This topic is not intended to be provocative. It is unfortunate that Boards not only have to deal with unruly behavior, but that they also have to – from time to time – deal with racism and discriminatory behavior, too. Here are five suggestions for stopping such behavior, curated from interviews with several attorneys, managers and operations directors with years of experience. This problem isn’t new. In the case Reeves v. Carollsburg, a federal court found that a condo couldn’t sit idly by while one of its owners was being attacked on the basis of her race. The owner, Deborah Reeves, an African American, was an administrative judge in Washington, D.C., and lived in a condo. Another resident harassed her because of her race and the board took the position that this was a dispute between two unit owners. A Washington, D.C., federal court basically found that the association had

Bad neighbors are something that everyone living with shared walls fears—and not without cause; co-op or condo, small or large, chances are there’s at least one chronically objectionable person who seems to do his or her level best to annoy, thwart, and agitate his or her neighbors, and otherwise disrupt the peaceful functioning of the community. The thing is, the term ‘objectionable’ is a subjective one. “Some members are labeled as ‘difficult’ when they really are just espousing views that may be unpopular or different from those held by the board or a majority of the other members,” says Donna DiMaggio Berger, a shareholder attorney with the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff in Fort Lauderdale. “Some of the best association leaders started out as ‘difficult’ owners.” On the other hand, behavior that can fall under that same label ranges from constant noise and unpleasant cooking odors to full-on hoarding,

Florida’s Condominium Act goes a long way to ensure transparency in governance and operation of a condominium association. The earliest version of the Act required associations maintain accounting records in accordance with good accounting practices. Associations were not only required to “balance the books,” but also to keep copies of invoices, receipts and similar documents. Associations were also required to keep a good accounting for each unit owner. Over the years, the legislature added to the record keeping requirements, most of which are found in Section 111 of the Act. Associations are now required to maintain each of the following items, if applicable, which constitute the official records of the association: A copy of the plans, permits, warranties, and other items provided by the developer pursuant to s. 718.301(4). A photocopy of the recorded declaration of condominium of each condominium operated by the association and each amendment to each declaration.

A condominium can be defined as a single real estate unit in a multi-unit development in which a person has both separate ownership of a unit and a common interest, along with the development’s other owners, in the common areas. Insuring your condominium is often not so easy, especially since it usually requires that you are covered by both your condominium’s master policy and your own separate individual insurance policy. It’s important to closely review the condominium association’s declaration document, which details what real property the unit-owner is responsible for insuring separately. Today, most master policies contain a Single Entity approach. This approach extends coverage to general and limited common elements but also extends coverage within individual units to fixtures, walls, appliances, floor coverings, and cabinetry. What the Single Entity approach does not cover are things like personal property, medical payments, and betterments and improvements. An easy way of describing

Golf Carts, in addition to the obvious use on the golf course, are increasingly being used for short-distance trips in communities as an alternative to the family car, for example, carrying children and pets from home to the club house or recreation center. Golf Carts share an Association’s common element roads with other motor vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians and animals, creating the potential for liability for an Association. Whether or not to allow Golf Carts and how best to regulate them is a decision faced by Associations with increasing frequency. Consequently, Associations are faced with questions such as whether Golf Carts can be operated on private roads in Associations, what laws govern Golf Cart use, and how an Association should regulate and create policy to control the use of Golf Carts in the community. Florida law allows Golf Carts to be operated on private roads, subject to the Association’s restrictions and