Lake Management and Hurricane Season, by AllState Resource Management
Lake Management and Hurricane Season
by AllState Resource Management
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Find Blog Articles for Florida’s Condo, HOA and the Management Industry.
by AllState Resource Management
Did you know that all high-rise condominiums are required to have a 40-Year Recertification? In our 90-minute webinar, DSS Condo and industry experts will walk you through the process, explain the requirements, and provide you with the insight to successfully complete the required 40-Year Recertification for your building. Sign up today to secure your spot!
Tags: Events Meetings and Courses, Florida Rising Magazine, Management News
I recently explained how lucky the banks are when they foreclose on a unit or a home and take back ownership. The law protects them, and despite how much the unpaid condo or HOA assessments are, the bank is only responsible for the lesser of one year of assessments or 1% of the mortgage. Many of you are outraged over that and I’m with you.
The association always hopes that a 3rd party buys the property at the bank’s foreclosure sale instead of the foreclosing bank, because under the law, a 3rd party, unlike the bank, would owe all past due assessments to the association.
But even though the law requires some payments to the association, your condo or HOA may get zero because of a terrible provision that may be looming in your governing documents. Despite the fact that the law requires banks to pay the lesser of one year of assessments or 1% of the mortgage, and requires a 3rd party purchaser to pay all past due assessments, many of you have provisions in your governing documents that say the banks owe nothing when they take back ownership of a home or unit after a foreclosure and that a 3rd party purchaser owes nothing if they buy the property at a foreclosure sale. That’s right, not a penny is owed to the association. You are wiped out.
So what controls, the law or your governing documents? In May Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal ruled in Old Cutler Lakes by the Bay Community Association v. SRP SUB . A third party purchaser took title to a unit within the community via a bank mortgage foreclosure auction.
The governing documents contained the following provision: “The sale or transfer of any Lot pursuant to the foreclosure or any proceeding in lieu thereof of a first mortgage meeting the above qualifications, shall extinguish the lien of such assessments as to payments which became due prior to such sale or transfer.”
The Third DCA concluded that the 3rd part purchaser at the sale is not liable for any of the past-due assessments, attorney’s fees and/or costs that accrued prior to its acquiring title.
So what do you do now? Check your governing documents. Make sure they don’t contain a similar provision. If they do, you certainly want to talk you’re your attorney about amending them properly so you at least get the crumbs owed to the association when a bank forecloses.
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Tags: Condo and HOA, Law and Legal, Management News
As of June SFPMA has cancelled the contract with the Design Company due to contract issues: Late Editions, Design Issues and other. We wish them well on the other business they have ongoing.
What this means for THE FLORIDA RISING MAGAZINE is: My Team will again publish and design the magazine as we did since its beginning! We are updating all areas, and will have the new sections ready for Aug 2020- Thank You
We are here to help our Florida Companies that are having a harder time getting up and running, Contact Us we are happy to give you an Ad in the Magazine for a few months!
We send to over 214,000 Emails of Managers, Condo and HOA Owners and Board Members, Our Member Companies and many others who wish to have the magazine sent to them monthly.
We do have advertising and some of the best rates / our Goal is: Get you in front of the Decision makers, Let them learn how you can help them.
Tags: Florida Rising Magazine, Management News, Members Articles
RECORDS REVELATIONS – OFFICIAL RECORDS AND HOW TO READ FINANCIAL STATEMENTS by Katzman Chandler
Date: Thursday, July 9, 2020 Time: 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Location: Online Event via, Zoom
What constitutes official records of an association? What is private, what is not? How do you go about inspecting records?
by Steven J. Weil, Ph.D., EA, LCAM, Royale Management Services, Inc.
Summer is upon us, and in between preparing for possible hurricanes, dealing with the kids home from school, and planning for the summer holidays, many of us are feeling the heat and want to get out of the kitchen. We want to grill our food, especially on the 4th of July.
However, the State of Florida has rules about that. If you live in a Florida condominium, you will want to think twice about grilling on your balcony. Florida Statutes require that every three years a new edition of the Florida Fire Prevention Code must be adopted; and at the end of 2017, the Sixth Edition of the Code permitted the use of certain electric grills which had been previously prohibited.
Here’s what the old rule said:
With respect to cooking equipment, Section 10.10.6.1 prohibits using or kindling “hibachis, grills, or other similar devices for cooking, heating, or any other purpose on any balcony, under any overhang portion, or within 10 ft (3m) of any structure, other than in one and two-family dwellings.”
Here’s what the new rule says:
Section 10.10.6.1.1 allows “listed electric portable, tabletop grills, not to exceed 200 square inches of cooking surface, or other similar apparatus.” In other words, if you have a qualifying cooking apparatus that is sanctioned by the Code, you can now grill on your balcony! What does “listed” mean? It means that United Laboratories (UL) has tested representative samples of the product and determined that it meets UL’s requirements. For a product to become UL Listed, it must go through several tests and meet high safety standards.
But there’s still a catch:
If your association has adopted any rules that run counter to the minimum requirements of the Code and impose stricter requirements, those rules then apply. Check with the Board, check the association’s bylaws, check the association rules and regulations, and then think before you grill!
Many times, the main problem is not the grill, but the smoke that causes a nuisance to other owners. Smoke can become the real issue rather than the size of the apparatus. The last thing you want is to have the fire department arrive because a neighbor smelled smoke coming from your balcony and thought there was a fire. Happy grilling!
Steven J. Weil, Ph.D., EA, LCAM, Royale Management Services, Inc.
Tags: Association Members Articles, Education - Condos, grilling rules, Management News
by BECKER
The first step toward developing and implementing a disaster plan is identifying the potential consequences of a disaster. The second step is to develop and implement a plan to mitigate the impact of a disaster to the fullest extent possible.
Evacuation
Emergency evacuation routes and special instructions regarding use of elevators and stairwells should be clearly posted. Don’t forget to rehearse evacuation procedures on a periodic basis.
Destruction of Real Property
Damage or destruction of real property is often the primary claim and causes the greatest hardship. The main areas of concern include:
Damage to Personal Property
The items most at risk during a disaster are furniture, fixtures, and personal property. The items of most concern include:
Injury or Loss of Life
Carbon monoxide poisoning, heart attacks and drowning are the top three causes of death as a result of a hurricane. People over 75 are particularly at risk. Identify “high risk” individuals with disabilities or medical needs requiring special attention when preparing your community’s disaster plan.
Relocation
Your disaster plan should anticipate not only the possibility of a total casualty loss, but also the need to relocate, temporarily or permanently, depending on the level of impact. While many communities are able to clean up storm debris promptly, many others will remain in turmoil for quite some time after being impacted by a disaster. After Hurricane Opal and the BP Oil spill, some owners were unable to rent out their units which resulted in a loss of significant income to them and, in some cases, ultimately resulted in the loss of the property to foreclosure.
Impact on Employees
The board should consider the emotional impact a storm’s approach has on the association employees, particularly an onsite manager. Association employees will not only be responsible for preparing the community for a storm’s approach, but they are also concerned about preparing their own homes and families for the potential disaster.
Associations are well advised to task their attorneys with creating a reasonable approach to these pre- and post-storm employee policies.
Economic Impact
The economic impact of a disaster can be extensive. Unit owners displaced from work may be unable to meet their financial obligations to the association. Uninsured, underinsured or non-covered losses under both the association’s policy as well as the owner’s policy may require the board to pass special assessments. The higher cost of goods and services resulting from shortages further compounds the problem in the shortterm.
In sum, the impacts of a disaster will vary from event to event. It is advisable to prepare for all possibilities.
Becker Shareholder Donna DiMaggio Berger will join CASTLE for episode 12 of their webinar series “Combatting COVID-19 In Your Community Association,” on July 8 at 12:00 p.m.
She will be joined by CASTLE founder and CEO James Donnelly.
Register now: http://ow.ly/QCxl50Aneca #Webinar #CommunityAssociations #BeckerFTL
Designation of a Disaster Coordinator or Disaster Committee
The ability of a community association to minimize its damages and speed up its recovery depends in large part upon its preparation.
Every disaster plan should include having a person or committee in place prior to the disaster with full authority to implement the Disaster Plan.
Designation of an Information Facilitator
In times of crisis, communication is key. A major hurdle to recovery is rumor and misinformation; both can hamper successful recovery efforts. An information facilitator can help to stop the rumor mill in its tracks. Today’s computer and smart phone technology provide the ideal vehicles to communicate with residents. Every association should have its own website, which can be a great resource for disseminating information and staying in touch with the unit owners. A text messaging system for community members is also valuable for disseminating information quickly.
Home and cell phone numbers must be collected before a disaster and stored in a safe, easily accessible location.
A properly prepared plan will include plans for temporary relocation of residents in situations where the community must be evacuated. This can include Red Cross or other emergency shelters, hotels, schools, or staying with family members in other cities.
Now that the Florida Legislature has granted emergency powers to boards, a board may require the evacuation of the property in the event that the local or state authority has declared a mandatory evacuation order. Owners who refuse to abide by that evacuation order do so at their own risk and without the possibility of pursuing the association for loss of life or injury to themselves or their property. Boards can also declare the property unfit for entry or occupancy based upon the advice of experts retained by the board or on the advice of emergency management officials.
Photographic Imaging
Your plan should include annual preparation of a date stamped video and photo documentation of the community such as all of the common areas, each unit owner’s home, the association’s office and property.
Digital technology and photographic records can be conveniently and safely stored off premises and easily retrieved, if needed.
What should be photographed?
Specifically include:
You should prepare an inventory including the date, place of purchase, and purchase price of each item of personal property.
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
Many shared ownership communities have already taken the positive step of undergoing CERT training under the auspices of FEMA. A Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) can fill the large gap that often results when a disaster overwhelms local emergency services. CERT teams are trained in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. CERT members are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their communities.
Your board’s quick response in accordance with your disaster plan will minimize damage and promote a speedy recovery.
Following a disaster, the disaster coordinator and information facilitator move into action. The information facilitator opens lines of communications with the owners. The disaster coordinator contacts emergency services and notifies the contractors and employees, advising of their duties and needs. In some cases, it may be necessary to suspend or cancel on-going contracts such as lawn and pool maintenance. Hopefully, a provision was made in the contract for such right of suspension without monetary penalty in disaster situations when the contracted services are no longer needed. There certainly is no reason to pay to hedge the bushes when they have all blown away!
Knowing the whereabouts of all residents greatly enhances emergency response time following a disaster. In a situation such as a hurricane, in which there is advance warning, a committee should ascertain which residents are remaining in the community and which are evacuating. A temporary destination address and phone number should be obtained from those who are evacuating. Once disaster strikes, the board’s first action should be to direct emergency medical assistance to any residents in need. Naturally, if the community is under a mandatory evacuation order, that order should be obeyed by all.
Be sure to attend to the injured and secure the community from acts of vandalism and looting. Be sure to remove all storm debris.
“Drying In”/”Shoring Up” the building structures in order to mitigate against further damage.
“Drying Out” is the removal, where necessary, of wet carpet, wall board, cabinets, etc. when necessary to prevent the growth of mold.
The insurance carrier for the community must be notified immediately at the conclusion of the storm.
If the insurance carrier is not able to promptly inspect and document the damage from the storm, it may elect to deny the claim.
Tags: Management News, Members Articles
After many uses, garbage disposal blades need sharping. Just a hand full of ice can do the job. Another tip is put the drain plug in the garbage disposal. Fill the kitchen sink full of water. Turn on the garbage disposal and pull the plug.
1. Grease or oil. Just because it is out of sight does not mean the garbage disposal “disposed” of it. Usually, it solidifies and begins to build up in your pipes. Not good.
2. Vegetable peels. You might get away with it from time to time, but odds are, eventually this one will catch up with you–and leave you a soupy backfilled mess in your sink. Garbage disposals do not do too many peels–they’ll spit them up like an unhappy infant.
3. Egg shells. Believe or not, the membrane on the inside of the egg can wrap around the blades and wreak havoc. Better just to compost them.
4. Coffee Grounds. These seem like they go down fine, but over time, the little grounds build up like sediment in the pipes, causing all sorts of trouble.
5. Pits or seeds. Think: peach pits, avocado pits, cherries, etc. I am sure this one goes without mentioning, but it will basically rattle around in there like a pinball of destruction.
6. Bones. I know, again, duh.
7. Anything in bulk. Feed your disposal small meals, let it grind it up, then add more.
8. Garbage. Think: cigarette butts or paper. It is not really designed for those sorts of things and will get testy.
9. Rice and pasta. I did not know this. Basically, every time you turn the water on, the pasta and rice will continue to expand–even after your supposedly ground it up.
10. Stringy veggies. Think: celery, artichokes, carrots, corn husks, or even some types of lettuce. The stringy parts can wrap around the blades, causing resistance on the blades.
11. Potato Peels. These suckers can cause a soupy mess in your disposal down the road—even if you think you can get away with dumping them down the drain from time to time. The same goes for other starchy vegetables and beans.
12. Harsh Chemicals. Do not mistake your kitchen sink for a chemistry laboratory. The grinding components of most garbage disposals are made of galvanized steel which can corrode when contacted with strong chemicals like bleaching powder and such cleaning agents.
13. Onion Skins. The onion skin can get caught in the blades, but the worst thing is the will cause clogs down the pipes.
14. Pumpkins. Anyone who carved a pumpkin for Halloween knows how sticky they are. When thrown down a garbage disposal though they are juicy and slimy they will stick on to the grinding blades and form a clog. The only way to get rid of a pumpkin clog is by dismantling the pipes and cleaning it.
15. Corn Husk. Corn husks are some of the most fibrous items you can find in a kitchen. They are extremely difficult to grind and should never ever end up in a disposal.
16. Seafood. While you may feel confident that seafood like shrimp can be disposed of safely in a garbage disposal that’s not the case. Instead of going down the pipes they will form a white little ball that will clog the disposal. No matter what magical remedies you try dismantling the pipes is the only option that will work.
Tags: Building Maintenance, Management News, Members Articles, Plumbing Articles
When you consider making improvements or additions to your home, it can be tempting to try and skirt the permit process. In some cities and towns, the cost and hassle of getting a permit can seem unnecessary, especially if you are handy and like to make renovations, or you have a friend who offers to do it for you.
Unfortunately, when you go and try to sell your home, the lack of permits can prove to be a real problem. Buyers may balk at purchasing a home that does not have permits – fearing that the additions may be unsafe or not properly done.
In the end, getting the property permits is always a good idea.
Often a home seller will say to me “I’m selling my home do I need permits for work I have done”? Unfortunately, the answer is usually yes you do.
The temptation to avoid getting a permit for home improvements is something every owner faces at one point or another. It is understandable, as the cost of home improvements and additions is already high in many cases.
The permit process – including the inspection to verify the work is up to standards – can seem like a pain. It may take some time to complete the process, time you may not feel like you have.
Those most tempted to avoid permits are homeowners that are interested in actually saving money by doing the work themselves, or bringing in a friend who has experience in home repair and renovation.
The friend – or inexpensive contractor you hire – may even imply that you do not need to worry about getting a permit. This, of course, is WRONG!
The real reason that many homeowners don’t pull permits isn’t that of paying a few hundred bucks to the town hall or the inconvenience that comes with it. Nearly every city and town in America collects taxes bases upon the assessed value of a home. Assessed value is calculated by looking at the size and characteristics of property.
What is the gross living area? How many bedrooms does it have? How many bathrooms? These are all factors in determining an appropriate assessed value.
Guess what happens when the tax assessor knows about the luxurious new finished basement with home theater, wet bar, home gym and beautiful bath you just added. If you guessed your taxes are going up, then you are 100 percent correct.
When no permits have pulled the town most likely will not find out, and your taxes will not take the upward climb, they would have otherwise.
Homeowners can save thousands of dollars over the course of owning a home when permits are not pulled. When selling a home, this becomes very problematic. If and when the town or city finds out about it, the new owner is the one who will bear the brunt of the increased taxes paid.
This will often lead to disputing high property taxes. In the case where the town has not collected taxes in years, it may be harder to get a justified abatement.
When you go to sell your home, there will always be a home inspection and an appraisal conducted by certified professionals. This is just part of the selling process, and it helps buyers know what they are getting into before they buy the home.
The inspector and appraiser will likely go over your house with a fine-toothed comb, looking over every area to verify that the home is in good working order – sometimes even checking all public records on the home.
There are no requirements for the home inspector or appraiser to check on permits for improvements to the home, but this does not mean someone will not ask about them. The inspector, the appraiser, the buyer and the bank that is doing the lending, all have the ability to request public records from your home, which will include the permits that have been acquired for the home.
A good buyers agent should always ask if there were permits pulled when a significant addition or finished basement has been added. These types of improvements can have a significant impact financially for a new owner.
You can run into major problems when someone discovers that renovations were done to the home without permits. This can, in fact, stop a home sale. There is an especially high risk of getting found out if the improvements were made recently.
The appraiser can see what the house consisted of when you bought it, and will notice if there is not an extra bathroom, deck or finished basement. The bigger the addition or improvement to the home, the more likely that someone will notice that something is off.
Unless you are in an extremely tight housing market, where buyers are desperate and will take anything, you can expect people to be concerned with any improvements that do not have the proper permits.
A lack of permits implies several problems to potential buyers, including safety and quality issues.
Safety Concerns
Customers want to move into a safe home. They may be planning to start a family, or already have children. They may just be uneasy about any work that was not done by a certified professional.
Part of the permit process is intended to verify that the improvements to a home were made properly, according to regulations, by someone who knows what he or she is doing.
Knowing that all safety rules and standard building practices were observed gives buyers peace of mind. Another would be hiring the local handyman to do electrical wiring a licensed electrician should have done.
In some cases, it is even possible that you may not have insurance coverage if there was a major catastrophe like a fire. The perfect example is the owner who goes out and buys a wood stove for the fireplace and doesn’t bother to pull an installation permit with the fire department.
Good luck getting an insurance claim if the insurance company finds out there are no permits, and the stove was the cause of the fire.
Quality Concerns
Safety may be the first thing buyers think about when they see you lack permits, but questions about the quality of the work will come quickly after.
The fact that you do not have a permit makes buyers think that you were trying to cut corners. You may have hired someone that was not fully qualified to do the work, or you may have done the work yourself and not known what you were doing.
Whatever the truth is, buyers will suspect shoddy craftsmanship when there is a missing permit. No one wants to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into a home with poorly crafted improvements.
A good example here is all the homeowners who had to deal with removing ice dams this past winter. There are a lot of negative things ice dams can do to a home including mold. In cases where mold is bad walls may need to be removed and rebuilt.
If it is bad enough, you may even need to relocate or replace the electrical wiring. Could a homeowner fix this themselves? I am sure many have. That doesn’t mean hiring a professional who pulls a permit for this kind of work is not the right way to go.
One of the questions I am often asked by homeowners when they are considering selling is what will happen if I don’t have a building permit for work done on my home. There is no clear cut and dry answer on this but in my experience, the local city or town will ask the homeowner to go through the permitting process.
The owner will, of course, have to pay all necessary fees involved with the construction. Each of the applicable inspectors will also need to come through and inspect the work.
Many homeowners are asking this question because they want to know if the town will make them rip out everything they have built and start from scratch. In my twenty-nice years of selling real estate I have not experienced this.
That, however, does not mean it is not possible. Homeowners should be very apologetic to the local building department when it has been discovered there are no permits pulled.
One of the other risks of not pulling permits is getting sued later on down the road by the buyer who purchases your home. Unfortunately, we live in a sue-happy society where people are always looking for someone to blame.
When you don’t pull a permit, and something tragic happens years down the road, who do you think they are going to come after?
In Massachusetts when selling a home, it is standard practice that homeowners fill out a form called the “sellers statement of property condition.” Lots of states use these forms.
They are primarily a disclosure of what the seller knows and doesn’t know about the home. One of the first questions on this form asks “have you done any work on the home in which a permit was required.” You better answer this one honestly folks for the reason above I just mentioned!
There is no clear cut and dry answer on when you will need to pull a building permit for an improvement to your home. The best way to find out is to pick up the phone and call the local building department or stop in for a face to face.
The building inspector should be able to quickly tell you if you will need a permit for your project or not.
It is safe to assume that anything safety related will require a permit. You can also expect that a permit will be necessary when you are doing something that will significantly alter your home.
One important reminder – When all the work has been completed don’t forget to have a final inspection and get the permit closed out! Over the years I have had several clients who have done the right thing and pulled a building permit but never closed it out once all the work was completed.
Closing out a permit is often called getting a certificate of occupancy. Recently while selling a home, I ran into this exact situation.
The owner pulled an original building permit but never asked for a final inspection, so the project was never filed as completed. Luckily, the building department did not make them do anything special other than getting a final inspection.
You could, however, find yourself in a situation where you are not so lucky if there are code changes between the time the permit is pulled and when you are selling your home. So make sure when the project is completed a final inspection is done, and certificate of occupancy is issued.
Here are some examples of items you will more than likely need a permit for:
These are just a few quick examples. There are many other items for which you will need to pull a permit.
Tags: Building Maintenance, Florida Rising Magazine, Management News, Members Articles
Ronnie Giles 561-602-8660
Sr. Account Manager Florida East Coast
CAI Business Partner Certified
#CGC 1517755 / #CFC 1429221
Good news, if you missed our recent webinar on PPP Loan Forgiveness and EIDL Loans you’re in luck! The demand for this webinar was so great that we’ve decided to have a second for those who were unable to attend.
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