of a community association that have been created by statute or by a state agency
drafting meeting notices and agendas
calculating and preparing certificates of assessment and estoppel certificates
responding to requests for certificates of assessment and estoppel certificates
negotiating monetary or performance terms of a contract subject to approval by an association
drafting pre-arbitration demands
coordinating or performing maintenance for real or personal property and other related routine services involved in the operation of a community association, or
complying with the association’s governing documents and the requirements of law as necessary to perform such practices.
However, a person who performs clerical or ministerial functions under the direct supervision and control of a CAM or who is charged only with performing the maintenance of a community association and who does not assist in any of the management services described above is not required to be licensed.
So, whose fault is it when things go awry? A CAM’s role is far different than that of a rental complex manager who often has decision-making authority. The CAM does not have that same type of decision-making authority. The CAM must take direction from the board and perform pursuant to the obligations set out in the management agreement and Florida law. It is the board of directors of the community association that actually makes the decisions. So, while the uninformed might blame the CAM, you now know that the buck stops with the board of directors. If you have further questions regarding a CAM’s responsibility, then please discuss this with your association’s lawyer.
by 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. Mr. Rembaum is a Certified Specialist in Condominium and Planned Development Law. He is the creator of ‘Rembaum’s Association Roundup’, an e-magazine devoted to the education of community association board members, managers, developers and anyone involved with Florida’s community associations. His column appears monthly in the Florida Community Association Journal. Every year since 2012, Mr. Rembaum has been selected to the Florida Super Lawyers list and was also named Legal Elite by Florida Trends Magazine. He can be reached at 561-241-4462.
We recently polled our property managers at Campbell about their experience with committees; what are the challenges and what tips make them successful.
Below is the feedback we received from our Campbell Property Managers, who average over 12 years’ experience in property management.
The biggest challenges committees bring:
It is difficult to get a consensus if the committee is greater than three people.
Scheduling, research, and logistics of committee meetings can easily slow down the project and make it take much longer.
An unclear understanding of the scope of responsibility may result in over-reach and frustration when suggestions made by the committee are not accepted by the board.
Personalities are the biggest challenge – if committee members are not getting along with other committee members or board members, it can be very ineffective.
Lack of understanding of the subject matter can also be a major challenge.
Tips to make your committees successful:
Keep it small – and make sure the committee members are on the same page, no personality conflicts among members or board members.
Ensure focus – what is the scope, when, what is out of scope and how should they work with others.
Committees are best used on new concepts that not many properties have done, or one-off projects that are infrequent and projects that require aesthetic input.
If you are concerned a committee might slow a project down or complicate it – – it probably will. Trust your gut and avoid using a committee in this instance.
For additional information on committees, check out these blog posts:
Many insurance carriers are taking a very hard look at roofs due to all the roof claims that followed Hurricane Irma in 2017. Insurance carriers are not taking risks on “questionable roofs.”
As technology advances, so too has the inspection process for carriers. However, that does not necessarily result in greater efficiency with regards to generating accurate information. As COVID is still a hot issue, many companies are now using drones for inspections rather than sending a person onto the roof. This practice has led to some issues with inspectors claiming, “dirty roofs” look “beyond their useful life.”
When an inspection comes back poor, whether by a person or a drone, most carriers are providing a 60-day recommendation window to get a response from a professional roofing contractor. This recommendation is generally something along the lines of, “A licensed roofing contractor should inspect the roof coverings and advise whether the coverings require repair or replacement and determine their useful life remaining.” Inspectors then put forward a report with what they find on the roof, along with pictures, potential repairs, estimates, and what they believe the useful remaining life of the roof is.
A problem that is becoming more prevalent is when the roofing contractor does the inspection on what the association believes is a good working roof with 5+ years of warranty or life remaining, but the report comes back confirming it’s “beyond it’s useful life and should be replaced”. Once the determination is made by a roofing contractor that the roof is beyond it’s useful life, it is extremely difficult to find a carrier willing to write the deal.
The insurance marketplace has moved to a consistent view that roofs over 15 years are past their useful life from a cost standpoint at the very least. That is, at 15 years, some carriers will no longer cover at “Replacement Cost Valuation,” but rather “Actual Cash Value” which means roofs are looked at based on their depreciated value from a depreciation schedule.
Additionally, some carriers have moved away from “Actual Cash Value” and have decided that 15 years is a hard cut off for them with regards to writing new business, as the costs of litigation/fighting against public adjustors can often be 10-20% of the total claim amount. As carriers move away from writing the older roofs entirely, there are less carriers willing to write, and pricing is often not very competitive.
The insurance marketplace is changing rapidly, it’s critical that you are working closely with your agent as far out as possible on your renewal and review your policy options very carefully. If this more conservative view of older roofs continues to persist in the marketplace it may accelerate reserve funding and roof replacement schedules. We are continuing to monitor the marketplace, stay tuned to our blog for updates.
We recently held an “Insurance Increases” educational webinar with Paul Mack from Mack, Mack, & Waltz Insurance Group to discuss recent increases in association insurance costs.
As COVID-19 restrictions have loosened on group gatherings, many are questioning the best way to continue holding board meetings. Holding the meetings virtually has increased participation from the community, but communities are eager to meet in person again. This has led many to ask the following: Is there a way to successfully host a meeting in-person, while also broadcasting virtually?
First off, can associations continue to host board and annual meetings on virtual platforms? In short, yes. However, anyone who joins virtually must be able to participate and be heard by those attending the meeting in person. If you would like to learn more about the statute requirements, please click here to read a detailed article by Jeffrey Rembaum.
Now that it is established that your Association can continue using Zoom, or any virtual platform, here is what you will need to run a successful hybrid meeting:
High-speed internet
Zoom account (or another virtual platform)
A laptop computer
HDMI Cord
Large TV/monitor or projector
External computer speakers
External USB Microphone
External USB camera (optional)
Establishing Video
The first step is to log in to the Zoom meeting on the laptop. Then, place the laptop in a position where the camera fits all the board members seats within frame, so that they can be seen by Zoom participants. An external USB camera could be used for more flexibility but is not necessary.
Next, plug one end of the HDMI cord into the laptop and the other end into the monitor/TV/projector. The laptop screen should be duplicated onto the screen. This allows everyone in the room to see those attending on Zoom. If you do not have an external monitor/projector, this step is not critical as long as the Zoom participants can be heard.
Establishing Audio
You will need to make sure that the audio from the laptop can be heard in the room, for when a Zoom participant speaks. If you connected your laptop to a TV, the audio may automatically be projected from the TV. If not, you will need to plug in external speakers so that the audio can be projected in the room.
Inversely, the audio from those attending in-person needs to be heard by those who are attending virtually. To achieve the best audio for Zoom participants, consider purchasing an omnidirectional microphone for the board members. The Blue Yet Microphone is an excellent microphone to use for hybrid board meetings and is sold at most major retailers, click here to view on Best Buy for local pick up.
Test, Test, and Test Again
The setup noted above may not be the most advanced for some, as different associations may have varying technology in hand. However, this equipment is simple to set up and is accessible. No matter the equipment used, make sure to test multiple times prior to the hybrid board meeting to make sure that everything is working as it should be.
**Disclaimer: This video is for educational purposes only. You will not receive CEU credits for watching the recording. Credits were issued only to those that attended the course.
