We made an appearance in front of the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries where SB 1274 (companion bill to HB 841) was on the agenda. Senator Passidomo made a nice presentation of the bill -- a bill that is in desperate need of some changes to the wording in order to really clarify some provisions of flaws created by last years Condo Reform Bill HB 1237.

Some of the wording in this bill is doing nothing to clarify. The bill needs changes regards to recall, e-mail communication among board members (if allowed these e-mails need to be public record) and conflict of interest situation if attorney represents association and management company.

But my main concern is the total lack of enforcement. I told the Senators that the Division of Florida Condominiums and Mobile Homes is "about as useless as a pimple." Paying the Division is a total waste of money. The leadership of this Division has to go and be replaced by knowledgeable folks willing to work for their money. Every year Florida legislators add more provisions to the community association laws, but without proper enforcement the best bills are absolutely useless. Serious changes are desperately needed and for the next session a bill has to be enacted that creates a "real" enforcement agency and adds homeowner's associations to the jurisdiction of this regulatory agency. How good is the best law if the owner has to have minimum $50,0000.00 (?) to pay for an attorney to enforce the laws in court.

Please watch the video to listen to my comments to the committee members.

Barbara Stage talked mainly about the recall problems -- caused by the confusing language created by the "unfortunate" language in last year's Condo Reform Bill. The real problem: The language in this bill supposed to clarify the recall provisions has even more flaws. The language as written would allow a board to reject a recall using "lack of facial value" as a reason not to certify the recall, but then doesn't even allow the "Owners Voting for Recall" to file for arbitration. Barbara Stage was the attorney representing the owners in the first condo recall case after the new bill was enacted in July of 2017. Many of us remember that the chief arbitrator James Earl refused to arbitrate the case [Sunbrook Condominium Association, Inc. v Unit Owners Voting for Recall] and was fired shortly thereafter. Barbara asks the Senators to please replace the existing language and replace it with language that guarantees a fair solution to a recall of the board -- with a final ruling within a reasonable time-frame. If the phrase "facially valid" are the magic words in a recall, it is of utmost importance to have a detailed explanation what "facially valid" really means. The original "recall language" added to the laws in 2004 worked great in the first few years until some arbitrators felt that they had to read "between the lines" and made a mess out of the recall process. A process that was supposed to be a simple issue of valid numbers turned into legal nightmares that often lasted for many months.

Please watch the video to listen to my comments to the committee members.