2015 HOA Reform Bill

Frm Attorney Bar bra St age's blog:


Here is a summary of what House and Senate bills submitted as needed HOA changes:



Here is what we got; this is the legislation passed affecting HOA effective July 1,2015.  It was another loser year for HOA's.

• Official Records: Similar to the law for condominiums and cooperatives, Section 720.303(5) of the Florida Homeowners’ Association Act has been amended to provide that an association may print and distribute a directory containing the name, parcel address, and telephone numbers for each parcel owner. However, an owner may exclude his or her telephone numbers from the directory by so requesting in writing to the association. Further, a parcel owner may consent, in writing, to the disclosure of other “protected” information, such as e-mail addresses.

• Emergency Powers: A new Section 720.316 has been added to the Homeowners’ Association Act granting an HOA certain “emergency powers” after catastrophic events such as a hurricane. Included within such powers are the authority to implement a disaster plan, which may include shutting off utilities, and taking action to mitigate further damage to the community after a catastrophic event.

• Access to HOA Board Meetings For Handicapped Persons: Sections 720.303(2)(a) and 720.306(1)(a) of the Homeowners’ Association Act have been amended to provide that board meetings must be held at locations which are accessible to physically handicapped persons. However, this requirement comes into play only if a request is made by a physically handicapped person who is entitled to attend a board meeting. This law does not apply to condominium or cooperative associations, just homeowners’ associations.

• Mailing Out Amendments to Governing Documents: Pursuant to an amendment to the statute adopted last year, within thirty days after recording an amendment to the association’s governing documents, the association must mail copies of the amendments to all members. This can result in significant additional and unnecessary expense if the amendments were also sent out to the owners before the meeting. Under the new law, if a copy of the proposed amendment was provided to the members before they voted on the amendment, and the proposed amendment was not changed before the vote, the association may in lieu of mailing out the recorded amendment, provide written notice that the amendment was adopted. The notice must identify the official book and page number of the instrument where the amendment was recorded. The association must also notify members that a copy of the actual recorded amendment is available at no charge to the member upon written request to the association. The notice of adoption and copies of the recorded amendment, when requested, may be provided by e-mail to those parcel owners who previously consented to receive association notices electronically.

• Marketable Record Title Act: Section 712.05 of the Marketable Record Title Act (commonly referred to as MRTA) was amended regarding technical notice and publication issues. The new law clarifies that after MRTA paperwork preserving HOA covenants from extinguishment is recorded in the local land records, there is no requirement to publish notice in a newspaper, which was required by the law many years ago. MRTA is a very important statute for homeowners’ associations because it can, after thirty years, extinguish an HOA’s declaration of covenants, notwithstanding the duration of the declaration by its own terms. MRTA generally does not apply to condominiums.