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June 9, 2011Jonathan James Damonte, Esq.

Jonathan James Damonte, Chartered12110 Seminole Blvd.

Largo, FL 33778(727)586-2889

jdamonte@damontelaw.com

More than 2,000 bills were filed in the Legislature this year.Less then 300 were passed by both the House and Senate.Bills are sent to the Governor in batches, usually of about 10 at a time.247 have been signed by the Governor so far.4 have been vetoed so far.

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Governor’s website: www.flgov.com Click on “Media Center” located on the right panel, then select “Bill Actions” from the drop-down list, which downloads a .pdf file with status of bills sent to Governor so far.

Legislature: www.leg.state.fl.usClick on “Senate” or “House” and search by bill number, or by text. For example, type in “condominium” to see all bills that have the word “condominium” in them.

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HB1195, the Community Associations bill supported by CAI, was approved by the Legislature on June 3rd.

The bill has not yet been sent to the Governor, but will be soon.

The Governor is expected to sign it. If signed by the Governor, it will become effective on July 1, 2011.

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Fire Code: Amends s. 633.0215 of the Fire Code to provide that condos, co-ops and multi-family residential buildings of less than four stories are exempt from installing manual fire alarm systems, provided building has an exterior corridor providing egress.

Hurricane Glass: Condo associations are permitted to install impact glass or other code-compliant windows for hurricane protection.

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Official Records:Amends s. 718.111(12)(a)7., to include fax numbers, and provides that email addresses and fax numbers are not accessible to unit owners if consent to receive electronic notices has not been provided by the unit owner.S. 718.111(12)(c)5. is amended to comport with s. 718.111(12)(c)3. (protected information).

S. 718.112(2)(b)3.b. is added to provide that a Board meeting to discuss personnel matters does not have to be open to the unit owners.

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Condo Elections:Candidates: Must be eligible to serve at the 40 day notice deadline in order to be on ballot or serve.Director Certification: Condo directors may submit proof of educational course attendance (in lieu of signing the certification form) provided the course is completed within 1 year before or 90 days after the date of election or appointment. Certification is valid as long as the director serves without interruption.Terms: Terms do not expire at annual meeting if all members’ terms would expire and there are no candidates. When terms expire at the annual meeting, directors may stand for re-election unless prohibited by bylaws.

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720 HOA Elections & Meetings:Adds condo provisions to 720 HOAs:

Lot owners delinquent more than 90 days are not eligible to serve on the Board, and convicted felons are not eligible to serve.All members are entitled to speak at board meetings with reference to all designated agenda items.

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Bulk Telecommunications – 720 HOAsCreates s. 720.309(2), F.S., mirroring 2010 condo law, allowing association bulk purchase of telecommunications, information, and internet services.Prohibits 720 HOA from denying individual service to any resident from a certificated or franchised telcom provider.

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Condominiums, Cooperatives & HOAs:Rents: “Future monetary obligations” includes all rent due from the tenant to the unit or lot owner and must be paid to the association until all delinquent accounts are paid in full.Form Letter: New form letter to tenants explaining tenant’s obligation to pay rent to the association;Immunity: Tenant has immunity from any claim by the landlord for rent timely paid to the association after demand.

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Suspensions: Allows for suspension of common element use rights for non-payment without a hearing, but requires Board approval at properly noticed Board meeting;Allows for suspension of common element use rights for bad acts after notice and a hearing;If voting rights are suspended, the suspended votes do not count towards a quorum or vote on an action.

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Assessments: An association that acquires title to a unit through foreclosure is not liable for unpaid assessments that came due before the association’s acquisition of title to any other condo or homeowners’ association.

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Termination of CondominiumsPartial terminations and the amendments providing for them are not subject to s. 718.110(4), F.S.The plan of termination must state the remaining interests in the portion of the condo not terminated.The method of distribution and mortgagee participation to reflect a partial termination has been changed.Termination is permitted for reasons of economic waste and/or impossibility if a condo includes units and timeshare units and the improvements have been totally destroyed or demolished.

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Bulk Buyers / Bulk Assignees:Amends definitions to mean a person who acquires more than 7 parcels in “a single condominium”.Bulk assignee is not liable for warranties under s. 718.203(1) or 718.618, F.S., except as provided by the bulk assignee in a prospectus or in the contract for purchase and sale purchase, or for design, construction, development or repair work performed by or for the bulk assignee.Requires a filing with DBPR and disclosures to prospective purchasers if the bulk buyer / bulk assignee is offering more than 7 units in a single condominium for sale or for lease for a term of more than 5 years.

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Bulk Buyers / Bulk Assignees, continued:If a bulk assignee receives an assignment of developer’s rights at time of acquisition, and the developer had not already turned over control of the condo to the unit owners, then for purposes of the turnover of control provisions of the condo law, the bulk acquisition of units by the bulk assignee will not be considered a conveyance to a purchaser, or be considered owned by persons other than the developer, and thus will not count toward the turnover of control percentages until the units are conveyed to owners who are not bulk assignees.

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Bulk Buyers / Bulk Assignees, continued:Bulk buyers and bulk assignees are not required to comply with filing or disclosure requirements IF all units owned by bulk buyer or bulk assignee are offered and conveyed to a single purchaser in a single transaction.Bulk buyer and bulk assignee status applies only to the acquisition of condo parcels on or after July 1, 2010, but before July 1, 2012 (in other words, the bulk buyer and bulk assignee status will effectively sunset in 2012).

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The Florida Mobile Home Act (Chapter 723) was amended to provide:

Code enforcement: Local government may not cite a mobile home owner for a code violation for something that is the responsibility of the park owner, nor cite the park owner for something that is the responsibility of the home owner;Right of first refusal: Adds change of land use to the home owners’ association’s right of first refusal to purchase the park.

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Rates: Allows insurers to raise rates up to 15% to cover increases in reinsurance costs (but State regulators still have to approve increases).Hurricane Claims: Hurricane claims must be filed within three (3) years.Public Adjusters: Limits public adjuster advertising and compensation.

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Sinkholes:Sinkhole claims must be filed within two (2) years.Insurers must continue to offer sinkhole coverage, but may limit coverage to homes and not other structures on the property.Insurers may require inspections before issuing sinkhole coverage.Allows insurers to initially pay only actual cash value (ACV) for repairs to homes.Insurers may require that repairs be made before fully paying a sinkhole claim.

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Commercial Insurance: De-regulates commercial insurance rates, including:

Non-residential property;Non-residential multi-peril;General liability;Theft and burglary policies;Fiduciary liability.

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Prohibits local governments from enacting a ban on short-term rentals after June 1, 2011. Local governments with existing rental bans are “grandfathered” in.Deletes the term “Resort dwelling”, replaces “Resort condominium” with “Vacation rentals” and changes the definition to “any unit or group of units in a condominium, cooperative, or timeshare plan or any individually or collectively owned single-family, two-family, or four-family house or dwelling unit that is also a transient public lodging establishment.”Keeps exemption for condo rentals of 30 days or more.

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Changes the initial requirements for certain persons acting as home inspectors; andRemoves the provision enacted last year that allowed Division 1 contractors to perform both home inspection and make repairs.

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The “Risky Business” Law: A person who has control of a residence and allows an open house party at which alcohol or drugs are possessed or consumed by minors and the person in control fails to take steps to prevent possession or consumption commits a second degree misdemeanor (first offense) or first degree misdemeanor (subsequent offense).If death to a minor or serious bodily harm is caused by a minor, the violation is a first degree misdemeanor.

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The Legislature passed a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution that would reduce the yearly assessment cap on non-homestead property from 10% to 5%.

It would give anyone who hasn’t had a homestead exemption in Florida for 3 years a property tax discount of 50% of the home’s assessed value, not to exceed the median home price in that county, which would phase out over 5 years as the new Save Our Homes cap phases in.

It would allow the Legislature to prohibit assessment increases when property values fall (“recapture”).

HJR 592 would extend property tax relief to any disabled combat veteran residing in Florida, regardless of when they entered military service.

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Removes the cap of $243,000,000 on housing trust funds;The Florida Housing Finance Corporation has $64,000,000 available for state and local housing projects.

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Reforms to Citizens Property Insurance Corp failed, including “Consumer Choice” legislation. The bill would have allowed Citizens to raise rates up to 25%.Additional property tax relief for low-income seniors in the form of assessment caps failed.Enhancements to the criminal trespass statutes failed.A bill to authorize non-judicial foreclosure failed, as did a bill to expedite foreclosure cases. 26

Bike Safety bills SB 118 / HB 981, which would have required helmets worn by riders younger than 16 to meet Federal safety standards, failed.

Booster Seat bills SB238/HB 11, which would have required booster seats in cars for children 4 to 7 years old or shorter than 4’9”, failed.

Red Light Camera bills SB 672 / HB4087, which would have repealed last year’s red light cameras law, failed.

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The Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail bill, SB 1846 / HB 1239, which would have required the Division of Parks and Recreation to hire Jack Nicklaus Design to build golf courses in every region of the State, failed.SB332 Sovereignty Submerged Lands bill for private residential docks and piers died in the Budget Committee. However, Rep. Jim Frishe has already re-filed this bill for next year, so it will be back.

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Visit Suncoast CAI at www.suncoastcai.com for updates. This presentation will be posted on the website after July 1, 2011.

Visit www.caionline.org for information on Federal legislation and community association news from other States.

If you are not already a member, and enjoyed this presentation, JOIN CAI NOW and get all the benefits of CAI membership!

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