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Post by Admin on Feb 4, 2014 6:45:42 GMT -5
(UPL= Unlicensed Practice of Law)
This was updated by ccfj.net:
Note on CAM/LCAM: Our "Manager" signs her designation as LCAM. This designation does not exist as a licensed entity by Florida. It is CAM-Community Association Manager. However, the LCAM designation is generally recognized by industry as an acceptable alternative to CAM, though there is no reason to use it since there is no such thing as an "unlicensed" CAM (to distinguish from a "Licensed CAM"). You are either Florida-licensed as a CAM or you are unlicensed and subject to prosecution if performing the duties of a CAM in Florida.
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Post by Over the Z Top on Feb 4, 2014 7:53:23 GMT -5
So why not call it'self FL-L-CAM ?
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Post by By any other name on Feb 4, 2014 8:12:32 GMT -5
or ACTIVE FL LCAM (AFLCAM)
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Casper the Friendly Guest
Guest
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Post by Casper the Friendly Guest on Feb 4, 2014 8:29:19 GMT -5
Why not "Reserve Executioner *Umbrella Active Florida LCAM"
*Umbrella LCAM was the lie first told when our LCAM had NO Licence but stated she was under 's "Umbrella Licence" which does not exist .
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Post by Just Facts on Feb 4, 2014 17:43:21 GMT -5
www.examiner.com/article/how-do-you-become-an-lcam-the-state-of-floridaThis column has attempted to answer many questions regarding the homeowners association (HOA) industry in the past two years, but has never dealt with the specifics involved in becoming an Licensed Community Association Manager (LCAM). These individuals hold quite a bit of power in the average association, and so it is important to find out what exactly they did to gain this power. A Florida CAM License is required when managing an association of more than 10 units and/or has an annual budget in excess of $100,000. Types of properties that hire CAM License holders are mobile home parks, planned unit developments, homeowners associations, cooperatives, timeshares, condominiums, or other residential units, which are authorized to impose a fee that may become a lien on the parcel. Typical responsibilities of a Florida CAM Licensee are 1) controlling or disbursing association funds; 2) determining how or when to prepare budgets or other financial documents for an association; 3) determining how or when to provide notice of meetings or to conduct association meetings; 4) maintaining and/or having authorization to spend association petty cash; 5) coordinating maintenance for the residential development; and 6) performing other day-to-day services involved with the operation of a community association. According to a report from Larson Educational Services, getting a CAM license is not all that complicated. Their program involves a 2-day, 18-hour course and costs $229. This is just the first of many fees that must be paid in the licensing procedure. An applicant for a Florida Community Association Manager (CAM) License must: a.) Be at least 18 years old b.) Hold a high school diploma or its equivalent NOTE: Florida residency is not required.
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Post by Webcrawler on Feb 8, 2014 8:01:39 GMT -5
Association managers, lawyers in turf tiff in state Supreme Court battle
Article Courtesy of The News-Press
By Dick Hogan
Published February 5, 2014
Florida’s community association managers are fighting a turf war — but the enemy this time isn’t mole crickets.
It’s lawyers.
The managers are nervously awaiting a state Supreme Court decision on a proposal by the Florida Bar to say only lawyers should be able to perform 14 tasks now often practiced by the managers.
Meanwhile, a bill is close to being filed in the state House of Representatives that could frame the issue more to the managers’ liking.
The Bar’s just trying to muscle in on traditional manager activities, such as working on contracts for the association to hire builders or get cable TV, said Aaron Grdn, corporate general counsel for LM Funding LLC, which helps distressed condo associations deal with their financial problems.
But Bar officials say they’re seeing evidence that community managers aren’t always up to the jobs they’re fighting to keep.
Grdn said the real issue is money. “A community association manager’s usually going to charge you 20, 25 bucks, while a lawyer’s going to charge you 150 to 250 to do the same thing.”
That could be disastrous, he said, for some associations in areas such as Southwest Florida, where many communities are still just treading water financially in the aftermath of the housing collapse.
“There’s never been a case of unlicensed practice of law filed against a community association manager” by the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, said Mark Benson, a longtime community manager in Fort Myers. “The whole thing reeks of some kind of intellectual exercise of some kind.”
But Lori Holcomb, the Bar’s director of client protection, said it’s misleading to say the state hasn’t filed any cases.
“That’s because they (department officials) send them to us” and some people go directly to the Bar with their grievances against managers, she said.
That’s why the Bar is standing behind its proposal, Holcomb said. “Certain things, we said, need a lawyer’s involvement.”
She also noted that the Bar’s proposal doesn’t just take away turf from the managers. The proposal recommends that managers be allowed to write pre-arbitration letters on an association’s behalf – something not addressed when the court last addressed the issue of managers’ duties in 1996.
Mark Anderson, LM’s lobbyist in Tallahassee, said a draft bill is likely to be introduced this week to the state House Civil Justice Committee, which is scheduled to take up the issue on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court is charged under the state constitution with defining what constitutes the practice of law, he said, but by spelling out the duties of community managers in greater detail the Legislature might protect them from charges of unlicensed practice of law, a third-degree felony with a penalty of up to five years in prison.
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Post by Admin on Feb 9, 2014 8:07:19 GMT -5
Here is some detail on what CAM's can't do. It is somewhat surprising to me what they ARE allowed to do, considering these are people with $200 in their pocket and a high school diploma running million dollar corporations. Blown away!
The Court found that the following activities, when performed by a CAM, constituted the unlicensed practice of law:
1. completing BPR Form 33-032 (frequently asked questions and answers sheet);
2. drafting a claim of lien, satisfaction of claim of lien, and notice of commencement form;
3. determining the timing, method and form of giving notice of meetings;
4. determining the votes necessary for certain actions which would entail interpretation of certain statutes and rules; and
5. answering a community association’s question about the application of law to a matter being considered or advising a community association that
a course of action may not be authorized by law, rule, or the association’s governing documents.
Note: CAMS cannot advise the association as to the legal consequences of taking or not taking a certain course of action.
Grey areas:
1. modification of limited proxy forms promulgated by the state drafting a limited proxy form, and
2. drafting documents required to exercise the community association’s right of approval or right of first refusal on the sale or lease of a parcel
In the 1996 opinion, the Court found that it constituted the unlicensed practice of law for a CAM to respond to a community association’s questions concerning the application of law to specific matters being considered, or to advise community associations that a course of action may not be authorized by law or rule.
The court found that this amounted to nonlawyers giving legal advice and answering specific legal questions, which the court specifically prohibited in the Florida Bar v. Raymond James & Assoc.,215 So. 2d 613 (Fla. 1968) and Sperry.
Further, in The Florida Bar v. Warren, 655 So. 2d 1131 (Fla. 1995), the Court held that it constitutes the unlicensed practice of law for a nonlawyer to advise persons of their rights, duties, and responsibilities under Florida or federal law and to construe and interpret the legal effect of Florida law and statutes for third parties.
In The Florida Bar v. Mills, 410 So. 2d 498 (Fla. 1982), the Court found that it constitutes the unlicensed practice of law for a nonlawyer to interpret case law and statutes for others.
Thus, it is the Standing Committee’s opinion that it would constitute the unlicensed practice of law for a CAM to engage in activity requiring statutory or case law analysis to reach a legal conclusion.
See Unofficial Minutes of Jan 7, 2014 (below) BOD Meeting where the Board specifically referenced Management Company's "thoughtful" advice:
The above is an example of UPL (Unlicensed Practice of Law) by a CAM.
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