By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published
July 1, 2013
Today
is July 1st. That
means that all the new laws we fought so hard for take effect as
of today. Lots of
changes happened this past legislative session.
Glazer and Associates, P.A. prepared our newsletter which
details these changes in easy to read format.
For a copy, simply click here:
Newsletter
On
a day when we really celebrate all of these new laws that
promote harmony and common sense in community associations, I
also can't help but think that week after week, year after year,
people complain that condos and HOA's are simply places where
there are too many laws, too many rules and too many
regulations. In
fact, the stereotype surrounding many of these
Florida
associations is that they are governed by rigid boards of
directors who are sticklers for the rules and who lurk around
the community looking for the slightest of violations so they
can pounce the fining committee or the association's law firm on
the unsuspecting poor unit owner.
Suppose
for one year we decided to scrap the condo and HOA laws
completely? In fact,
Boards wouldn't even have the right to make any rules and
regulations and there would also be no laws preventing Board
members from looting the association's operating and reserve
funds. Instead, we
would all have to rely on each other to administer fair
elections to decide who would be in charge.
We would have to completely trust the Board members not
to steal because there would be no punishment.
We would also have to rely on the unit owners to
voluntarily pay their monthly or quarterly assessments on time
in order that the bills get paid, even though there would be no
law that forces them to pay and no consequences whatsoever for
non payment other than utilities to the community eventually
being turned off. We
would also rely on the common sense and kindness of our
neighbors to only use the common area swimming pools and
exercise rooms at hours that don't annoy their fellow neighbors
and appeal to their sense of reasonableness that they would keep
the stereo and TV down in their unit.
Of
course we are all concerned about the appearance of the
community, so even though there would be absolutely no means of
enforcement, unit owners and homeowners would be politely asked
to keep the appearance of their homes up.
The penalty for failing---none.
Parking rules and regulations would be tossed to the wind
as well. Park
wherever you want --- but keep in mind that there is only one
designated spot per unit so please don't park more than one car.
The penalty for bringing four cars --- none.
Of
course you also wouldn't be entitled to get copies of the
association's records. If
someone was keeping copies of those records and if they were
kind enough to share those records with you, only then would you
be able to get a copy. And
by the way……if the roof starts leaking and we need to fix
it, we would simply ask that everyone voluntarily chips in to
make the repairs because it's only fair.
If you don't contribute though --- there's not a thing
that can be done to you. We
are simply relying on your generosity and sense of fairness.
I
can go on all day with these type of examples.
Of course, my point is that while people complain about
community associations having too many laws, there's no question
that without laws there would simply be chaos.
On
the other hand, some have suggested that all of these laws have
now resulted in chaos. Who
is right?
