Transcript ppFirst1 - Suncoast CAI

June 9, 2011
Jonathan James Damonte, Esq.
Jonathan James Damonte, Chartered
12110 Seminole Blvd.
Largo, FL 33778
(727)586-2889
[email protected]
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More than 2,000 bills were filed in the
Legislature this year.
Less then 300 were passed by both the House
and Senate.
Bills are sent to the Governor in batches,
usually of about 10 at a time.
247 have been signed by the Governor so far.
4 have been vetoed so far.
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Governor’s website: www.flgov.com
Click on “Media Center” located on the right
panel, then select “Bill Actions” from the
drop-down list, which downloads a .pdf file
with status of bills sent to Governor so far.
Legislature: www.leg.state.fl.us
Click on “Senate” or “House” and search by
bill number, or by text. For example, type in
“condominium” to see all bills that have the
word “condominium” in them.
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HB1195, the Community Associations
bill supported by CAI, was approved by
the Legislature on June 3rd.
The bill has not yet been sent to the
Governor, but will be soon.
The Governor is expected to sign it. If
signed by the Governor, it will become
effective on July 1, 2011.
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Fire Code: Amends s. 633.0215 of the Fire Code
to provide that condos, co-ops and multifamily residential buildings of less than four
stories are exempt from installing manual fire
alarm systems, provided building has an exterior
corridor providing egress.
Hurricane Glass: Condo associations are
permitted to install impact glass or other codecompliant windows for hurricane protection.
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Official Records:
Amends s. 718.111(12)(a)7., to include fax
numbers, and provides that email addresses
and fax numbers are not accessible to unit
owners if consent to receive electronic notices
has not been provided by the unit owner.
S. 718.111(12)(c)5. is amended to comport
with s. 718.111(12)(c)3. (protected information).
S. 718.112(2)(b)3.b. is added to provide that a
Board meeting to discuss personnel matters
does not have to be open to the unit owners.
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Condo Elections:
Candidates: Must be eligible to serve at the 40 day
notice deadline in order to be on ballot or serve.
Director Certification: Condo directors may submit
proof of educational course attendance (in lieu of
signing the certification form) provided the course is
completed within 1 year before or 90 days after the
date of election or appointment. Certification is valid
as long as the director serves without interruption.
Terms: Terms do not expire at annual meeting if all
members’ terms would expire and there are no
candidates. When terms expire at the annual
meeting, directors may stand for re-election unless
prohibited by bylaws.
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720 HOA Elections & Meetings:
Adds condo provisions to 720 HOAs:
Lot owners delinquent more than 90
days are not eligible to serve on the
Board, and convicted felons are not
eligible to serve.
All members are entitled to speak at
board meetings with reference to all
designated agenda items.
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Bulk Telecommunications – 720 HOAs
Creates s. 720.309(2), F.S., mirroring
2010 condo law, allowing association
bulk purchase of telecommunications,
information, and internet services.
Prohibits 720 HOA from denying
individual service to any resident from
a certificated or franchised telcom
provider.
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Condominiums, Cooperatives & HOAs:
Rents: “Future monetary obligations”
includes all rent due from the tenant to the
unit or lot owner and must be paid to the
association until all delinquent accounts are
paid in full.
Form Letter: New form letter to tenants
explaining tenant’s obligation to pay rent to
the association;
Immunity: Tenant has immunity from any
claim by the landlord for rent timely paid to
the association after demand.
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Suspensions:
Allows for suspension of common element
use rights for non-payment without a
hearing, but requires Board approval at
properly noticed Board meeting;
Allows for suspension of common element
use rights for bad acts after notice and a
hearing;
If voting rights are suspended, the
suspended votes do not count towards a
quorum or vote on an action.
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Assessments: An association that acquires title
to a unit through foreclosure is not liable for
unpaid assessments that came due before the
association’s acquisition of title to any other
condo or homeowners’ association.
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Termination of Condominiums
Partial terminations and the amendments providing
for them are not subject to s. 718.110(4), F.S.
The plan of termination must state the remaining
interests in the portion of the condo not terminated.
The method of distribution and mortgagee
participation to reflect a partial termination has been
changed.
Termination is permitted for reasons of economic
waste and/or impossibility if a condo includes units
and timeshare units and the improvements have
been totally destroyed or demolished.
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Bulk Buyers / Bulk Assignees:
Amends definitions to mean a person who acquires
more than 7 parcels in “a single condominium”.
Bulk assignee is not liable for warranties under s.
718.203(1) or 718.618, F.S., except as provided by the
bulk assignee in a prospectus or in the contract for
purchase and sale purchase, or for design,
construction, development or repair work performed
by or for the bulk assignee.
Requires a filing with DBPR and disclosures to
prospective purchasers if the bulk buyer / bulk
assignee is offering more than 7 units in a single
condominium for sale or for lease for a term of more
than 5 years.
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Bulk Buyers / Bulk Assignees, continued:
If a bulk assignee receives an assignment of
developer’s rights at time of acquisition, and the
developer had not already turned over control of the
condo to the unit owners, then for purposes of the
turnover of control provisions of the condo law, the
bulk acquisition of units by the bulk assignee will
not be considered a conveyance to a purchaser, or be
considered owned by persons other than the
developer, and thus will not count toward the
turnover of control percentages until the units are
conveyed to owners who are not bulk assignees.
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Bulk Buyers / Bulk Assignees, continued:
Bulk buyers and bulk assignees are not required to
comply with filing or disclosure requirements IF all
units owned by bulk buyer or bulk assignee are
offered and conveyed to a single purchaser in a
single transaction.
Bulk buyer and bulk assignee status applies only to
the acquisition of condo parcels on or after July 1,
2010, but before July 1, 2012 (in other words, the
bulk buyer and bulk assignee status will effectively
sunset in 2012).
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The Florida Mobile Home Act (Chapter 723)
was amended to provide:
Code enforcement: Local government may
not cite a mobile home owner for a code
violation for something that is the
responsibility of the park owner, nor cite the
park owner for something that is the
responsibility of the home owner;
Right of first refusal: Adds change of land
use to the home owners’ association’s right of
first refusal to purchase the park.
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Rates: Allows insurers to raise rates up
to 15% to cover increases in reinsurance
costs (but State regulators still have to
approve increases).
Hurricane Claims: Hurricane claims
must be filed within three (3) years.
Public Adjusters: Limits public adjuster
advertising and compensation.
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Sinkholes:
Sinkhole claims must be filed within two (2) years.
Insurers must continue to offer sinkhole coverage,
but may limit coverage to homes and not other
structures on the property.
Insurers may require inspections before issuing
sinkhole coverage.
Allows insurers to initially pay only actual cash
value (ACV) for repairs to homes.
Insurers may require that repairs be made before
fully paying a sinkhole claim.
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Commercial Insurance: De-regulates
commercial insurance rates, including:
Non-residential property;
Non-residential multi-peril;
General liability;
Theft and burglary policies;
Fiduciary liability.
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Prohibits local governments from enacting a ban on
short-term rentals after June 1, 2011.
Local governments with existing rental bans are
“grandfathered” in.
Deletes the term “Resort dwelling”, replaces “Resort
condominium” with “Vacation rentals” and changes
the definition to “any unit or group of units in a
condominium, cooperative, or timeshare plan or any
individually or collectively owned single-family, twofamily, or four-family house or dwelling unit that is
also a transient public lodging establishment.”
Keeps exemption for condo rentals of 30 days or more.
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Changes the initial requirements for
certain persons acting as home
inspectors; and
Removes the provision enacted last year
that allowed Division 1 contractors to
perform both home inspection and make
repairs.
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The “Risky Business” Law: A person who has
control of a residence and allows an open
house party at which alcohol or drugs are
possessed or consumed by minors and the
person in control fails to take steps to prevent
possession or consumption commits a second
degree misdemeanor (first offense) or first
degree misdemeanor (subsequent offense).
If death to a minor or serious bodily harm is
caused by a minor, the violation is a first
degree misdemeanor.
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The Legislature passed a proposed amendment to the Florida
Constitution that would reduce the yearly assessment cap on nonhomestead property from 10% to 5%.
It would give anyone who hasn’t had a homestead exemption in
Florida for 3 years a property tax discount of 50% of the home’s
assessed value, not to exceed the median home price in that
county, which would phase out over 5 years as the new Save Our
Homes cap phases in.
It would allow the Legislature to prohibit assessment increases
when property values fall (“recapture”).
HJR 592 would extend property tax relief to any disabled combat
veteran residing in Florida, regardless of when they entered
military service.
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Removes the cap of $243,000,000 on
housing trust funds;
The Florida Housing Finance
Corporation has $64,000,000 available for
state and local housing projects.
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Reforms to Citizens Property Insurance Corp
failed, including “Consumer Choice”
legislation. The bill would have allowed
Citizens to raise rates up to 25%.
Additional property tax relief for low-income
seniors in the form of assessment caps failed.
Enhancements to the criminal trespass statutes
failed.
A bill to authorize non-judicial foreclosure
failed, as did a bill to expedite foreclosure
cases.
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Bike Safety bills SB 118 / HB 981, which would
have required helmets worn by riders younger
than 16 to meet Federal safety standards, failed.
Booster Seat bills SB238/HB 11, which would
have required booster seats in cars for children
4 to 7 years old or shorter than 4’9”, failed.
Red Light Camera bills SB 672 / HB4087,
which would have repealed last year’s red light
cameras law, failed.
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The Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail bill, SB 1846 / HB
1239, which would have required the Division
of Parks and Recreation to hire Jack Nicklaus
Design to build golf courses in every region of
the State, failed.
SB332 Sovereignty Submerged Lands bill for
private residential docks and piers died in the
Budget Committee. However, Rep. Jim Frishe
has already re-filed this bill for next year, so it
will be back.
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Visit Suncoast CAI at www.suncoastcai.com
for updates. This presentation will be posted
on the website after July 1, 2011.
Visit www.caionline.org for information on
Federal legislation and community association
news from other States.
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the benefits of CAI membership!
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