begin within a year of receiving such report.[22]Thus, once again, there is confusion in the statute whether authorized state action can shorten or lengthen the specified deadlines.•Reserves— The second significant aspect of S.B. 4-D is that after December 31, 2024, associations with buildings three stories or higher can no longer waive reserves for certain building components deemed critical to structural soundness and safety.[23]Applicable associations must also complete a structural integrity reserve study (SIRS) for these components, and they must establish reserves to fund them in full over their remaining useful life.[24]The immediate effect after January 1, 2025, will be a dramatic increase in assessments for thousands of condominiums and co-ops across the state. Associations will not only have to make up reserves waived in prior years, but also provide new reserves for building components where reserves were not previously required.Some of the newly identified components under F.S. §718.112(2)(g),e.g., a building’s foundation, are questionable at best.[25]No one doubts that a foundation is vital to a building’s overall structure, but inspecting this component is extremely difficult or practically impossible without substantial destructive work. The new legislation ignores this reality and arguably requires the inspector to assign it a useful life in the SIRS so the association in turn can establish it as a reserve item.[26]What would one consider the useful life of the foundation of the Empire State Building or the Colosseum in Rome? Equally elusive may be determining the useful life of the condominium’s floors, load-bearing walls, or other primary structural members.[27]Finally, the legislature also added windows as a SIRS item, but in many condominiums, unit owners are responsible for repairing and replacing their windows. This means the new statute may require associations to assess unit owners for building components it has no obligation to maintain under its governing doc

As you may be aware, the deadline for condominium associations to vote to forego retrofitting with a fire sprinkler system is rapidly approaching. Section 718.112(2)(l), Florida Statutes, requires certain condominium associations to retrofit their common elements, association property, and units with a fire sprinkler system in accordance with Chapter 633 (“Florida’s Fire Prevention Code”) and any other code, statute, ordinance, administrative rule, or regulation relating to a fire sprinkler system. Compliance may require substantial costs.

ency. This article focuses on the new criminal penalties, hurricane measures, and operational requirements, all intended to address the foregoing items. Criminal PenaltiesHB 1021 imposes the following criminal penalties related to condominium associations and certain unlawful and fraudulent behavior:third-degree felony for an officer, director, or manager of a condominium association who knowingly solicits, offers to accept, or accepts a kickback (Section 718.111(1)(a), Florida Statutes);third-degree felony forwillfully and knowingly refusing to release or otherwise produce association records, with the intent to avoid or escape detection, arrest, trial, or punishment for the commission of a crime, or to assist another person with such avoidance or escape (Section 718.111(12)(c)(4), Florida Statutes);first-degree misdemeanor for aiding in fraud in connection with a vote cast, preventing a member from voting, or using bribery or any other corruption to attempt to deter a voting member (Section 718.112(r), Florida Statutes);first-degree misdemeanor for knowingly and intentionally defacing or destroying required accounting records, or knowingly and intentionally failing to create or maintain required accounting records, with the intent of causing harm to the association or one or more of its members (Section 718.111(12)(c)(3), Florida Statutes); andsecond-degree misdemeanor for knowingly, willfully, and repeatedly violating any of the requirements relating to the inspection and copying of official association records with the intent of causing harm to the association or one or more of its members (Section 718.111(12)(c)(2), Florida Statutes).Hurricane ProtectionHB 1021 introduces new hurricane protection measures in an effort to protect the health, safety, and welfare of unit owners and ensure the uniformity of such protections installed by condominium associations across the state. First, Section 718.103(19), Florida Statutes, creates a uniform definition of “Hurricane protection,” which includes hurric

Assignments of BenefitsHouse Bill 7103 – Effective June 28, 2019 Under the Florida Fire Prevention Code, all high-rise condominiums must be protected by either (1) a complete automatic fire sprinkler system or (2) an engineered life safety system (“ELSS”). High-rise condominiums are those with buildings greater than 75 feet in height, measured from the lowest level of fire department access to the floor of the highest occupiable level.Prior to House Bill 7103 being adopted, Section 718.112(2)(l), Florida Statutes, required all high-rise condominiums to retrofit the condominium with a fire sprinkler system or an engineered life safety system by December 31, 2019 or vote to opt out of the sprinkler retrofit option. The option to opt out of the sprinkler retrofit expired on December 31, 2016 and there was no opt-out provision for ELSS.

on. But, inevitably, life happens, and a once-enthused board member may become all but absent from the board—missing several meetings at a time. The net result is a board having, for all practical purposes, one less member than the Association chose, risking deadlocks when voting on motions or a failure to achieve quorum.In an attempt to avoid this, many condominium associations’ governing documents include provisions permitting the Board of Di­rectors to remove an individual Director if he or she has been absent for a certain number of consecutive meetings. While this may appear to be an easy remedy, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation Division of Florida Condominiums, Time­shares and Mobile Homes (the DBPR) has determined that such provisions are unenforceable. See, e.g., Robert Wilson, Petitioners, v. Bayberry Homeowners’ Association, Inc., Respondent., 2017 WL 1277263, at *1 (Fla. DBPR Jan. 9, 2017). In reaching this conclusion, the arbitrator found that because Section 718.112(2)(k), Florida Statutes “provides for removal of a board member by recall by the unit owners, the board may not remove a board member, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the condominium documents purporting to authorize board removal by board action.” See id. (quoting Seville Place Condominium Association, Inc. v. Unit Owners Voting for Recall, Arb. Case No. 2004-01-1153, fn 3 (April 8, 2004) and Hernandez v Pinebark Con­dominium Association, Inc., Arb. Case No. 94-0531, Summary Final Order (May 17, 1995)). The DPBR continued, noting that “[i]f a board may willy-nilly remove board members following a duly conducted election, the board has the ability to change the outcome of any given election in a fundamental way.” See id. Thus, regardless of any provision purporting to allow the Board of Directors to oust a director based on a number of consecutive absences, the board has no authority to exercise this right. As a result, in the event a board member becomes unable to regularly fulfill his or h

nium, Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and Rules of the Association, a copy of the most recent year-end financial information and the frequently asked question and answers documents for the association and a copy of the Florida Condominium Governance form. From the date of receipt of the aforementioned documents the buyer has three days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, during which to terminate the contract (Rescission Period). One of the fundamental reasons for the Rescission Period is for a prospective buyer to ascertain what the costs of ownership are and likely will be moving forward. With additional information soon to be available the analysis of the current and future costs go beyond the currently required documents.As a consequence of the tragedy of the Champlain Towers collapse on June 24, 2021, the Florida Legislature has required more robust regular inspections of residential condominium properties. The Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS) included in Florida Statutes 718.112(2)(g) requires a residential condominium of three or more stories to have an inspection of the structural elements of the condominium property to identify major repairs and replacements that may be needed. § 718.112(2)(g) Fla. Stat. The SIRS report is to be completed every 10 years and for associations existing on or before July 1, 2022, the initial report is to be completed by Dec. 31, 2024. The following components, if maintained by the association, are to be addressed by a visual inspection to be done by an appropriately qualified professional: roof, structural, load-bearing walls and other primary structural members; fire proofing and fire protection systems; plumbing; electrical systems; waterproofing and exterior painting; windows and exterior doors; any other item that has deferred maintenance or replacement cost that exceeds $10,000 and the failure to replace affects the previously mentioned components. The Milestone Inspection Report Study (MIRS) is a structural inspection of a bui

Prohibit condominium associations from requiring unit owners to state a purpose for accessing official records.Allow condominium association to make its documents available through a mobile device or posting on a web site.Amends § 718.112, Florida Statutes to: Provide that a majority vote of a condominium association may extinguish a discriminatory restriction as provided in § 712.065, Florida Statutes. § 712.065, Florida Statutes allows the Board of Directors to amend governing documents by majority vote to remove provisions which are discriminatory towards “any natural person on the basis of a characteristic that has been held, or is held after September 4, 2020, by the United States Supreme Court or the Florida Supreme Court to be protected against discrimination under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution or under s. 2, Art. I of the State Constitution, including race, color, national origin, religion, gender, or physical disability.”Clarify that only board service that occurs on or after July 1, 2018 may be used when calculating term limits.

The issue many associations are facing is whether written consent may be sent via e-mail notwithstanding the amendment to section 720.303, and the similar provision found in section 718.112(2)(c), Florida Statutes, prohibiting voting on an association matter via e-mail. Many condominium and homeowners’ associations’ governing documents allow the board to take action without a meeting by unanimous, written consent signed by all of the directors.

It was also amended to remove the reference to 2-year terms when referring to term limits. That is, a Board member may not serve more than 8 consecutive years regardless of the length of Director terms, unless approved by an affirmative vote of unit owners representing two-thirds of all votes cast in the election or unless there are not enough eligible candidates to fill the vacancies on the Board at the time of the vacancy.Condominium Association Director Recall Section 718.112(2)(j), Florida Statutes, was amended to clarify that a Board member shall be recalled effective immediately upon the conclusion of the Board meeting that must be held within 5 business days after (i) the adjournment of the unit owner recall meeting or (ii) receipt of the written agreement to recall, provided that the recall is facially valid. If the Board fails to meet or determines at the meeting that the recall is not facially valid, the unit owner representative may file a recall petition challenging the Board’s failure to act or challenging the Boards’ determination on facial validity.

Pursuant to Florida Statute § 720.303(1) and Florida Statute § 718.112(2), homeowners associations and condominium associations, respectively, have the powers and duties set forth in the applicable statutes as well as the particular community association’s governing documents. The most common powers and duties of a community association include the power and duty to: Maintain All Common Element Property Levy Assessments, Pay Common Expenses, Manage Finances Review and Approve Architectural and Other Modifications (to the extent authorized by governing documents) Conduct Meetings and Elections Maintain Official Records Enforce Governing Documents Institute actions concerning matters of common interest to the members (such as matters involving common elements, developer obligations, etc.) Often, neighbor vs neighbor disputes do not concern any of the powers and duties of the association.