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Annual Fish Stocking Day! Our staff arrives at 5:00am to load up over 500,000 fingerling fish to stock in lakes in Miami, Broward and Palm Beach Counties!
We will be going Facebook Live around 5:30 am, we hope you join us to watch this fun event!
Allstate Resource Management has over 25 years of experience in maintaining the health of lakes, ponds, wetlands, and stormwater systems. We have continued since our inception to be the leader in resource management. Our services include lake management, wetland management, stormwater drain cleaning and maintenance, erosion control, fish stocking, native plantings, debris removal, water quality, aquatic pest control, and upland management. All of our technicians are thoroughly trained and certified in order to meet the strict standards imposed by governmental agencies. This ensures that your property will be treated by only the most competent individuals who are proud of the services we render.
In addition to providing a healthy habitat, we specialize in the installation and maintenance of beautiful color lit fountains, bringing beauty and enjoyment to any lake or pond.
We also offer support services for property managers and HOA’s including educational presentations and CEU programs. Our approved courses offer continuing education credit to CAMs.
Another parking lot sealed and striped by our Atlantic Southern Paving and Sealcoating Crew in Fort Myers, Florida!
Choose to #PaveWithASP today for any and all of your parking lot and pavement needs by calling 1-833-PAVE-ASP or head to www.PaveWithASP.com
We self-perform the entire state of Florida as well as manage parking lots across the country!
Southeast Florida: 954-518-4315
6301 W Sunrise Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33313
Southwest Florida: 239-234-2155
9039 High Cotton Ln, Fort Myers, FL 33905, Fort Myers, FL 33905
Central Florida: 407-502-0040
37 N Orange, Ave 420, Orlando, FL
Space Coast: 321-408-5010
460 Cox Road, Cocoa, FL 32926
Tags: Asphalt and BlackTop Articles
BY JOHN STRATTON / of Becker
The attorney-client privilege is one of the oldest and most respected privileges in the law. The purpose underlying this fundamental privilege is to ensure that clients receive accurate and competent legal advice by encouraging full disclosure to their lawyer without fear that the information will be revealed to others. The privilege covers written and oral communications and protects both individual and institutional clients including community associations.
However, the attorney-client privilege does not apply to every communication with an attorney and in certain circumstances can even be waived. For the privilege to exist, three requirements must be met: there must be a communication; the communication must have been intended to remain confidential; and the communication must have been made in the context of obtaining legal advice.
Pursuant to Florida’s Evidence Code, a communication between lawyer and client is “confidential” if it is not intended to be disclosed to third persons other than:
Florida courts have stated that the second exception (i.e. those reasonably necessary for the transmission of the communication) applies to agents of the client. This is so because in Florida, all corporate powers are exercised by, or under the authority of, the association’s board of directors. Further, as an inanimate entity an association cannot speak directly to its lawyers and must instead act through agents.
A management company and its personnel are generally responsible for the day-to-day operations of the community, implementing directives of the board, and serving as a liaison between an association and its counsel. Although a reasonable interpretation of the Florida Evidence Code and case law implies that a property management company is likely an agent of the association, such a determination is not guaranteed.
However, there are steps that can be taken by the association and its counsel to support an assertion of privilege such as including language in their management contracts that expressly extends the attorney-client privilege from the association to include the manager. The association’s counsel can also prepare a general Board Resolution authorizing the management company and its employees to act as agents of the association where necessary to further communications with legal counsel.
Evidentiary privileges (such as the attorney-client privilege) are sacred protections in a court of law. It is imperative that proper measures are taken to ensure that said privileges are not compromised. If your association finds itself involved in a potential or pending litigation, the board needs to work closely with the association’s attorney to protect the privileges the law provides to keep confidential communications out of the hands of the wrong people.
John handles business litigation and appellate matters representing individuals and corporations across an array of industries. He has significant and successful litigation experience in complex commercial, corporate, land use, and condominium litigation, contract disputes, commercial loan workouts, and civil appellate proceedings in both state and federal appellate courts.
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As a result of the 2022 Florida legislative session, there will be no new statutes requiring mandated building/engineering inspections, no statutory changes to budgeting procedures, no mandated reserve study requirements, and no statutory changes to required disclosures. While only a very few Florida counties have mandated in their code of ordinances that older condominium buildings have life-safety inspections, that does not mean required maintenance and proper planning can be otherwise avoided elsewhere. Board members must exercise their fiduciary duties with due care and due diligence. Voluntary engineering inspections and professional reserve studies should be considered to take place on a regular schedule. Maintenance, repairs, and replacements should be budgeted and funding sources properly identified. As often explained by Board Certified attorney Lisa Magill, “is the law the only reason you stop at a red light? Probably not. You stop because there’s a likelihood a truck will smash into you from the side.” In other words, common sense should prevail. All condominium unit owners know that one day the roof, air conditioners, and water and cooling towers will need to replaced, the building will need to painted to ensure a water tight seal remains intact, the pool will need re-surfacing, and the parking areas and asphalt will need attention, too. Perhaps one of most expensive repairs, which is rarely discussed, let alone planned for and budgeted in advance, that even the Florida Statutes do not specifically mention it by name, is concrete restoration, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and often such repairs cost millions of dollars depending on the extent of the repairs. But, such repairs are a given. It is not a matter of “if” but rather only a matter of “when” these repairs will be required. The only way to avoid a revolt of the membership when explaining the upcoming multi-million dollar assessment is to lessen the blow by having some, if not all, of the needed monies already saved in a reserve account. Section 718. 112(1)(f)(2)(a) provides that, “[i]n addition to annual operating expenses, the budget must include reserve accounts for capital expenditures and deferred maintenance. These accounts must include, but are not limited to, roof replacement, building painting, and pavement resurfacing, regardless of the amount of deferred maintenance expense or replacement cost, and any other item that has a deferred maintenance expense or replacement cost that exceeds $10,000. The amount to be reserved must be computed using a formula based upon estimated remaining useful life and estimated replacement cost or deferred maintenance expense of each reserve item. The association may adjust replacement reserve assessments annually to take into account any changes in estimates or extension of the useful life of a reserve item caused by deferred maintenance.” While a majority of the quorum of the membership can vote to waive or reduce reserves, this can only occur if the board of directors provides the membership such opportunity. For example, when voting to reduce reserves the percentage by which the required reserve can be reduced is decided in advance by the board and then presented to the membership for the vote. In light of the Champlain Towers South disaster, boards of directors should put considerable thought into these decisions. On March 12, Ann Greggis of Florida Politics reported that “the Legislature’s inability to pass any legislation updating condo regulations in the wake of last summer’s disaster that killed 98 people stunned observers…For this Session, nine bills sought to change rules regarding condominium associations…An estimated two million people live in 912,000 Florida condo units that are 30-years or older. Another 131,773 units are 20 to 30 years old, according to the Florida Engineering Society & American Council of Engineering Companies of Florida….The executive director of the engineering society and council called the failure to pass any legislation this year a ‘missed opportunity,’ according to a news release.” |
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On March 11, Jon Schuppe and Phil Prazan, NBC 6 South Florida reported that, “[i]n the nine months since 98 people died in the collapse of a Surfside, Florida, condominium, state lawmakers have pledged to pass measures that could help avoid a similar disaster. On Friday, they failed. Negotiations between the Florida Senate and House of Representatives, both controlled by Republicans, broke down, with the two sides unable to agree on a bill that would require inspections of aging condo buildings and mandate that condo boards conduct studies to determine how much they need to set aside for repairs. The talks were undone by a disagreement over how much flexibility to give condo owners in the funding of those reserves.” |
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Never has the term “sausage factory” been more appropriate to describe the 2022 team of Florida legislators who failed to pass meaningful legislation that could have helped thwart another Champlain Towers South disaster. But, just because the legislature failed in doing so (for this year), that does not mean, as a board member, that you can fail, too. Make a commitment to your condominium community to plan for the future. Adopt a board resolution, or even amend the condominium declaration, to have required building inspections and reserve studies. In addition, if your association is waiving reserves year after year, stop it and start saving for the future. You will be glad you did. |
Tags: Condo and HOA Law
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Find out how Association members can help you with the management of your buildings?
Managing properties can quickly become overwhelming, even for experienced investors. There is always something going on that requires attention and it takes very little time for things to get out of hand. Hiring a Property Manager can provide an opportunity to regain control and restore stability to both your properties and possibly life in general.
The importance of having income real estate to you and your family? We are here to help you with the selection process for hiring the right company for the management of your buildings. Your Property Manager will make critical decisions on your behalf making it extremely important that you do your homework during the hiring process, your decision to hire or not hire a management company should hinge on whether or not it is a good fit with your lifestyle and makes sense financially. Individual investors will have to assess the opportunity cost of both options based on their unique circumstances.
1. How far do you live from your rental property and how frequently can you visit the property?
If you are close you may be able to make the regular visits required for maintenance, inspections, collections, etc., otherwise the further you live the higher your travel time and expenses will be. The larger the distance the more temptation there is to not keep a close eye on things, and that can be a recipe for disaster. You should plan making monthly scheduled visits and there is always the potential for a middle of the night emergency call that requires your immediate attention. In the long run, is this feasible for you?
2. How do you deal with the of day to day operations yourself?
This is a tough one. we all like to think of ourselves as level-headed and even-keeled, but at the end of the day it takes a special kind of person to deal with the ups and downs of property management. Behind the seemingly simple task of collecting rent every month lie a number of unpredictable problems can push people to their limits. Ask yourself how you would react in the unfortunate event that tenants:
3. How many rental properties or units do you have?
As your portfolio grows so do the management challenges, and it becomes easier for things to fall through the cracks. Investors with large portfolios stand to reap significant benefit by leveraging the efficiencies a property manager can provide. Size can also constrain investors’ ability to consider purchasing new properties if they’re already maxed out managing their current holdings.
4. Do you do all the maintenance and repairs yourself?
If you can’t do it yourself, do you know who to call? Finding reliable handymen and contractors can take a while and in the mean time you may unknowingly hire people that are unethical, uninsured, do poor quality work, over charge etc. maintenance and repairs are a significant component of land lording and if you question your ability to ensure the work is done well and in a timely manner, you might want to consider hiring a property management company.
5. How quickly are you able to get your unit ready to be rented?
Advertising, fielding calls, and showing the unit can take a considerable amount of time, but are critical tasks as vacancies will quickly eat into your profit margins. If you question whether you have the skills or the time to make this happen, or if you have historically had an unacceptably high vacancy rate, you may want to consider hiring a property management company.
6. Are you capable of handling the paperwork nightmare.?
From profit and loss statements to tax deductions, this area needs special attention and becomes an increasingly larger burden for larger portfolios. some owners (especially those with a back ground in finance) will do just fine, others may opt to hire an accountant to help with the book keeping. If you feel like this might be a weak point you might want to consider hiring a Community Association Management Company.
7. Are you willing to be on call 24/7/365?
Its important to answer this question honestly, because when an emergency happens at your property you can’t ignore it. Your special event, important meeting, vacation, or personal crisis doesn’t relieve you of your obligation to your tenant. These emergencies don’t happen all the time, but when they do you have to be willing to handle them immediately. can you handle being called at 2 in the morning to fix someone’s overflowing toilet?
8. Are you willing to confront tenants about late payments and if need be evict them from the property?
Many new owners dislike feeling like the bad guy and try to be understanding by making exceptions. The problem is that this only invites additional abuses and excuses by tenants. Late payments must be dealt with immediately, and while sometimes a friendly reminder is all that’s needed, other times, it can be a very confrontational process ending in eviction. Unlike running a charity, running a successful rental business means enforcing the rules even it means evicting a single mother who lost her job and won’t be able to pay rent anytime soon.
9. How well do you understand the laws governing Community Association Management?
Ensuring the property is run in accordance with the law is critical in both preventing lawsuits and shielding yourself from liability if you are sued. Familiarity with contracts is also very important as your rental agreement is the only binding agreement between you and the tenant.
The daily life of a property or community manager is filled with ever shifting priorities, addressing the urgent needs of residents, board members, and vendors. Does that sound familiar; is that you?
The unfortunate consequence is that drafting and sending effective community-wide announcements may well take a back seat when you are focused on today’s urgencies.
But those communications are vitally important! Those community-wide messages, by definition, touch everyone. Remember this about your residents:
Your residents are accustomed to receiving professionally produced emails and messages every day at home and at work. Consider these benchmarks: 2 out of 3 Americans age 55+ are members of Amazon Prime, already ordering and streaming online with regularity. And surveys show that tech-savvy millennials are eager to purchase homes and very likely a growing ownership constituency in your community. Regardless of your residents’ age, you must assume they are accustomed to technology and discerning about quality communications.
Year over year the real estate market has been great for sellers but terribly challenging for buyers laboring with increasing prices and shrinking affordability across the US and Canada. The upshot is that homeowners are more invested than ever – and selecting a home in your community came with an expectation that your association will nurture and protect their investment. In their eyes, the messaging you share (or fail to share) with the entire community reflects on the soundness of their investment.
It’s someone’s home and community, their place of safety, comfort and joy. The communications you share can amplify or diminish those positive feelings.
In short, your communications matter. The messages you send to all residents influence how they perceive their home, their community – and your management team. Community-wide messaging is your turn to be a positive image setter and you cannot afford to miss that opportunity.
Given that backdrop, here are seven keys for successful communications:
However important a message may be, you must assume recipients will scan it quickly. If the message warrants further attention, readers might dive in more carefully – but they will probably commit mere seconds to perform that initial scan.
So be concise! Rehearse removing words or even entire sentences. Would that change the content? If not, remove the extraneous verbiage. Make each word count.
Clearly state the subject at the top. Then clearly issue a call to action, typically in the closing. Make sure your draft is crystal clear on each. Here’s why I’m writing and here’s what I want!
Then re-read your draft and ask: Does your message answer every relevant question? Always answer core questions: who, what, when, where, why and how? You are sharing information; do it completely.
Finally, check your tone. Is the message professional and positive? Informality may be appropriate when announcing a community barbecue, but still convey professionalism. And stern reminders may be necessary when residents are required to act, but one can do so in a positive manner that speaks to success rather than failure. Be professional, be positive.
Your community may issue a few announcements or a lot. Different strokes for different folks. But whenever you do, brand you messaging to amplify the community’s image.
In most cases, branding means incorporating your logo at the top of each message. Simple to do – and even automatically supported by Concierge Plus.
Then consider adding a tag line to your logo (if space on the logo is an issue, perhaps the tag line could be added to each message’s footer). If the community’s logo is an acronym or similarly abstract, a tag line is a super means to establish or reinforce your identity. Perhaps your community is “The Heart of Houston” or the “Spirit of St Paul.” Have fun deciding who you are and then use your tag line religiously. “Just do it” worked for Nike. A tag line can work for you, too.
Finally, consider how to amplify your brand in each message’s signature or footer. Beyond furthering your community’s brand, the footer can also incorporate links that drive residents directly to your online community calendar or other key features within a dashboard like Concierge Plus. That reinforces the importance and centrality of an online dashboard such as Concierge Plus and, in turn, that behavior will lead to greater satisfaction for residents and efficiency for you. Win/win!
Your messages should adhere to a classy, repeatable style. In the same manner that your content should be uniformly concise, your style should be consistent. too.
Before setting your style, inventory and categorize the types of messages you have sent or intend to send. Determine if you wish to set a single style across all communications or set distinct styles by category. For example, should you have one style to announce social events and another for transmitting board minutes and updates?
Once you decide on your categories, develop a style for each one. To some extent that may be preordained by the communication solution your organization uses. But most contemporary community management platforms enable you to manage font size, font color, and more. Simply put, select appropriate and complementary font sizes and colors for the headlines, sub-headers, and body of your messages.
It may also be worth noting the following norm. From top to bottom of a message, larger fonts generally lead to smaller fonts as one progresses through a message. Think of this hierarchy: headlines, sub-headers, body, and footer will typically use progressively smaller fonts.
For complementary colors, check out guidance on what designers call the color wheel. But the commonsense advice here is: don’t get too busy, don’t get too cute. Complement your branding colors to set an attractive style but keep it simple and professional.
Bullets or ordered lists are great ways to delineate topics and improve readability. You may also wish to use bold and italics to differentiate your call to action or emphasize other content within a message. However, it is best to avoid underlining since that implies the presence of a link in the online world.
Ultimately, your audience will appreciate a simple, clean and consistent style – and you will have an easier time building such a style into your routine.
Including links can add substantial value for the recipients of your messages. Are you announcing candidates for a board election? Then include a link to their LinkedIn profile so that residents can learn more about them. Are you holding a meeting or event at a remote location? Then include a link with directions.
Once you become accustomed to incorporating links, you’ll find a million and one ways they are beneficial. Also remember to include useful links to your community’s dashboard,
However, be aware that links included in an email can easily be forwarded to any party. If, for example, you are you hosting a Zoom meeting for residents only, be aware that including the Zoom link in an email makes it easy for the community to share that link with non-residents by forwarding. Some solutions explicitly support links within calendar entries, and while that does not fully preclude inappropriate sharing, it does mitigate risk.
Would you try to sell a home without including photos of the property? Would you buy a product online without seeing a photo first? Of course not!
You may not be selling homes or merchandise, but it is a vast understatement to merely say images in message add flair and appeal.
For example, are you reminding residents to leash their dogs? A simple photo can instantly capture their attention and help a reader immediately grasp the subject of the message.
However, be judicious. Do not use too many images. Yes, they are very effective. But do not allow use of too many images to compete with the message itself.
Also select images that are relatable. Venues known to your reader are relatable. Are you announcing a new pool policy; include a photo of your pool. Photos of people are relatable. Are you announcing an event? Include a photo of your meeting host, past attendees, or a stock image of people at a similar event.
Remember that it may not be permissible to re-use images you find on the internet. Are you using photos of your community captured from the developer’s website? Then insure you have the developer’s permission to re-use the images(s). Are you using images of residents in the community? Make sure they do not object to your re-use of their likeness.
Stock images are a great resource. Some are free, some are not. For example, Pexels offers free and searchable access to a wealth of images, proclaiming that they may be used for free, without attribution, and may be edited as you wish. Access to other free resources can be found here.
There are also many affordable solutions to access and re-use images. One such service is called SnagIt Assets. This content-rich solution permits you to search, download and use an unlimited number of photographic images, plus access numerous handy symbols, templates and themes for a low annual subscription fee. SnagIt Assets also enables you to seamlessly download images directly into image capture and editing software from the same company that’s called, not surprisingly, SnagIt. That is quite convenient.
In fact, if you send messages with any regularity, obtain and learn image capture and editing software like SnagIt. It has a multitude of benefits, such as re-sizing images, cropping images, superimposing text on an image, or adding borders or special effects. Once you get accustomed to using an image editing tool, you will wonder how you ever did without one.
Now that you have taken inventory and established one or more messaging styles, it’s time to create, test and save templates. Templates not only enforce use of the style(s) you create; they also save oodles of time as you churn out new messages!
You could initially create your templates in Google Docs or MS Word, then copy/paste them into your communication platform for new messages. Better yet, create a template using the rich text editor included in a product like Concierge Plus that empowers you to save a template as a draft announcement, then duplicate that template again and again as new messages are needed.
It is vitally important to test your templates. Ensure that messages will look and behave as you wish when a resident sees them via their email application. Frankly, it can be hard to test every scenario, but try to examine the emailed template using popular solutions on both computers and phones such as MS Outlook, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Then adjust your template works if you find it works on some platforms but not others.
A failure to communicate creates a vacuum and, as we know, nature abhors a vacuum. The frequency of communication may vary depending on the nature of your community. But be sure to provide sufficient oxygen. Make it a point to communicate at regular intervals.
Conversely, be wary of inundating residents with messages. If you have a series of small messages that do not warrant individual messages, consider packaging them into a periodic digest that residents can review weekly or monthly. Excessive messaging is akin to a public nuisance and the impact of your messages will be diluted.
For messages that appeal to a limited audience, leverage “group” messaging supported by a solution like Concierge Plus. For example, if you have an active club of yoga enthusiasts, create a yoga group to share messages explicitly with that audience.
Also use and consistently update your community calendar to show yoga and other club events within your community. Make their presence known to the entire community via the calendar but avoid filling residents’ inboxes with a barrage of announcements.
Also consider how you wish to deliver messages. Should they be distributed via email and appear on a public display in your lobby or a clubhouse, too? In fact, remember to refresh messages on your public display monitors. If you fail to update those messages with reasonable frequency, the community will naturally begin to ignore the display and its value will be undermined.
Is your message urgent? Does it warrant text or voice delivery in addition to email? Be prudent but leverage all the tools at your disposal.
We understand that adhering to best practices may take a backseat when we get mired in daily priorities. Our advice is simple. Don’t let that happen to you.
Commit to solid and consistent communication practices. Spend time up front to get setup. Establish your branding. Inventory your messaging. Create your styles. Build re-usable templates. All that enables you to focus on the content of your communications day by day.
The result will be a more efficient workflow for you – and the community will applaud your results and contribution!
SFPMA works throughout the State of Florida, we are a multi-member organization for the Condo, HOA and Property Management industry. Through knowledge based Articles, Events and our Members Directory, Clients find the right information to make an informed decisions for their Florida properties.
