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Article
Courtesy of Miami Community News
By Katherine Fernandez Rundle
Published April 9, 2024
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Most of us know that
Florida, with its 22.5 million residents, is the 3rd most
populous state in America. Often overlooked is the fact that
more than 50% of those Florida residents live in
condominiums or homeowners’ associations. Three million
Floridians live in Florida’s 1.5 million condominium units
and roughly 9.65 million people live in the state’s 49,000
communities with homeowners’ associations.
These numbers are just statistics until
possible criminal conduct or election fraud occurs involving
members of a condo board or a homeowners’ association. Condo
and HOA property owners have painfully learned over the
decades that Florida law offered owners very few tangible
protections. As Miami-Dade State Attorney, I have long
worked with our local legislators to reform the law and
strengthen the weaknesses in Florida’s existing statutes.
Since 2016, when I asked our local Miami-Dade Grand Jury to
examine the failures of condominium governance after seeing
the lack of governmental accountability, I have sought to
strengthen the Condo and HOA statutes. I have made numerous
proposals, such as making election fraud a crime, to the
Florida Legislature to safeguard the rights of property
owners while ensuring that honest, well-intentioned
governing board members are not impeded. Over the past few
years, so many constructive proposals, like putting Condo
and HOA financial records online, have failed to get
support. Opponents of these measures have raised the phantom
problem of having fewer residents willing to serve on
association governing boards. I believe that honest people
do honest things and only dishonest people do dishonest
things. Making provable association election fraud or ending
vendor kickbacks to board members a punishable crime will
not inhibit association governance.
This year, the Florida Legislature made a
determined effort to eliminate possible wrongdoings in
condominium governance to safeguard the rights of condo
owners. |
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Katherine Fernandez Rundle
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The new legislation awaiting the Governor’s signature
accomplishes the following:
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Makes it a misdemeanor crime to hide or destroy
records in condo associations.
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Destruction or concealment of condo association
records is often a first step toward criminal activity. Criminal
enforcement of such activity will give law enforcement agencies the
ability to investigate and root out corruption at an early stage.
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Election fraud in condo elections is a misdemeanor
crime under this new law.
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Taking kickbacks will now become a felony crime for
board members.
Condo governance is more akin to running a small town
than it is to running a business corporation. The acceptance of gifts or
favors doled out by contractors to board members is inherently corrupting.
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Expanded the powers of the Department of Business and
Professional Regulation (DBPR)
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DBPR must now refer criminal allegations to law
enforcement
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DBPR can attend condo meetings to observe
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They can investigate a broader range of election
issues
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They can investigate a broader range of financial
issues
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They can remove board members
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They can investigate conflicts of interest
We should applaud the work of the Florida Legislature’s
sponsors of these reforms, State Senator Jennifer Bradley, Senator Jason
Pizzo and State Representative Vicki Lopez and the professional staffs of
the Florida Senate and House for getting these initial reforms passed. A
special congratulations should also go out to State Senator Jason Pizzo, who
has long partnered with me to enact Condo and HOA reform. We both have long
believed that condo owners deserve better protection from those they elect
to preserve the value and community peace of their condominium homes. Since
Condo oversight and HOA oversight are two entirely separate parts of Florida
law, I will be making a similar effort to get HOA reform done in the 2025
Legislative session. Now is the time for Floridians to make their needs for
HOA reform known to their elected state senators and state representatives.
The financial security of more than 50% of Florida’s residents deserves and
needs these additional reforms.
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