DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671
Posts: 5,671
Posted:
Florida Condo Members, Below is the 2008 proposed bill for condo changes. CALL is a very pro active Board member lobby. The bottom part contains some of what they feel is good with the top part being bad for Boards.
CALL Alert for February 22, 2008- HB 995
CALL recommends its members contact their legislators to voice opposition to the current version of HB 995.
The detrimental provisions of HB 995 are highlighted below:
"Criminal Sanctions" for board members and managers who "knowingly or intentionally deface, destroy, or fail to create or maintain accounting records." CALL believes the current civil penalties and fines contained in the Condominium Act are sufficient to deter an association from restricting a members access to the official records. Imposing criminal penalties for official record inspection violations will result in a substantial chilling affect for members who are considering a term on the Board. Many community associations are already faced with a severe shortage of members who are willing to volunteer their time by serving on the Board. Imposing criminal penalties for official record inspection violations will only serve to substantially reduce this shortage. Also, as worded, the proposed language does not make a distinction between intentional destruction of records as opposed to merely failing to maintain the official records. Imposing criminal penalties for failure to maintain and create official records, where there is no criminal intent, is excessive.
Restricts a condominium association from waiving or reducing its financial reporting requirements for more than two consecutive years. This legislation will restrict freedom of choice for condominium associations and their members in determining what type of financial reporting requirement is appropriate for their association. Currently, the financial reporting decision is ultimately made by the members, not the Board. Adopting this legislation will deprive the members and not the Board of this right to make this decision and will increase expenses.
Requires building inspections every five years, without an opt-out provision, for the purpose of determining whether condominium buildings are "structurally and electrically safe." We agree that periodic condominium building inspections will assist an association in avoiding costly future repairs, which if deferred to later years could result in costly assessments. However, this provision will result in increased operating expenses for associations that are already overburdened with soaring insurance premiums, property taxes, rising fuel costs, record foreclosures and other expenses. The amendment is also unclear on the certification requirements and it is unknown whether reputable engineers and architects would even issue such a certification.
It should be noted that there are several favorable provisions contained within HB 995 (e.g. allowing agenda items to be addressed at Board meetings upon the request of 20% of the members, prohibiting access to unit owners' social security numbers, etc.). However, the detrimental provisions outweigh the favorable provisions and this bill, as currently worded, will make it more difficult and expensive to operate condominium associations. As such, CALL is opposed to HB 995 and recommends our members contact their legislators to voice opposition to this version of the bill.
CALL Alert for February 22, 2008- HB 995
CALL recommends its members contact their legislators to voice opposition to the current version of HB 995.
The detrimental provisions of HB 995 are highlighted below:
"Criminal Sanctions" for board members and managers who "knowingly or intentionally deface, destroy, or fail to create or maintain accounting records." CALL believes the current civil penalties and fines contained in the Condominium Act are sufficient to deter an association from restricting a members access to the official records. Imposing criminal penalties for official record inspection violations will result in a substantial chilling affect for members who are considering a term on the Board. Many community associations are already faced with a severe shortage of members who are willing to volunteer their time by serving on the Board. Imposing criminal penalties for official record inspection violations will only serve to substantially reduce this shortage. Also, as worded, the proposed language does not make a distinction between intentional destruction of records as opposed to merely failing to maintain the official records. Imposing criminal penalties for failure to maintain and create official records, where there is no criminal intent, is excessive.
Restricts a condominium association from waiving or reducing its financial reporting requirements for more than two consecutive years. This legislation will restrict freedom of choice for condominium associations and their members in determining what type of financial reporting requirement is appropriate for their association. Currently, the financial reporting decision is ultimately made by the members, not the Board. Adopting this legislation will deprive the members and not the Board of this right to make this decision and will increase expenses.
Requires building inspections every five years, without an opt-out provision, for the purpose of determining whether condominium buildings are "structurally and electrically safe." We agree that periodic condominium building inspections will assist an association in avoiding costly future repairs, which if deferred to later years could result in costly assessments. However, this provision will result in increased operating expenses for associations that are already overburdened with soaring insurance premiums, property taxes, rising fuel costs, record foreclosures and other expenses. The amendment is also unclear on the certification requirements and it is unknown whether reputable engineers and architects would even issue such a certification.
It should be noted that there are several favorable provisions contained within HB 995 (e.g. allowing agenda items to be addressed at Board meetings upon the request of 20% of the members, prohibiting access to unit owners' social security numbers, etc.). However, the detrimental provisions outweigh the favorable provisions and this bill, as currently worded, will make it more difficult and expensive to operate condominium associations. As such, CALL is opposed to HB 995 and recommends our members contact their legislators to voice opposition to this version of the bill.