Legal Advertisement Spring 2015
The firm is proud to announce the hiring
of Attorney Richard Sachs who brings to
the firm more than 20 years of
experience. Richard is AV Rated by
Martindale-Hubbell* since 2000 and
from 2011 through 2015, he was selected
to South Florida Legal Guide, Top
Lawyers, and to Florida Super Lawyers.
Richard has litigated throughout the State
of Florida in complex commercial real estate matters including
construction defect litigation claims. He is also certified by the Florida
Supreme Court to serve as a circuit civil court mediator, appellate court
mediator, and a qualified arbitrator. Richard has also been appointed to
several local and state bar committees, including the Florida Supreme
Court’s Commission on Professionalism, the editorial board for the Florida
Bar Journal, Chairman of two Florida Bar Grievance Committees,
Chairman of the Business Law Section for the Broward County Bar
Association, Past President (2010) of the B’nai B’rith Justice Unit and
served on the Board of Directors for the Broward County Bar Association.
As our readers know, our firm’s practice is devoted to representing community associations and their owners, around the entire state.
We are proud to announce the addition of the following associations as our clients:
The Hammocks Community
Association, 1750 James Condo, and
Terrazas River Park Village —Miami
Mar Lynn Apts, Hillcrest East 20, and
Waterways at Hollywood, Hollywood;
Dean Chase HOA – Winter Park;
Valencia At South Beach Condo-
Jacksonville
Adrian Estate Homes at Monarch Lakes
– Miramar, FL
Residences at Lakes of Newport -
Plantation;
Estate Homes at Emerald Forest –
Renaissance of Pompano and Spyglass
Walk Condo – Pompano Beach;
New World Townhouses, W. Palm
Beach;
Estate Homes of Emerald Springs –
and Harvest Condominium - Davie
Hallcrest Condominium – Hallandale;
Point East Council – Aventura; Bent Tree Villas West – Boynton Beach
We certainly appreciate the trust
and confidence placed in our firm
and look forward to working with
everyone in your communities.
– Eric M. Glazer
Welcome Aboard!
Legal Advertisement Spring 2015
May 31st, 2015 at the Condo Craze Live Radio Show and Day of Education at 7:00 a.m. at the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood.
To register go to www.condocrazeandhoas.com
Make sure to check our website for additional seminars and time changes.
SOUTH FLORIDA
One Emerald Place
3113 Stirling Road, Suite 201
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33312
(954) 983-1112
CENTRAL FLORIDA
Executive Offices of Baldwin Park
4767 New Broad Street, Suite 332
Orlando, Florida 32814
(407) 515-1060
SATELLITE OFFICES
Fort Myers Naples Tampa
ON THE INTERNET
Our firm: www.Condo-Laws.com
Radio Show: www.CondoCrazeandHOAs.com
Blog: www.HOA-CondoBlog.com
HOA and Condo Education is back! As our readers know, members of condominium and HOA
boards need to become certified within one year prior to
joining a board, or within 90 days of actually getting elected
or appointed. If not, they are removed from their positions.
We are extremely proud to have worked so hard to change the
law in this regard.
One way to get certified is by taking our Condo Craze and
HOAs Board Certification Course, which has now certified
over 10,000 people around the state.
So come learn all about budgets, meetings, reserve funds,
duties of directors, foreclosures, elections, material
alterations, financial reporting and much more. At our “Day
of Education” events, our course is followed by other courses
taught by our radio show’s fantastic partners.
See the course listing below:
GLAZER & ASSOCIATES, P.A.
Live Radio Show & Day of Education.
May 31, 2015 at 7:00 am at the Seminole Hard Rock
Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.
There will plenty of educational classes along with
our Board Certification Seminar. In addition breakfast
and lunch will be served! Register at
www.condocrazeandhoas.com Space is limited!
Arrive early for check-in!
Register at www.condocrazeandhoas.com
Space is limited!
Arrive early for check-in!
Download our new App! The Condo Craze and HOAs App for your
iPhone or mobile device is here. Now, at
the touch of a button, you have instant
access to all laws governing condos, HOAs
and Co-Ops. Also, you can: listen to every
Condo Craze show; go directly to our
websites; send us your questions and
comments; read all of our newsletters and
blogs; and register for our seminars.
Day of Education Classes
WATCH YOUR WALLET by Association Services of Florida. Learn about the
procedures and safeguards that every community association board should have in place
to protect its money and to avoid fraud. Learn about segregating duties, fraud risks,
fraud controls and much more. It's your money! Don't lose it because you failed to take
these critical steps. To learn more about Associa and its services go to
www.associaonline.com or call (954) 922-3514.
HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS by Best Roofing. Through this course you will gain a basic
understanding of insurance versus warranties and what they mean should a catastrophic weather event
occur. You will also learn how to prepare your building in order to prevent the extensive damage that
water intrusion can cause to your property. Additional discussions will include actual case studies that
describe the building issues that hurricanes have caused. www.bestroofing.net
HOW TO READ A FINANCIAL STATEMENT by Gerstle Rosen and Goldenberg.
This course will be discussing how to read your financials or know what is going on with
your money, cash vs. accrual, cash vs. available to spend, combining funds and other
topics . Contact the professionals at Gerstle, Rosen and Goldenberg, P.A. by calling (305)
937-0116 and visit the firm’s website www.grgcpa.com.
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS Participants will learn the steps to take before
a weather or non-weather related disaster event. Learn a basic understanding on
preventative measures to mitigate the destructive effects, also cover water
damage, mold remediation, and hurricane preparedness for condos.
Servicemaster can help you, call (954) 969-5906 and visit their website
www.servicemaster247.com.
ELECTION AND RECALL PROCESS 101 by Affinity Management Services. This
course teaches the “ins and outs” of elections for community associations and the
process for recalling directors that sit on an association’s board. Affinity will provide
this information with a detailed, step-by-step approach covering the entire election
process, the role of a corporation’s by-laws, the statutes that govern elections, the role
of the association’s attorney, the timetables for election notices and declaring
candidacies, the proper format of ballots, and election day protocol. Affinity will also offer an instructive
primer on the recall process and discuss why unit owners may want to recall a director (or directors) of the
board, who may initiate the process, who participates in it and what is required for a successful recall. To
learn more about Affinity and its services, visit www.affinitymanagementservices.com or call (305) 325-
4243.
More educational classes
THE COMPLAINT PROCESS with the DBPR This course is a guideline for unit
owners regarding the process for filing a complaint with the Division. What is an
accepted complaint? One received by the Division from someone with standing to file
a complaint, which addresses a subject within the jurisdiction of the Division, under
Section, 718.501(1), Florida Statutes, and which meets the Division’s criteria. Learn
what this means and more during this informative class brought to you by the DBPR.
Remember to register for any of our seminars at
Sponsors of STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING provides clients with professional guidance and
consulting services with their concrete repair projects, glass sliding door and window
projects and roofing projects throughout South Florida. As ‘Engineers Of Record’ on
construction projects, we specialize in specifying projects, bidding projects to contractors,
assisting you in selecting a qualified contractor and then acting as construction managers
and structural inspectors. Call us today at 561- 844-4060 or visit us at www.struc-
engineers.com.
ABOVE ALL SPRINKLERS Need your sprinkler head repaired? How about
modifying your current system? Above all Sprinklers can handle all of your needs from
repairs on site to design and regular maintenance service. Call Above All Sprinklers
today at 954-588-9988 or visit us at www.aboveallsprinklers.com.
OPTICALTEL Before your Association signs that long term renewal for the same
dated technology, let OpticalTel provide you with a no obligation quote for services
utilizing Fiber Optics to your Community. Our experienced team members will
prepare a custom proposal outlying the OpticalTel Advantage as well as our one stop
shop approach to Account Management, Construction, Customer Service, and most
importantly…Community Satisfaction. Call us today at 1-855-30-fiber or visit us via
web www.opticaltel.com.
SAVING CAPITAL Saving Capital Reserves class explains what are reserves and
why should a community establish sufficient reserve funds. The class also describes
what a reserve study entails along with the different levels of service the industry has
to offer. It also outlines the process of conducting a reserve study and details the two
types of funding plans typically utilized. To contact Custom Reserves, please call or
visit their website at www.customreserves.com.
New Laws effective July 1, 2015
payment no later than 10 days
after vacating the unit. Now,
instead of the “appraised value”
as determined by the property
appraiser, owners will receive
100 percent of the fair market
value of their unit as determined
by an independent appraiser.
The plan of termination must
provide for payment of a first
mortgage encumbering a unit to
the extent necessary to satisfy
the lien, but the payment may
not exceed the unit’s share of the
proceeds of termination under
the plan. Owners who wish to
contest the plan must do so in
arbitration, and not a court of
law.
Proxies
Any copy, facsimile
transmission, or other reliable
reproduction of the original
proxy may be substituted or
used in lieu of the original proxy
for any purpose for which the
original proxy could be used if it
is a complete reproduction of the
original proxy.
Electronic Voting
In condos, H.O.A.s and co-ops,
the association may conduct
elections and other unit owner
votes through an internet-based
online voting system if a unit
owner consents, in writing to
online voting and if the following
requirements are met:
1. The association provides each
unit owner with:
(a) a method to authenticate the
unit owner’s identity to the
online voting system.
(b) For elections of the board, a
method to transmit an electronic
ballot to the online voting system
that ensures the secrecy and
integrity of each ballot.
(c) A method to confirm, at least
Bills That Have Passed
Although it was a relatively
boring year in terms of new
condo, co-op or HOA legislation,
there were two bills that passed
and were waiting signature by the
Governor as of the date of this
publication. The highlights are
below:
Condo termination
Many of you may not know that
if one unit owner owns 80% of
the units in a condominium,
they can vote on a “Plan of
Termination” and attempt to
force you out of your unit, even
if you are current in your
assessments and your mortgage.
In fact, the unit owner can
purchase your unit for its
appraised value as determined
by the local property appraiser
even though the true value may
be a lot higher. More than 10
percent of the unit owners would
need to vote in order to defeat
the plan. The new legislation
requires every owner to be
counted in the voting process,
even if their voting rights had
previously been suspended.
“Conversion” condominiums
can’t be terminated until five
years after the declaration is
recorded if there is any
opposition whatsoever. If the
plan of termination would allow
for the lease of the units, each
unit owner may remain in the
unit for 12 months following the
effective date of the plan.
Owners who are forced out will
now receive a relocation
(b) For elections of the board, a
method to transmit an electronic
ballot to the online voting system
that ensures the secrecy and
integrity of each ballot.
(c) A method to confirm, at least
14 days before the voting
deadline, that the unit owner's
electronic device can successfully
communicate with the online
voting system.
(2) The association uses an online
voting system that is:
(a) Able to authenticate the unit
owner's identity.
(b) Able to authenticate the
validity of each electronic
vote to ensure that the vote is not
altered in transit.
(c) Able to transmit a receipt
from the online voting system to
each unit owner who casts an
electronic vote.
(d) For elections of the board of
administration, able to
permanently separate any
authentication or identifying
information from the electronic
election ballot, rendering it
impossible to tie an election
ballot to a specific unit owner.
(e) Able to store and keep
electronic votes accessible to
election officials for recount,
inspection, and review purposes.
To initiate this process, a
resolution of the Board of
Directors is required.
Fines Clarifies that the role of a fining committee is limited to determining whether to confirm or reject the fine levied by the Board.
If the close of the 2014 Regular Session was described as
"bringing it all in for a soft Landing", then the end of the
2015 Regular Session of the Florida Legislature can best be
described as "crashing and burning".
No budget was passed or even negotiated. No HOA reform passed. No prison reform was passed. No transportation bill was passed. No water land purchase bill passed. No water projects bill was passed. No economic development bill was passed. No film incentives were passed. No tax relief bill was passed. No PSC reform was passed. No low-THC bill passed. No Medicaid or Low Income reform was passed. No Fracking regulation passed. No gaming bill passed. No renewable energy bills passed. Of the almost 2,000 bills introduced, just under 200 bills actually passed. And if you remove claims bills and local bills and revisers bills from that list, only slightly over 100 bills of any substance will be considered by the Governor. Richard Pinsky, Public Policy Manager, Akerman LLP
LEGAL BE AT In this issue: Richard Sachs joins Glazer & Assoc. | Live Radio Show and Day of
Education May 31st. | New Laws effective July 1, 2015
You can read the HOA and Condo Law Blog at www.hoa-condoblog.com. Every Monday, Eric and the other bloggers, discuss the
latest issues concerning community associations throughout Florida.
If you want to receive copies of our newsletters (like this and Condo Law Blog, please make sure to visit one), get updates
on Florida association law, get notification www.florida-association-law.com and click on Sign up of upcoming seminars,
learn about upcoming topics for our E-mail Newsletter at the top of the page.
AN UNPRODUCTIVE LEGISLATIVE SESSIONSuper Lawyers
The firm is honored that for yet another
year, attorneys Eric Glazer, Scott Shapiro
and Richard Sachs have been
recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine
for attaining a high-degree of peer
recognition and professional
achievement.
FLORIDA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
JOURNAL – GOLD LEVEL AWARD
The firm is also honored to be awarded for the
second year in a row, the Gold Level in the Legal
Services Category, by voters who participated in
a survey conducted by The Florida Community
Association Journal.
Our Condo Craze and HOAs Radio Show airs
each Sunday at noon on 850 WFTL. We are now
enjoying our 6th year. Call in and get your
questions answered live and on the air.
READ OUR BLOG
Start the week off by reading our blog each
Monday morning at www.hoa-condoblog.com.
Comment on our stories and chime in on what
others are saying about topics effecting your
community association.
Need a loan for repairs in your community? Maybe your association needs to pay for its
40 year inspection? Contact the experts at City National Bank. City National’s team can
provide great loan programs for your community association and much more. Contact
City National Bank at www.citynationalcm.com/home/business/condo.
Need insurance for your car, boat, home or office. To find out how much you can save, give
agent Randy Hoffman a call at (888) 298-8838, (954) 846-1206 or visit Randy’s Allstate
website at www.allstateagencies.com/randyhoffman.
Contact Carousel Development and Restoration, Inc., when it’s time to tackle the big jobs, like
deck repairs, balcony repairs and parking garage problems, Carousel can help. Give the team
at Carousel a call at (561) 272-3700 and visit www.cdri.net.
Redefining Association Management To find out how Condominium Concepts
Management can help your community, visit www.condomuniumconcepts.com, where you read
about all of their services and find contact information for the office nearest to you.
Need your walkways or driveways repaired or resurfaced? Held with handicapped
spaces and parking compliance? Call us at: 1-800-432-1191 and visit us on the web at:
www.driveway.net.
ERIC M. GLAZER NYU B.A. 1989 Miami J.D. 1992 Bar Licenses: Florida; New York; and District of Columbia Admissions: U.S. Supreme
Court; 11th Cir. Court of App.; S.D. Fla.; M.D. Fla.; N.D. Fla.; E.D.N.Y.; and S.D.N.Y.
ADR: Certified Cir. and County Court Mediator
RALPH C. RUOCCO Brooklyn College B.A. 1998 Miami J.D. 2002 Licensed in
Florida Admissions: U.S. Supreme Court; and S.D. Fla.
SCOTT R. SHAPIRO Florida B.A. 2002 Miami J.D. 2005 Licensed in Florida
Admissions: U.S. Supreme Court; 11th Cir. Court of App.; and S.D. of Fla.
PENNIE S.A. MAYS FAMU B.A. 2002 Florida J.D. 2004 Licensed in Florida
Admissions: U.S. Supreme Court; and S.D. of Fla. Board Certified in Construction Law by The Florida Bar
CELENA NASH Park University B.A. 2004 Florida Coastal J.D. 2008 Licensed in Florida Admitted in the Southern District of Florida
PAUL KIM UPenn B.A. 2002 Florida J.D. 2006 Licensed in Florida Admissions: S.D. Fla.; and M.D. Fla.
RICHARD SACHS, Univ of Florida, BA 1990, Nova Univ. J.D. 1994 Licensed in U.S. Supreme Court; 11th Cir. Court of App.; S.D. Fla.; M.D. Fla.; N.D. Fla Certified
Cir. and County Court Mediator
Do the pipes in your community need replacement or repair? Before spending all the
money for a total pipe replacement, call PipeLining and find out about its Trenchless Pipe
Repair. It’s quick, less intrusive and certainly less expensive than a pipe replacement. Call
PipeLining Technologies at: (561) 853-5463 www.pipelt.com
More sponsors of
Want to save on your electric bill and make your condominium, HOA or Co-Op look better at the
same time? Contact Jademar Corporation to learn about installing energy efficient lighting fixtures
in your community. Call them at: (305) 640-0465 and visit their website at: www.jademar.com.
GLAZER & ASSOCIATES, P.A.
Since 1994, our attorneys have counseled
clients on almost all issues facing
associations or their members. Our
practice is primarily devoted to community
associations and owners. Additionally, our
commercial litigation, ADR and appellate
practice has decades of experience before
state and federal trial courts, all appellate
levels and both state and municipal
administrative forums.
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