Post by Admin on Jan 15, 2015 7:21:23 GMT -5
Yesterday, I went to the annual CCFJ Expo sponsored by the group, Cyber Citizens for Justice, the premier HOA/Condo Advocacy group in Florida, (to which I belong). It was a lavish event with free breakfast, lunch and snacks. Yum. There were special interest seminars, a 3-hour Board Certification course, live DJ music throughout the day, live radio show in which I participated, representatives from the DBPR "Division", vendors representing both related and non-related business services & products, raffles, contests with prizes and LOTS of freebies!
The primary sponsoring organization's website is: Cyber Citizens for Justice . This organization is following this year's legislative session carefully to monitor the progress of the 2015 HOA Reform Bill. This is a Very Important bill which would give HOA's the same legal and regulatory muscle as that now enjoyed by Condos. Here are the important elements of the bill:
Attachment Deleted
It was a great time to Ntwerk with others--mostly board members (10 to 1).
(Jackie, Susan and Bobby please email me at movinsue@gmail.com ; The dog ate the note I made of your MRTA interest. There was a moderate amount of interest in MRTA; MRTA was brought up during the radio show but the host attorney was not conversant with MRTA.)
While there, I took the Board Certification course and passed! The issues which raised the most questions concerned EMAIL notifications and the recent change in CONDO statute permitting email conversational threads among board members on HOME COMPUTERS. (This does not apply to HOA's.) Once an email conversation hits an Association computer, it becomes an official record of the Association and subject to inspection. The second big issue was "the definition of a board meeting"; in fact this is the 2-part question I answered correctly). Board members think they are hamstrung by statutory notice requirements for both board meetings/workshops and committee meetings and don't understand/agree with providing statutory notices under different conditions. The third most concerning thing was the recent change in the law giving CAMs additional quasi-legal privileges. The American Bar Association appears ready to have another go at this and remove these additional permissions. Fourth, "kickbacks, discounts and referral fees"--call 'em what you will but they all seem to be uneasy around this subject and wanted to know the statute of limitations (4 years). Heard some sighs of relief... It was really interesting to hear board members' concerns and frustrations "from the inside".
At the post-board certification Q & A, I won a $50 American Express gift card!
Attachment Deleted
We all had a great time and I will probably be seeing Jackie, Susan & Bobby at the MRTA Town H all Meeting on Jan 25th to learn the ropes around MRTA and meet Frd O'N eel (Attny), Esq.
The primary sponsoring organization's website is: Cyber Citizens for Justice . This organization is following this year's legislative session carefully to monitor the progress of the 2015 HOA Reform Bill. This is a Very Important bill which would give HOA's the same legal and regulatory muscle as that now enjoyed by Condos. Here are the important elements of the bill:
Attachment Deleted
It was a great time to Ntwerk with others--mostly board members (10 to 1).
(Jackie, Susan and Bobby please email me at movinsue@gmail.com ; The dog ate the note I made of your MRTA interest. There was a moderate amount of interest in MRTA; MRTA was brought up during the radio show but the host attorney was not conversant with MRTA.)
While there, I took the Board Certification course and passed! The issues which raised the most questions concerned EMAIL notifications and the recent change in CONDO statute permitting email conversational threads among board members on HOME COMPUTERS. (This does not apply to HOA's.) Once an email conversation hits an Association computer, it becomes an official record of the Association and subject to inspection. The second big issue was "the definition of a board meeting"; in fact this is the 2-part question I answered correctly). Board members think they are hamstrung by statutory notice requirements for both board meetings/workshops and committee meetings and don't understand/agree with providing statutory notices under different conditions. The third most concerning thing was the recent change in the law giving CAMs additional quasi-legal privileges. The American Bar Association appears ready to have another go at this and remove these additional permissions. Fourth, "kickbacks, discounts and referral fees"--call 'em what you will but they all seem to be uneasy around this subject and wanted to know the statute of limitations (4 years). Heard some sighs of relief... It was really interesting to hear board members' concerns and frustrations "from the inside".
At the post-board certification Q & A, I won a $50 American Express gift card!
Attachment Deleted
We all had a great time and I will probably be seeing Jackie, Susan & Bobby at the MRTA Town H all Meeting on Jan 25th to learn the ropes around MRTA and meet Frd O'N eel (Attny), Esq.