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Kaye Bender Rembaum is a full service commercial law firm dedicated to the representation of community associations throughout Florida. Under the direction of attorneys Robert L. Kaye, Esq., Michael S. Bender, Esq., and Jeffrey A. Rembaum, Esq. Kaye Bender Rembaum provides its clients with an unparalleled level of personalized and professional service regardless of their size and takes into account their individual needs and financial concerns. They have offices in Pompano Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and Tampa, and in Miami-Dade by appointment.
The associates of Kaye Bender Rembaum establish relationships with clients to understand their needs and goals. Kaye Bender Rembaum assists clients in all matters of Association representation including, but not limited to, collection of assessments, contract negotiation, covenant review and amendment, covenant enforcement and construction defect claims. Kaye Bender Rembaum also keeps clients up-to-date on new developments in the law and how they personally affect them. The firm provides prompt, effective, high quality, cost-efficient and understandable legal advice and services to a diverse client base. Associates strive to help clients operate and administer their communities better and to educate them on their responsibilities and duties under Florida law and their governing community documents. Robert Kaye, Michael Bender and Jeffrey Rembaum are industry leaders who are often sought out by public policy makers and the media for advice and commentary on community association law.
The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation. Thank you for your interest in Kaye Bender Rembaum.
Kaye Bender Rembaum is dedicated to providing clients with an unparalleled level of personalized and professional service regardless of their size and takes into account their individual needs and financial concerns. Our areas of concentration include:
Many condominium and homeowners’ associations’ activities are required to have a certain amount of transparency. One way that association activities are made transparent is through statutory provisions requiring most kinds of meetings to be open and noticed to the membership. In fact, applicable laws governing the operation of condominium and homeowners’ associations allow board members to communicate by email but prohibits them from voting on issues by email.
Notably, a gathering of a quorum of board members to conduct association business is considered a board meeting (whether taking place in person or by real-time electronic means) and is required to be noticed and open to association members. However, two important exceptions apply. Namely, meetings of the board or an association committee at which the association’s attorney is participating for the purpose of rendering advice upon proposed or pending litigation are not required to be open to association members. Similarly, board meetings held to discuss personnel matters are also not required to be open to association members.
Association members are entitled to speak at open meetings on “designated items” (HOA) or an item on the agenda in a condominium. However, the rights of members to speak at meetings is subject to any rules adopted by the association governing the frequency, duration, and manner of member statements. The right to attend open meetings includes the right to tape record or videotape them, as long as such recording activity is not disruptive. Furthermore, the Division of Florida Condominiums has adopted rules regarding recording condominium association meetings (found in Fla. Admin. Code Rule 61B-23.002(10)), and the Homeowners’ Association Act provides that homeowners’ associations may adopt their own pertaining to recording homeowners’ association meetings.
As such, there are statutory meeting requirements that must be followed for board meetings which must be kept in mind when an association is adopting or changing its procedures. Failing to follow the basic statutory requirements may result in problems. Questions about board meetings, committee meetings, which have their own set of requirements, and members’ meetings should be directed to legal counsel for guidance.
Joseph Arena
As leaders in Community Association Law, we not only helped write the law – we also teach it.
Did you know Becker provides over 200 educational classes per year throughout the State of Florida on a variety of topics ranging from board member certification to compliance, and everything in between? Our most popular classes are now available online!
As a service to the community and industry, we are pleased to offer some of our most popular classes online for you to participate in from the comfort of your own home.
Lawmakers have a way to save Florida homeowners $150 a year but State Farm doesn’t like it
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Inflation is currently at its highest level in 40 years. And it does not appear to be going down anytime soon. Last year, the inflation rate hit 7% and by February of this year it increased to 7.9%. Consumers have seen prices of everything from gas to groceries increase.
As you can see from the chart below, we have been very fortunate with inflation rates hovering around 2% for the last 10 years, as represented by the green line. While in the last 30 years, we have rarely exceeded 4%, as represented by the red line. Now, we are faced with 8%, which again, we have not seen in over 40 years.
Inflation has already affected many community associations with many raising their dues between 3-5% for the 2022 budget year. But that increase was not enough especially with the continued impact of insurance, labor, and material increases. Most community associations need to be prepared to raise dues 10-15% in 2023 to combat inflation.
Homeowners are usually not happy when dues go up. However, as expenses for communities increase, so does the need for an increase in the dues. Now is the time to prepare your residents for an increase in dues in 2023 so they are not blindsided.
Here are some of the items in most community associations that are increasing in cost:
For most community associations, the budget for 2023 will reflect higher anticipated expenses, which means dues will need to increase. Now is the time to prepare your residents for this increase. This year is unlike any other year. You CAN NOT rely on “standard” budget raises and expect to be able to pay your bills in 2023. You should NOT wait until the end of the year, hoping this will change. You need to start planning NOW and letting your owners know NOW.
Throughout the remainder of 2022, we will have a blog post each month discussing this inflation storm and offer tips for your association to ride it out.
by Ashley Dietz Gray, VP Marketing
Watch the Webinar: Updating Governing Documents
We recently held an educational “Updating Governing Documents” webinar with Emily Gannon from Kaye Bender Rembaum to discuss why updating governing documents is critically important. The Webinar covered: The Hierarchy of Governing Documents The Amendment Process Common Misconceptions and more…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdKVohy_DhY&feature=emb_imp_woyt
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A serious DEADLINE (January 1, 2024) is creating another serious expense for Condo owners in the near future: FS 718.112 (l) — Firesafety.—Any high-rise association building must ensure compliance with the Florida Fire Prevention Code. That means that these buildings must retrofit either a fire sprinkler system or an engineered life safety system as specified in the Florida Fire Prevention Code.
But make no mistake: These buildings in question got ample warning: Since 2014 bills are being discussed and enacted creating this requirement. The deadline for the necessary retrofitting changed a few times – some ill-advised board members who didn’t care about the safety of their neighbors had the law firm of Becker& Poliakoff (former Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff, now an attorney with the Becker Law Firm) lobbying against this requirement, trying to remove this requirement in the statutes or minimum trying to postpone this deadline “forever”.
In 2017 then Governor Rick Scott even vetoed a bill that would have actually allowed residents to vote to end sprinkler and other safety requirements.
Let’s make no mistake: Safety requirements, especially in high-rise buildings, are absolutely necessary – even if some high cost is involved. We have seen in Surfside that neglecting safety requirements – or even ignoring them – can have deadly consequences.
Hopefully all these high-rise condominium buildings had board members that took care of creating reserve funds for installing the required Fire Safety System. They surely had long-time warnings. We don’t want to see families losing their home because they were unable to pay the special assessment because the board members failed to collect the necessary funds over all these years.
Search our Members Directory – top companies can be found all over Florida that work with Condo and HOA’s.
When you are looking for companies to take care of your buildings fire safety, Our members are here to help.
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To launch a career as a property manager in Florida, you must first obtain an appropriate license, but Florida does not offer a property management license. Rather than a property management license Florida requires you to obtain a real estate sales associate license to meet the Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC) requirements.
To become licensed in Florida, you need to first meet the requirements to enter an approved educational program. Once you’ve completed the program successfully, you apply for a license. After being electronically fingerprinted, you’ll need to take and pass the licensing exam. You do not need a license if you are only managing personally owned properties. Some rental properties, however, need a licensing by the Division of Hotels and Restaurants. If a property owner hires a salaried employee to manage the property no broker’s license is required, but if they are paid by commission or transactional basis they must have a license.
Community Association Managers (CAMs) differ from property managers. CAMs must hold a valid Community Association Manager license. Obtaining this FREC license follows a similar process, but requires a different educational program. A CAM manages:
a ten or more unit association,
an association with greater than a $99,999 budget.
Check each applicant’s license status before hiring any person. Use the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Licensee Search webpage to determine their licensing.
The first step in how to obtain a property management license in Florida is meeting the requirements to enter the higher education program. You need to already have graduated from high school or earned your general education diploma (GED). Also, you must be at least 18 years old. These minimums allow you to apply for entry to an approved real estate sales associate pre-licensing course.
You will need to successfully complete the real estate sales associate pre-licensing course approved by the Florida Real Estate Commission. More than one possible course exists and the one you complete must contain a minimum of 63 hours of coursework. This is the introductory coursework to the larger licensing educational structure. It provides the foundation for other courses. You may complete the courses via correspondence, online or in person, depending on the options the school you choose offers.
Complete and submit form DBPRRE1 which is the Florida application for a real estate sales associate license. You can fill it out online by visiting the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation website. Click the link for “Apply for a License.” You can complete it online or print it and submit it by fax or mail. The appropriate application fee must accompany it.
You must submit your electronic fingerprints via a FREC approved electronic fingerprinting site. You can obtain the sites closest to you by phoning 877-238-8232. You then visit them to submit your prints and pay the fingerprinting fee.
Sit for your Florida real estate sales associates exam. To qualify for a license, you must score at least a 75 percent on the test.
Once you have passed the exam, you will receive your real estate license via postal mail. It typically takes seven to 10 business days to receive this in the mail.
Beyond obtaining the sales associate license that functions effectively as a Florida property management license, you can also obtain higher licenses. You can obtain a broker’s license after 24 months as a real estate sales associate after completing a 72 classroom hours brokers course and a 60 hour post-licensing course which both must be FREC approved. For a license as a CAM, successfully complete a course of 18 hours education.
If you searched for how to get a property management license in Florida, you now know why you could not find it online. For property management, you need a sales associate license. To manage a community, you’ll need a CAM, also known as, a property association management license Florida requires. Florida property management license requirements differ depending on the size and/or budget of the community association.
While it is not a quick process, you can obtain your real estate license in about two years. That is the time it takes to complete about 60 hours of college coursework, assuming you complete 12 hour semesters. Some schools structure the courses in such a way that you must complete the classes in a specific order and cannot register for more than 12 hours per semester. After completion of the school program, passing your license exam is the only hurdle. You can enter a career in property management in Florida within two years.
Become a CAM!Tags: Education - Property Management, Education & Licensing
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.
