THE RIGHT TO VIDEO RECORD YOUR BOARD MEETING
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published November 19, 2018
Both the condo statute and the HOA statute grant owners the
authority to record board meetings. The condo statute states:
718.112: The right to attend such meetings includes the right to
speak at such meetings with reference to all designated agenda
items. The division shall adopt reasonable rules governing the
tape recording and videotaping of the meeting.
So what reasonable rules did the division adopt in this regard?
See Rule 61B-23.002 of the Florida Administrative Code
which states:
(10) Any unit owner may tape record or videotape meetings of the
board of administration, committee meetings, or unit owner
meetings, subject to the following restrictions:
(a) The only audio and video equipment and devices which unit
owners are authorized to utilize at any such meeting is
equipment which does not produce distracting sound or light
emissions.
(b) If adopted in advance by the board or unit owners as a
written rule, audio and video equipment shall be assembled and
placed in position in advance of the commencement of the
meeting.
(c) If adopted in advance by the board or unit owners as a
written rule, anyone videotaping or recording a meeting shall
not be permitted to move about the meeting room in order to
facilitate the recording.
(d) If adopted in advance by the board or unit owners as a
written rule, advance notice shall be given to the board by any
unit owner desiring to utilize any audio or video equipment.
For HOAs - Florida Statute 720.306 states:
(10) RECORDING.—Any parcel owner may tape record or videotape
meetings of the board of directors and meetings of the members.
The board of directors of the association may adopt reasonable
rules governing the taping of meetings of the board and the
membership.
So the law is pretty clear and unambiguous. Meetings can
definitely be video taped. But we do we do about those board
members and other unit owners who simply do not want to be video
taped and strenuously object to being video taped?
In 1997, a co-op called Lake Como Co-op asked the Division if
they can kindly be granted a waiver from the rule allowing board
meetings to be video taped. In all fairness to them, they
seemed to have a great excuse. THEY WERE A NUDIST
COLONY. EVERYONE AT THE MEETINGS WERE IN THEIR BIRTHDAY SUITS.
Even though the attendees had concerns about being video taped
in the buff, the Division held that the statute simply allows
for the video taping of meetings. There is no exception.
However, the opinion does state that the board could enact
reasonable guidelines that would be sensitive to both the unit
owner’s right of access and their privacy concerns.
Here is what I learned while doing my research for this blog
today. First, there is a strong presumption in favor of
allowing the video taping of meetings. Second, I’m not sure
that if the nudist colony’s attorney shows up for a meeting, he
or she must be nude as well. And finally, I’m not going to be
representing any nudist colonies.
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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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