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Find Blog Articles for Florida’s Condo, HOA and the Management Industry.
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In both condos, Co-ops, and HOAs, the procedure is the same.
Keep in mind that because the unit owner must receive a 30 day letter, a 45 day letter and another 45 day letter, it takes a long time to bring a delinquent owner into court. That is why associations may need to rethink their collection process and start it a little earlier. If not, by the time it gets to court, the owner may by 9 or 10 months delinquent.
Especially in condominium buildings, things are about to get tough. There are now mandatory inspections, mandatory repairs, mandatory fire sprinkler or ELSS installation, a tremendous rise in insurance and the inability to waive reserves. Stay on top of your collections.
Read other industry Legal Articles
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 three decades and is the owner of Glazer and Sachs, P.A. a five attorney law firm with offices in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. |
Eric is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Condominium and Planned Development Law.
Tags: Collections, Condo and HOA, Condo and HOA Law
🏡✨ Calling all condo residents and property managers! 📣
Have you ever wondered how the fate of an entire community can change in the blink of an eye?
Chinese investors purchased properties in a condominium, sparking hope and excitement. However, the developer defaulted on agreements, pushing the property into financial turmoil. 📉💼
What made matters even more complex was that at least 75% of the units were owned by foreign investors residing in China, where they had no idea they owed any maintenance fees!
The delinquency rate became a looming problem for the entire community.
Tags: Collections, Management News, Members ArticlesAs the transitional period between the summer and winter seasons, Autumn is a pivotal time to reflect on the challenges that your waterbody faced during the warmer months and contemplate your goals for the future. Autumn also provides an optimal window to implement maintenance services and water quality testing strategies that will help set your aquatic ecosystem up for success in the coming year.
Autumn is a time of transition and no doubt, your waterbody will experience changes that manifest when spring and summer return. But stakeholders can shape these outcomes through an integrated management program that’s thoughtfully tailored to their unique property and budget. As the warmer months come to an end, an Aquatic Specialist can help property stakeholders assess the health and physical condition of their waterbodies and strategize a clear path to achieve their goals for the following year.
Weeds and pond algae are some of the most common problems that plague aquatic ecosystems during the warmer months. Though property owners and managers may be happy to see them disappear late in the season, the die-off of terrestrial and aquatic plants can impact the physical and chemical composition of the water, creating problems that seemingly lie dormant until warm weather returns. Mechanical harvesting and hydro-raking can be used to physically remove floating and submersed plants to prevent accumulation and muck development at the bottom.
Physical removal of pond weeds is effective, but plant fragments often remain. Biological bacteria play an essential role in the decomposition of remaining organic materials. They are found naturally in lakes and ponds, but can also be supplemented through a process called biological augmentation. These beneficial bacteria are aerobic, which means they require oxygen to carry out their metabolic processes.
But as the days grow shorter and cooler, dissolved oxygen (DO) can become depleted, reducing the efficiency of this process. Introducing floating aeration equipment or a submersed aerator can help maintain balanced DO levels, which facilitates decomposition and curbs the accumulation of nutrient-rich muck over the winter months. For stakeholders that already own a fountain or aerator, Autumn is an appropriate time to have units inspected and repaired to help prolong the performance of the equipment.
Nutrients like phosphorus are an underlying cause of nuisance pond weed and algae growth. Phosphorus is naturally occurring in the water but is also transported by sources like lawn fertilizers, pet waste, trash, and agricultural runoff. Autumn is a good time to take action against nutrient imbalances and prevent explosive weeds and algae when the spring season arrives. If water quality tests reveal elevated phosphorus levels, products like Phoslock¹, Alum, and EutroSORB² can help target excess nutrients in waterbodies of all shapes, sizes, and uses. A professional can recommend the best solution based on the characteristics of your waterbody
Read the Full Article includes a larger list of services for your Lakes.
Tags: Lake Management ArticlesHosted by the Business Waste Assessments Section
Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Hosted on Zoom – link available when you register.
The Department of Solid Waste is hosting a free solid and hazardous waste management webinar for property managers and waste haulers. Learn what your roles and responsibilities are for managing other people’s waste and wastes generated at your properties. You will have the opportunity to ask the Business Waste Assessments team questions. The webinar will give an overview of solid, hazardous and universal waste regulations and management practices including:
Who should attend?
The webinar will not be recorded.
Use our Where Does It Go? Search Tool to help determine what wastes are hazardous and what to do with them. Find local resources for reuse, recycling and disposal. To be directed to the proper information, first select “For Businesses.”
Tags: Waste and Garbage Articles, WEBINARSGet the tools and information you need to manage your condo or HOA more efficiently.
Regional and national experts will offer insights into the latest industry trends and best practices in legal oversight, financing, maintenance, renovations, energy efficiency, administration, communication and more.
Bring your questions to these lively, informative sessions and come away with a clear blueprint for improved management for the future.
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Webinar: Upgrading from Self-Managed to Pro Management | Oct. 19 at 4pm Est
Homeowner delinquencies create havoc and stress in a community association. Unfortunately, HOAs and condo associations don’t have a lot they can do about them. When a homeowner stops paying their monthly assessments, the association only has a few options to recoup that lost money.
Of these options, the only one that has any real ‘teeth’ in the eyes of the law is lien and foreclosure.
Two sides of the same coin, a lien and a foreclosure are an HOA or condo association’s most aggressive form of collections actions. The lien is the threat of force, a legal response that tells the delinquent owner that this is well and truly their last chance to make good on what they owe to the community. The foreclosure is the bite to that bark, and can be costly and time consuming.
While a foreclosure isn’t something we recommend, filing a lien can often be the very thing you need to yield results. When a homeowner becomes seriously delinquent and the other methods have failed to produce results, you need to be ready to rip the band-aid off and make it happen.
The FDCPA has a laundry list of what have been deemed predatory collections practices, and also specify who can and cannot make collection attempts. Engaging in any kind of communications that could be deemed harassment is only going to hurt your community in the long run
Keeping track of the specific requests and demands you have made, as well as when you made them, will help keep your association free and clear of any claims of harassment or illegal collections allegations.
Those notices aren’t just common courtesies, they’re required interactions your association must have with a delinquent homeowner. They are entitled to a certain amount of time to pay back monies owed before legal action is taken against them.
These restrictions will set forth the ways you’re required to communicate payment demands, the fees and charges you’re allowed to include in the lien, and any time constraints you have to abide by.
Your primary goal should be to collect the money you are owed, not to punish delinquent homeowners. Referring a collections file to your lawyer is not a method of collection, but rather an intention to foreclose as soon as possible so you can get in a better paying homeowner. As the saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush – working with your existing community members to set up a payment plan or find another way to settle the debt is almost always better than giving them the boot. Foreclosure does not result in money in your pocket, just an empty home on the block.
Axela Technologies specializes in HOA collections practices that successfully recover funds for the community without the inhumane, barbaric treatment owners tend to get from the foreclosure process. Is your HOA ready to file a lien? Call us today or click here for your no-cost collections analysis
Making floors slip-resistant requires a clear understanding of what you are working with. These are the factors that impact whether a floor is slippery or not:
In this post, we’ll cover several slippery floor types… and show you how to reduce the possibility of slip and fall accidents on your premises. Whether you’re at home or on business premises, we’ve got you covered.
MIAMI – The Florida law known as the “Homeowners’ Association Bill of Rights” took effect on October 1st.
It revises the requirements for the governance and regulation of homeowners’ associations to:
We are sure there will be more to come, as the State’s changes to the Law slimmed down the original Law and added to the original law.
SFPMA and Our Legal Members. October 1, 2023
Tags: Condo and HOA Law, Management News