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IS IT TIME TO RE-THINK PAYMENT TO DIRECTORS?
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published November 23, 2015
It has been a long time since we blogged about whether or not
officers and directors of our Florida community associations
should get paid for their service to the community. I certainly
don’t know if payment to directors would cut down on theft of
association funds and get more people to participate in the
affairs of the community. Here is what I do know however.
Crime in condominiums and HOAs, simply doesn’t stop. It’s not
getting better and seems to be getting worse.
There is never a decent stretch of time that goes by where we’re
not reading on the internet or watching on the news some officer
or director who took the association funds when he or she
thought nobody was looking. Sometimes it’s used to pay off
their own mortgage default like in Bartow last week, other times
it’s used to simply go on a gambling spree at a casino like what
happened in Hollywood last year.
Florida law is pretty clear. Directors serve without
compensation unless authorized in the governing documents. HOA
law would also allow payments to an officer or director if voted
on in advance by a majority of owners at a properly called
meeting where a quorum is present. The bottom
line…..compensation is prohibited unless expressly authorized.
Have we reached the point where the job of a director is
deserving of compensation? Now, they need to get certified.
They put in countless hours trying to better the community.
They hear endless complaints from their neighbors at all hours
of the day or night. They’re criticized even when they’re doing
a great job and have to face their neighbors on the elevator or
at the pool, who they also happen to be suing them. And that’s
just the job perks!
Why in their right mind would anyone take on this responsibility
for zero compensation? At least if you do charity work at a
local organization you’re not criticized for it and you’re not
woken up in the middle of the night by people complaining about
a water leak.
Is it possible that time on the job builds resentment? At some
point, do some Board members say to themselves that they’re
going to take some money because they feel they simply deserve
it for putting up with everybody else’s B.S.? Or, is that
simply an excuse for justifying the reprehensible act of
stealing from your neighbors?
Would some form of payment attract more qualified candidates?
Would it prevent theft of association funds? What is the proper
amount of compensation? Free assessments? Are your Board
members deserving of some form of compensation? Would you do
their job for free?
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About
HOA & Condo Blog
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Eric Glazer graduated from
the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 after
receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has practiced community
association law for more than 2
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decades and is the owner of Glazer
and Associates, P.A. a seven attorney law firm with offices in
Fort Lauderdale and Orlando and satellite offices in Naples,
Fort Myers and Tampa.
Since 2009, Eric has been the host
of Condo Craze and HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show that airs
at noon each Sunday on 850 WFTL.
See:
www.condocrazeandhoas.com.
He is the first attorney in the
State of Florida that designed a course that certifies
condominium residents as eligible to serve on a condominium
Board of Directors and has now certified more than 10,000
Floridians all across the state. He is certified as a Circuit
Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has mediated
dozens of disputes between associations and unit owners. Eric
also devotes significant time to advancing legislation in the
best interest of Florida community association members.
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