Florida Condos Are Getting Busted for Document Dumps (Airing 5/17/26)

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:20]flyers.

[00:00:25]You don't need rumors.

[00:00:27]What's legal? What's not before it's too late? Phones ringing lil lines open questions finally spoken. Watch condo craz Sundays at 11 with confusion meet like a weapon. He'll get tired of tired members on earth. Everybody's welcome.

[00:00:57]From rules to desserts, from peace to chaos. This is your front row seat to I'm no crazy.

[00:01:32]The information provided on this show does not and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Instead, all information on this show is for generalformational purposes only. The information provided is not a substitute for legal advice, and we recommend viewers consult an attorney for specific legal matters.

[00:02:17]You asked your condo association for records and at first it looked like they cooperated. a Dropbox link, thousands of files, invoices, bank statements, meeting minutes, everything except the records you actually asked for. Then they invited the owner to inspect the records in person. Sounds reasonable, right? Until he walked into the room. 40 to 60 banker boxes, filing cabinets, binders stacked everywhere, some labeled, some mislabeled, some not labeled at all. And then the property manager said four words. Have at it. The association thought they complied. The arbitrator disagreed because under Florida law, burying someone in disorganized records may not count as reasonable access. Today, we break down the real Florida case, changing how condo associations must respond to records requests.

[00:03:08]Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Condo Craze and HOAs. I'm attorney Eric Glazer. Unfortunately, Karen Curtis is out sick today. We're here live every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. taking your condo and HOA calls and questions. And today we are discussing records requests. A hot topic or what many comm community associations and these requests don't always go so smoothly as a lot of board members and managers know. Many associations or managers think that they're complying with a records request by handing over everything. But there's real condominium cases, including cases my firm has won, where that exact approach got an association nailed. Not fined for hiding records, not fined for refusing access, but fined for providing documents wrongfully. That's right. They gave the unit owner access and the association still got in trouble because compliance isn't just, you know, did you open the door and throw a million documents at the owner. It's did you provide reasonable access? Now, again, my firm has handled some pretty important records cases over the years, and we've seen firsthand what happens when associations treat records requests like an afterthought. And the lesson from these cases is pretty simple. An association cannot just shrug and say, "Hey, this is all we have." There's a case, not not one my firm handled, but it's called Darcy Solomon versus Environ Condo. And here's what happened. The owner made a records request and the association sent a Dropbox link. 90% of the documents that were on that link were not what that owner asked for. Then they brought them in to inspect the records and they gave him 40 to 60 banker boxes to go through. binders, filing cabinets, some labeled, some not, some wrong. And they told them, "Hey, have at it." And the arbitrator said, "That is not reasonable access." The association can't bury someone in disorganized records and call it compliance. The association's failure to provide reasonable access was ruled willful and the association was ordered to organize and fix the records or an reasonable inspection. And here's the takeaway. The myth is that if we give access, we're safe. The reality, however, is that if access is unreasonable, you're exposed. Now, for condos only, let's layer in this new checklist law. Here it is. The association must now provide the requesttor with a checklist that identifies what it produced, identifies what it didn't produce, if the association is going to withhold any documents per the statute, and it needs to explain why. And that checklist has to be held for seven years. Now, owners, you got to remember, are not entitled to see every single document that the association has in its possession.

[00:06:13]There's a couple of things they can't see and that's as per Florida statute 718112C5 for those playing along at home. And the five types of documents that owners can't see that the association has a right to withhold are the following.

[00:06:30]Here we go. One, of course, attorney client privileged communications, but believe it or not, that expires after that situation goes away. Here's another one. information obtained in connection with approval of leasing, sale, or transfer of a unit. And why? Because there's a lot of private records in those applications, typically like background checks, credit reports, criminal history reports, and other personal screening information. Florida leads the nation in identity theft, though we don't want this type of information getting leaked out. What other things can the association withhold? It's not personnel records of association employees, but you do have a right to written employment agreements or budget and payroll totals. That in fact, you do get to see. What else can't you see? Medical records of unit owners or tenants. That's protected. You can't see social security numbers, driver's license numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, emergency contact information, address of owners other than the condo address, and other personal identifying information.

[00:07:46]And there is a major amendment for condominiums as well. Here it is. The association, this is a big one, must now make a reasonable effort to obtain the records. Think about that. That means the association can't simply say, "Hey, we don't have your records." The association must now make a reasonable effort to obtain that record if it is missing. Let's give you some examples.

[00:08:13]Let's say there's missing credit card statements. It must now contact the credit card company to provide it to get copies of it. If it's missing Amazon receipts, it now has to download the order history. If it's missing bank statements, it has to contact the bank for copies of those statements or download them from the bank website. If it's missing financial statements, it should contact its bookkeeper or accountant. But keep in mind, if your system at your association is, hey, here's everything we have or this is all we have in our possession. Good luck finding it. you may have a problem.

[00:08:52]Statutory compliance is important and civil and now even criminal consequences exist. And if you really want to avoid these issues, what I always said in the beginning when we were talking about the importance of websites and I was promoting it, post records on the association website whenever possible.

[00:09:15]Florida law allows the association when these records requests come in to direct the owners to the website to satisfy certain records requests. And this can help avoid these compliance problems that we're talking about, especially when requests involve large volume of documents or really tight 10 working day deadlines. Now, let's switch over a little bit to HOAs. There's no reason for this, but believe it or not, the HOA statute is a little different. When it comes to HOAs, the request for access should be made by certified mail, not just a written request. It should be done by certified mail. Return receipt requested. Number two, unlike condos, the association is not required to provide a checklist to the owner requesting access to the records.

[00:10:07]Another difference, the HOA statute says if the association has a photo copy machine available where the records are maintained, it must provide owners with the copies on request during the inspection if the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages. Now, the condo statute doesn't say anything like that. Weird, strange. In both condos and HOAs, an association shall allow a member or his or her authorized representative to use a portable device, including a smartphone, a tablet, a portable scanner, or any other technology capable of scanning or taking photographs to make an electronic copy of the official record in lie of the association providing the member or his or her authorized representative with a copy of the documents. What does that mean? You can't walk in and say you want copies and the association say to you, well, you got to use our photocopy machine and you got to pay us for the cost of those copies. If you have one of those devices, feel free to use it. And listen to this. The HOA statute says the association may impose fees to cover the costs of providing copies of the official records, including the cost of copying and the cost required for personnel to retrieve and copy the records. If the time spent retrieving a copy of the records exceeds one half hour and the personnel costs do not exceed $20 per hour, personnel costs may not be charged for records requests that result in the copying of 25 or fewer pages. The Condo statute doesn't talk about any of this. Why these differences between the two statutes? No idea. To me, it doesn't make any sense whatsoever. But before we go to the break, again, this a hot topic. Has your association ever responded to a records request by basically saying, "Hey, here's everything. You know, good luck.

[00:12:12]Go find it." Or have you ever requested records and felt like the association made it impossible to actually find what you're what you asked for? Does your board even have a real system in place right now to track, organize, and comply with records requests before a legal problem happens? Give us a call. Let us know what you think. 717-452-9378.

[00:12:37]Again, 717-452-9378 or that's 717 Glazer 8. Or you could drop us a comment or question in the chat box on YouTube. We'll be back right after this.

[00:12:58]The roof is new.

[00:13:01]>> Drainage is not in our scope.

[00:13:06]>> That's plumbing.

[00:13:07]>> So, whose problem is it then?

[00:13:10]>> When multiple contractors are involved, problems can fall through the cracks.

[00:13:15]HCMC manages the entire project so nothing gets overlooked. One team protecting the whole project.

[00:13:42]Heat.

[00:13:54]Heat.

[00:14:25]Hey, hey, hey.

[00:14:39]There are very large management companies and there are very small management companies and I think Affinity sits somewhere in the middle of that where they are big enough to provide you with all of the back of the house services the the accounting the infrastructure the support systems but small enough to be hightouch. We believe at Affinity that we do the 9 to5 so that you don't have to do that.

[00:15:12]All right, welcome back everybody to Condo Craz and HOAs. Tell tell you it's funny with Karen not being here. I'm not used to saying welcome back. She's been saying welcome back for 17 years. Kind of strange, right? Not that's not what I do. I answer the question. She says welcome back, right?

[00:15:27]I think we'll be all right.

[00:15:28]>> I think we'll do it. I think we'll get by today. Absolutely.

[00:15:31]>> You're doing great.

[00:15:32]>> I'm doing great. Thank you. Yeah, I'm doing great with the book. I know that.

[00:15:35]>> Yeah. How's that going, actually?

[00:15:36]>> The book's been a lot of fun. As a matter of fact, um, a lot of people are writing in this morning with really nice things. Vidal writes in, "Good morning.

[00:15:45]I bought the book and it's great. I read it in about four hours. Fast reading. I thought it was in your course. Congrats on the book." Ruth writes in, "Loving Eric's book. I have about 20 more pages to finish. Thank you so much everybody with with your comments. Had a lot of fun writing it and um hope you're enjoying it. Thank you very much. How about we take the first call of the day, Rob?

[00:16:06]>> Absolutely. Let's go to looks like Joanne from Brevard County.

[00:16:12]>> Hey Joanne. Good morning.

[00:16:13]>> Morning Eric.

[00:16:14]>> Hey. How are you?

[00:16:16]>> Good. Good. Thank you for taking my call. Sorry to hear Karen's under the weather.

[00:16:20]>> Yeah, she'll be back next week. How can I help?

[00:16:23]>> Good. Okay. Uh my question is the board voted to put on new roofs uh a complete tear off changing from what we have now which is a bumment to a TPO roofing system. Our governing documents state that any additions, alterations or improvements in excess of the usual items of maintenance shall be approved by a majority owner vote and shall assess all owners for the cost as a common expense.

[00:16:51]>> Right. I say this is a material alteration. The rest of the board does not agree. Okay.

[00:16:56]>> In your opinion, is this a material alteration or can it be classified as usual maintenance?

[00:17:03]>> I'm guessing that you actually write the question out before calling me, right?

[00:17:06]Which is very smart cuz sometimes Absolutely. That's the way to go. All right. So, let me let me explain an interesting concept under the law. Okay.

[00:17:16]Typically, typically, you're 100% right.

[00:17:20]Um, if something's going to look different, color is different, type of roof may look different, you're 100% right. That could be considered a material alteration and that would require a 75% vote of the unit owner sometimes, or perhaps in your case, a majority vote of the unit owners. Here's where it gets a little tricky. There's other arbitration cases that say that the board should not be denied the right to have and use greater technology as that technology comes out. So for example, let's say you have an engineer and the engineer says, you know what, it would be silly to put back the old system that we had. And I'm not saying that that's that's the situation in your case. I'm just telling you how the law looks at these things. It would be silly to put back the system that you had previously because the system that you had is an old system. It doesn't work so well anymore. Um, science and engineering has created so more uh so many more better types of roofing systems to go to that will last longer that may be cheaper. We don't want to say that the board can't use that um without getting a vote. that would be considered a repair, right? And not a material alteration would be considered a repair. And as long as they get something from an engineer that says they would be doing the wrong thing by putting an old system back, it would not necessarily be considered a material alteration. It would still fall under the repair provision of the statute.

[00:19:00]>> Okay? We did not get an engineer for this project. We just uh voted got bids and voted on it. How are we going to get >> then? If your change if you've changed the exterior appearance of the what the association looks like, you know, dramatically, then yes, it absolutely could be considered a material alteration. No question about it. This often times comes up. I'll tell you where where it's very common with um balconies right on the water from high-rise condominiums where many older condos have balcony railings that are let's say made of concrete >> and the association wants to switch from a concrete system to a glass system very common and it would be silly to put back let's say a concrete system for balcony railings next to the water because I know Robert we spoke about this on the show a million times concrete's going to deteriorate over time, especially if it's next to the salt water. So, why put back a concrete balcony when glass and aluminum railings are going to last many, many more years than concrete would? So, what does this law say? Okay, board, it's not going to be considered a material alteration. If you change to glass, it's going to be considered a repair. So, I don't know if that's the exact case in your situation in your association, but um if the board can get a letter from an architect or engineer that says so, then they can get past the material alterations problem. If they don't get it, then they have the problem that you're alluding to. Absolutely.

[00:20:34]>> Okay. Great. Thank you. Um also that the board wants to change out all the common area light fixtures with modern ones. is this is a terrible alteration.

[00:20:44]>> No, there's cases on point that say changing to modern lighting. That's exactly one of those situations where the uh the the case law encourages switching to modern lighting. Why?

[00:20:56]Because it's much more energy uh efficient and we don't want to prohibit associations from switching to that type of a lighting um and and have a requirement for a unit owner vote. This case is right on point. call me in the office tomorrow and I'd be glad to send them to you. Okay.

[00:21:13]>> Okay. Good. Okay. One more thing I just wanted to tell you. Within the last two months, I've had two people asked me if I could recommend an attorney who represents unit owners. And of course, I gave them both of them your name and number and told them you're the best.

[00:21:28]>> Thank you very much. Much appreciated. I really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Okay. Have a great day. Sure thing.

[00:21:35]>> Look at this one.

[00:21:37]>> Let's see. CPNSRQ writes in also please thank your wife Craz and Hohas is brilliant. All right, I'll give away one funny thing from the book, Rob. Before the show started many, many moons ago, we couldn't think of a name for the show. Just could not think of a name that would kind of, you know, fit. And one time I'm sleeping in the middle of the night, my wife Muel wakes up, starts screaming, "Condo craze and HOAs, condo craze and HOAs." I'm like, "Okay, you win. Great." So, she'll never let me live it down. She's the one that thought of the name for the show. So, what a name. Thank you. What a name.

[00:22:12]Right. Back to the phones.

[00:22:15]>> All right, let's go to Tony in St. Lucia County.

[00:22:20]>> Uh, good morning, Eric. Thank you for taking the call.

[00:22:23]>> Sure thing.

[00:22:23]>> Uh, I have a question. Um, the board wants to charge a deposit for boat dockage that's not authorized in the condo uh documents. Are they able to do this?

[00:22:36]>> When you say a deposit for boat dockage, um, what are you saying? if you cause damage to the to the dock itself.

[00:22:44]>> Yes.

[00:22:45]>> No. If if there's nothing in your documents that would allow for that, >> then um I I can't see, you know, that be technically are they taking the position that it's a reasonable rule and regulation. Um I don't think it is because if your documents already speak about the docs and I'm sure they do, right?

[00:23:04]>> Yes.

[00:23:04]>> Okay. So, if your documents already speak about the docs, and this this is a great call actually because this situation comes up all the time and we teach it and we talk about it in the book. Your board can't make a rule that attempts to supersede something that's already spoken about in the governing documents. For example, let me give you one one easy example. The governing documents say that everybody's allowed one pet. The board says, "We're getting tired of all the pets in the community.

[00:23:32]Therefore, we're going to create a rule that says going forward, nobody can have pets anymore. Can they do that? No, they can't do that. Why? Because the superior document, the declaration talks about what the provisions are regarding pets.

[00:23:46]So, they would have to amend that document. Same thing for docs. It talks about the docs, right? It says specifically who's responsible for the docs, who has control over the docs, what the rules are regarding the docks.

[00:23:59]Therefore, they'd want to impose a fee or a some sort of a security deposit in order to have access to that dock. Got to amend the dock. That's my take on it.

[00:24:09]Okay.

[00:24:10]>> Uh here's just a caveat. They want somebody to sign an agreement to agree to the deposit. Does that change anything?

[00:24:18]>> Um well, if if someone is forced into signing that agreement, it doesn't change anything at all. In other words, if they're not going to give that person access and they're going to force you to force you to consent to an illegal rule breaking, then no, I don't change my mind one bit.

[00:24:36]>> Okay.

[00:24:37]>> Okay.

[00:24:37]>> All right. Thank you so much.

[00:24:38]>> Thank you so much for the call. You got it. You too. Um Debbie writes in on the on chat and says, >> "How can we get a full list of documents that are required by statute 718 and 720?" It's 718. It's 718.11 section 12. In 720, I think it's 720.305, but I'll do a uh I I'll check. Would it be illegal for a management company to give access to other COA and HOA association records other than where the person requesting the information lives or owns property? Um I I no there's certain um provisions under the statute that makes it very clear that if you're going to give access to owners to the site, it has to be password protected and only those people who are owners should have access to that specific password protected site. Okay, back to the phones are up.

[00:25:38]>> All right, we got some record requests questions.

[00:25:41]>> Good.

[00:25:42]>> Over to it looks like Diane. There might be.

[00:25:45]>> Hi, this is Diane. How are you?

[00:25:47]>> How are you?

[00:25:48]>> I am doing great. Uh I'm doing great.

[00:25:50]Here's my situation. On March 10th, I submitted a records request for um work orders for 2024 and 2025, the years.

[00:26:02]Because when I was a president of the board three years ago, at the end of every year, I would give everybody a summary of what their work orders were for the entire year. and uh we never got any in 24 or 25. So I asked for that on uh March 20th. She gave me a box of papers and three rolled up papers with rubber bands. And those were the disorganized records from 2024 and 2025, >> meaning it took me about 90 minutes.

[00:26:33]Yeah, it took me 90 minutes to organize the box of 2024 and was fairly satisfied with what I saw compared to what we were invoiced and paid as an association.

[00:26:44]>> Right.

[00:26:44]>> And then I started going through the 2025s and trying to organize those and I was completely missing November and December work orders. However, our association was build for those um some kind of work orders during those months, but there were no records available for November and December, right? Therefore, I wrote on that on that final sheet where I had to sign that I was abusing it or reviewing it. I signed my name saying missing documents >> for November 25 and December 25. And my vice president of my building was with me and he signed it as well. Uh I have sent out emails. Got to sum it up. Got to sum it up.

[00:27:24]>> Nothing.

[00:27:24]>> All right. So, you still didn't get them is the bottom line.

[00:27:27]>> Yes.

[00:27:28]>> Okay. Nothing. So, so what a unit owner should do in those situations now is write a letter to the association, right? Saying, "I asked for the following records. You didn't give me the following records. I'm giving you another seven days to give me access to those records. And if you don't, I will be filing an arbitration action against the association. That's what you have to do if you ever plan on taking the next step. Okay? So, give them a chance to correct the situation. Tell them what records are still missing and then follow up with it. If they don't give you access to those records within that 7-day time period, you have the right if you want to to now file an arbitration uh action.

[00:28:14]>> Okay.

[00:28:14]>> Well, the records are in with the property manager and uh she's been uh she's been doing many other uh jobs at the same time. So, >> well, I wish you luck on this one.

[00:28:26]>> Okay.

[00:28:27]>> Okay.

[00:28:28]>> Okay. Thank you so much.

[00:28:30]>> Keep them coming.

[00:28:33]All right, next caller.

[00:28:36]We have a website question from Sarasota.

[00:28:41]Is that Carlson?

[00:28:42]>> Hey, Carlson.

[00:28:43]>> Yes, sir.

[00:28:45]>> How are you for taking my call?

[00:28:46]>> Sure thing.

[00:28:48]>> First, your intro and ending riff with the music is just so wonderful.

[00:28:54]>> Thank you.

[00:28:54]>> Can I use that to introduce our Zoom board meeting?

[00:28:59]>> You got to ask Robert for that one.

[00:29:00]Robert, the the brains. There's Robert over there. Robert's the smart guy. What Robert creates every week is just >> outstanding. I'm floored every single week. I mean, these new videos that start the show, absolutely incredible. I hope you guys are enjoying them. I know I am. That's great.

[00:29:16]>> How can we help?

[00:29:17]>> All right, this is condo website related. Yes, >> we have 254 units. It just came in over this weekend about the invoices and cancelled checks. Now, do we leave visibility of the routine number and account number for membership transparency? Um, >> or do we redact for security?

[00:29:37]>> I would redact for security. I I Okay, your paras are protected. I I would redact for security. I got to tell you, crazy crazy things are happening now.

[00:29:47]Um, Rob, I got to tell you, I'm hearing, you know, maybe I don't know if it's because of the rise in AI. I don't know, but I'm hearing literally almost every day. No kidding. All kidding aside about theft um online, you know, from law firms, except I'll give you an example.

[00:30:05]We had a situation a couple of weeks ago where my partner Rich says to somebody, "Don't make the settlement payment until I give you very specific instructions on how it should be made." Right? Later on in the day, what do we find out? The client made the payment. Right? $40,000 payment. And Rich is like, "I told you not to make the payment until, right, I gave you very specific instructions."

[00:30:34]You know what the client said? I'm holding your specific instructions. What are you talking about? And it wasn't, it wasn't his. It was, you know, we were hacked or whatever it was. Thank God the client was able to get the money back.

[00:30:46]But I'm just warning everybody out there. Um, don't put account numbers out there as a mount. Never. And Rob, you tell me this all the time. Don't put don't even text account numbers. Don't email account numbers. Don't do anything like that.

[00:31:00]>> I I would never encourage uh texting, but I would say if you had to share a password, don't put it in an email. It's better to send it through text.

[00:31:11]>> You could send the username through email and then say, I'm going to text you the password to your to your phone.

[00:31:16]That way that if your email ever does get compromised, they don't have your username and password.

[00:31:21]>> Ah, interesting. I give you I have a closing coming up this week, right? And I have to tell the other side where to send the funds to. I I got to tell I'm not going to give my wiring instructions by way of email. I'm going to call the other side and I'm going to say, "Take out a pen. Here's where it's got to go."

[00:31:39]Because at this point, I'm like, I I really, it's scary and it's happening all the time. So, I would redact the uh account numbers. If somebody wants to come in and they demand access to the records and with the account numbers, let them come in and see it. You're not denying them access, but there's nothing uh in the statute that says you have to put those account numbers online. So, that's how I'd handle it. And it's quite frankly, it's for the safety of the entire community. All right, but we got to take a bottom of the hour break. Keep the calls coming in. 717-452-9378.

[00:32:13]again. 717-452-9378 or drop us a question or comment in the chat box on YouTube. Back right after this.

[00:32:25]In South Florida, the transition from bright sunshine to heavy rain and hurricanes can take a toll on your property's exterior and structural integrity. Cracked stucco, spalt concrete, they're more than isors. They can signal deeper issues. Now, with new Florida laws involving structural integrity requirements, we want to help you meet your milestone inspections and maintain the durability and beauty of your building. Since 2004, PD has been the trusted expert in structural concrete restoration, painting, and waterproofing for condominiums and commercial properties. Visit pd-conrete.com or call us today.

[00:32:55]>> All over the world, people have plumbing problems. These problems can be expensive and destructive to fix. Have you ever wondered if there is a way to take care of your plumbing problems without destruction and an outrageous price tag? Welcome to Pipelining Technologies, Inc., where we specialize in fixing your problems without demolition and minimum cutting by means of pipelining. Pipelining is the ability to take a pipe damaged by root intrusion or long-term deterioration and make it new by means of inserting an epoxy saturated liner into the pipe and allowing it to harden or cure.

[00:33:33]leaving behind a brand new pipe.

[00:33:38]>> That sounds great. How can I get pipelining in my home, commercial building, or condominium?

[00:33:44]>> Simply fill out our online contact form and a pipelining representative will get in touch with you in a timely fashion or call us directly at 561-853-5463.

[00:33:58]>> Hey, good afternoon everybody. Welcome back to Condo Craze and HOAs. A lot of talk about records requests uh this morning. And how about we go to the uh call from an attorney that works with my office for god knows how many years and handled so many of these records requests before. Attorney Paul Kim, you there?

[00:34:19]>> Yes. Good morning.

[00:34:21]>> Hey Paul, how are you?

[00:34:22]>> Thank you for >> Thanks for joining us this morning.

[00:34:25]>> Um let me ask you something. I know you've been involved in a lot of these records cases and I think things have changed over the years. Maybe years ago you were able to say, "Hey, here's a room. Go find the records unit owner."

[00:34:38]Tell everybody how that has kind of changed over the years. And associations can't play that game. I know you've been involved in a case or two regarding that.

[00:34:47]>> Yes. And I think sometimes that's a misunderstanding uh in terms of how to handle compliance and sometimes boards think that you know have at it here's 30 legalized boxes of of records and and go through them and and when that had gotten litigated a few years ago arbitrators found that that wasn't compliance that wasn't reasonable. And I've had clients that have had that um presented to them and you know we've pushed back using that case law and and and got better responses because sometimes they've been told here's five file cabinets and here's these other boxes and my clients are only looking for certain records like violations to ensure that uh they weren't singled out.

[00:35:37]>> Right. And I think you you had a case not too long ago in Broward County that involved just that. Right.

[00:35:44]Yes. um in Broward. Ive I've unfortunately had several that had to go through arbitration and each time the arbitrated traator sided in favor of our clients and the the litigation was fairly expensive and for an association to spend five figures for compliance on something that they should have either planned ahead for which I think is the best way to do compliance on the association side >> and we always recommend our clients to do that whether it's maybe have a committee if you have people who have time to do scanning a and to get things scanned in and not just comply merely with the statute saying, "Hey, put one year's worth of records on," but make it easier for yourself so that when you get a large request or get a request that you know might go further back than you're you're ready to be uh prepared to handle, you you'll have that readily there where you can just put in your checklist. Oh, see our website.

[00:36:41]>> Paul, I agree. I've been saying that forever.

[00:36:46]I think one of the greatest uh changes to the condo and HOA statutes over the years. Something that I fought really hard for, I got to tell you, I don't mind saying, was the requirement that associations have websites. And I always said you want to avoid a lot of this problem. Put your documents on a website because you're allowed once you have them up there, you're allowed to direct the unit owner to the website as long as they're there. And I think we're in agreement on that. What could be better than saying, "Hey, they're there. Pay the money and it's going to cost some money to set up the website uh the first time, but after that, the statute says you simply need to put the record in uh once every 30 days. That's it. If the record is something that has to be on your website, you have 30 days to do it." And I think we're in agreement.

[00:37:31]Like I said, have a website, put everything up there. It really saves you from being sued for these very types of issues.

[00:37:39]and and and for the cost of the awards that we've received you know and and these were higher a awards because you know the association was very difficult and in in terms of the litigation tried to oppose everything and lost everything >> right and I want to make sure everybody knows what you're talking about >> yeah you're talking about prevailing party attorneys fee awards right >> exactly and and costs as well because sometimes um there there are are large copying cost. And if the association says, "We're not going to copy it, and you have to go hire a professional."

[00:38:13]I've had arbitrators say, "Oh, okay. You spent $2,000 to do all these copies that the association failed to do." Well, the association violated the statute by refusing to do it. And then awarded our client the $2,000 back that they spent out of pocket. And so >> what could have cost the association less to comply for, you know, the next seven years, they wasted losing to to us. Sure. I >> Rob, as someone that lived or lives, I should say, in a condominium, you know, next door to the Champlne Towers and how money is so important, so vital to make repairs, necessary repairs. Here we have situations where condos are throwing out thousands, maybe tens of thousands. How about this? There's some cases I think in either Palm Beach or on the west coast of Florida where the association didn't want to provide access to banking records of the association and the association spent hundreds of thousands simply not providing access to the records. Now, think of what those hundreds of thousands of dollars could have done to help the condominium, right, to preserve the property.

[00:39:22]Instead, it's thrown out in lawyer fees.

[00:39:25]I think it's horrific. And you know what's crazy, Paul? that the HOA statute does not follow the condo statute when it says you got to make a good faith um effort to arrange the records in a way that it's manageable that people don't have to go through boxes, you don't have to provide a checklist. I mean, is there any explanation why the HOA statute doesn't follow the condo statute? It's just ridiculous to me.

[00:39:53]>> Yeah. And I think that's the odd thing that we see in terms of both statutes sometimes not following the same path and going on different tracks.

[00:40:04]And so while the HOA statute might cover what it thinks of as reasonable cost, which the condo statute doesn't, you know, the checklist part and and even, you know, the penalties for non-compliance.

[00:40:18]>> Yes.

[00:40:18]>> They're they're different. And with with the condo, you know, it's it's very severe where they're are potential criminal uh liability for violations and civil liability and more frequently DBPR uh complaints and need to respond to the DBPR and to understand the DBPR process for for associations.

[00:40:40]They're going to look at whether they think it was intentional. And then if they do, they they might give give you a slap on the wrist and send you to, you know, an education course to learn how to do it to compliance better. Or if not, they might use their formula for giving you a fine, >> right?

[00:40:59]>> And so that that can add up too. So, you know, those monies, I think, are better spent if you plan ahead, pay people or have a committee or or somebody to start scanning things in. And then and then you won't have the stress of, oh, will this be my second violation in 12 months? And now, may I may I face a misdemeanor for my volunteer work? And and I made a mistake for not complying twice.

[00:41:25]>> I totally totally in agreement with you.

[00:41:27]And maybe even more importantly than all of this, quite frankly, is Paul's about to become a daddy for the first time in the next month or so. So, hey, Paul, how long are we together? God, a long time now, huh?

[00:41:43]>> Yeah, I think um about 12 years.

[00:41:45]>> Wow. Beautiful. Paul, quite frankly, brilliant guy, really, really smart attorney. I'm not just saying that.

[00:41:51]University of Penn graduate, smarter than me, quite frankly. So, Paul, I really want to wish you uh uh the best of luck and success. Can't wait to uh meeting your new little girl and um thank you so much for calling in this morning. Appreciate your time, your effort, your energy like always. Okay, it's really a pleasure having you.

[00:42:13]Thank you guys and pleasure working with you as always and you guys are doing a great job on a topic I think needs more attention um on both sides of the coin and I think this is a good way to open the conversation. So great job.

[00:42:27]>> Thanks Paul. Really appreciate it. Let's do this. Let's take our final break of the hour. Keep the calls coming in.

[00:42:33]717-452-9378 or drop us a question or comment in the chat box on YouTube. Back right after this.

[00:42:42]When you need a plumber you can trust.

[00:42:44]You want to feel safe, comfortable, and never awkward. At Better Call Steve, we fix leaks, not exposed cheeks, no crack plumbing, just solid, professional work.

[00:42:55]From kitchens to bathrooms, our team shows up clean, respectful, and gets it done right the first time. So, if you've got a leak, a clog, or a drain that needs attention, call Steve today for a free drain inspection. Better call Steve. 95450 Steve. We are DMI Paving and Seal Coating, Florida's parking lot experts.

[00:43:17]We specialize in asphalt paving and repair, including pothole repair, seal coating using JC7 or Polyar, concrete curbs, ramps, and walkways, and striping and pavement marking, as well as ADA compliance. We service commercial properties including homeowners associations, apartment communities, shopping malls, warehouses, stadiums, and arenas, and more. Experience is worth more than anything in an industry like ours. And our staff has decades of it. We have specialized equipment for any job, regardless of size, saving you time and money. DMI has a reputable history. We have been in business since 1956. We serve the state of Florida from six locations.

[00:44:04]Let us bid on your next parking lot project. Visit us online at dmip paving and sealcoding.com.

[00:44:15]>> All right, welcome back to condo craze and hohas. Unfortunately, Karen Curtis isn't with us today, but she'll be back next week. Man, the hour goes so fast, right Rob? It's really unbelievable. Rob said to me, we just took the break. Is this our final break of the hour? And yeah, it was. It just uh the show goes so fast. Hope everybody's enjoying it this morning. See the weather out there.

[00:44:35]Holy cow. Like perfect. Stay inside.

[00:44:38]Watch the show. Be safe. Let's go back to the phones.

[00:44:42]>> All right, let's go to Michael.

[00:44:46]>> Hey, Mike.

[00:44:49]>> Hey, Eric. Good morning. How you doing?

[00:44:50]>> Good morning, sir. How can we help?

[00:44:53]>> Hey, Eric. Question. I filed four complaints against pets, a pet owner here in the uh condo.

[00:45:01]>> Okay.

[00:45:02]>> And continuously see the same pet and wanted to know what would be my next steps knowing that assuming that the board and the property manager hasn't taken any action.

[00:45:15]>> What What do you mean by you filed a complaint uh against a pet? What does that mean? What are you trying to say?

[00:45:20]Well, the pet owner, the violation is is that he has two rockars that weighs more than 25 pounds, which is against the policy bylaws.

[00:45:30]>> Okay. Um, and your board isn't doing anything about it?

[00:45:34]>> No. I filed four claims and they've been, you know, over time.

[00:45:38]>> We talk about this um also in the book.

[00:45:41]This, you know, really, really hot topic. Um, and the question is, does the board have some levity? Do they have um some discretion in deciding what rules to enforce and perhaps what rules to not enforce? Now, I don't know what's going on in your community about pets.

[00:45:59]Have there been other pets that are over 25 pounds that they kind of let slide by?

[00:46:07]>> Uh can't say if I have that answer. I don't know. I would have to say no because they are I've seen a peditude that's weighed more than 25 pounds.

[00:46:18]>> Right. Right. See, so they got to >> they're either going to go after everybody who has a pet that's over 25 pounds or they're going to go after nobody. And then you also have to ask yourself, how long does that owner already have that pet?

[00:46:34]>> Do you know how long it's been?

[00:46:36]>> Because then you might run into statute of limitations problems.

[00:46:41]And you know, we need to know a much broader perspective before I can give you a definitive answer as to whether or not they even can go forward. After a certain amount of time, they might not even be allowed to. But um you know, a lot of people think that because a rule is specifically out there that the board must enforce that rule. If you look at declarations, if you look at bylaws, some bylaws say the boards shall shall enforce the rules, right? They that should clearly mean they don't have discretion. And then other provisions say the boards may enforce the rules.

[00:47:19]And when you look at the word may, right? May certainly means that the board may have some discretion there in deciding whether or not this rule may or may not be important enough to enforce.

[00:47:30]So, got to see what those governing documents say. Take a look. Let us know what it says and call back and we'll let you know if my answer changes. Okay.

[00:47:38]Mike, >> what will be the what will be the statute of limitation?

[00:47:42]>> The statute of limitations, I think, on getting injunctive relief. Injunctive relief may only be one year. I got to check the statute on that, but it may be only one year. I know Paul's Paul's still listening. Paul should text me and let me know if I'm right. I think in uh condo cases, the ability to get injunctive relief on some cases may be as little as one year. So, you got to act very, very quickly. Okay. Thanks for the call, Mike. Really appreciate it.

[00:48:11]>> Go Knicks.

[00:48:13]>> Go Knicks is right. What do we start?

[00:48:15]Tuesday night, right, Mike?

[00:48:17]>> I believe so. I'll be looking forward to >> Who do Who do you want to see them play?

[00:48:20]Cleveland or Detroit? I want Cleveland.

[00:48:24]>> I'll take Cleveland.

[00:48:25]>> Yeah. All right. We got our fingers crossed, buddy. Thank you so much for calling in, Mike, like always. Be well, buddy. Take care. All right, back to the phones.

[00:48:34]>> All right, let's go to I don't see a name. It could be D in Miami. We have a document dump question.

[00:48:40]>> How are you, D?

[00:48:42]>> Hi, thank you for everything you do.

[00:48:44]>> Thank you so much. I personally live in one of those document dump dungeon buildings and I'm looking to get out.

[00:48:51]But right now I'm trying to look at different buildings without using a realtor. So I can't find anything in my own building. But if I want to look in another building before contacting a realtor to look at the health of the building, who do I go to on their website? Is there anything available to the public or do you have to be an owner and log in? And in my personal opinion, the buildings that are going to have the healthiest reserves and transparency and everything are the ones that are going to hold their value.

[00:49:23]>> Yes. Now, if if you were to sign a contract with a seller of a property, they h they must by law provide you with certain documents including copies of the res uh the reserve study, copies of the inspection reports, etc. And I think if you don't get them within I want to say five days, right, you have the right to back out of the contract, right? You have the right to review them for 5 days, I should say. And that 5day clock doesn't start until you get them. So there's now a requirement under the law that these documents are provided to you. Now, I'm not sure what documents that need to be posted online that everybody can see. I think >> Yeah. I just first want to even just look at their budget.

[00:50:11]>> Yeah. Call see if you can find a telephone number >> or the association, right? Call the manager, right? See if you can call the call the building and say, "Hey, I'm interested in purchasing in your building. Do you have a website with these documents online?" I can tell you clearly some do. Clearly, I can't tell you how many I've seen. I'm not sure as I sit here right now exactly what needs to be posted on the website of the building and who has access to it. I can check and I think for those things, yes, the public does have a right to see them. Not only that, the DBPR may have a website also where you can see all that information.

[00:50:50]>> Yeah.

[00:50:50]>> Right. So, go do a search. Yeah. Florida condominiums, DBPR, um, reserve studies, you know, online.

[00:50:58]Do just throw all that in there. see what comes up because condominiums now were required by last October to have an online account with the DBPR that posted all of this information so that owners like yourself would be able to have all this information accessible at their fingertips. So see if that information exists on the DBPR website as well and I think you're going to be surprised and I think it's there.

[00:51:25]>> Okay, stop a letter contract. That's right.

[00:51:29]>> Everything backward.

[00:51:31]>> Yes.

[00:51:32]>> I understand.

[00:51:34]>> But understand that if you did sign that contract, you still have days to review the contract and review the and review the documents um once they're given to you. And again, the clock doesn't start until you get them. Okay.

[00:51:47]>> Okay. You're great.

[00:51:48]>> Thank you so much. Okay. Keep them coming, Rob.

[00:51:53]>> All right. Next caller over to Mr. Bill Murray. Bill, how are you? Bill, >> good morning. Can I have the honor of speaking to the acclaimed author Eric?

[00:52:10]>> I'm going to put you on hold and I'll get back to you. Is that all right?

[00:52:14]>> What about Thank you, Bill. Love the word esteemed author. That's fantastic. Real much appreciated. How are you, sir? Recall previous shows the statute of limitations for the record I believe is seven years.

[00:52:30]>> You have to hold the records for seven years. That's correct. All official records must be held for a period of seven years. However, certain records need to be maintained from the inception of the condominium including minutes.

[00:52:43]How many associations out there have the records from the the minutes from the inception of their condominium? Right.

[00:52:51]Or or choy. How many people have that? I would say slim to none that that exists.

[00:52:55]Right.

[00:52:57]>> Right. So for guidance purposes, u I used your steam colleague and we built out a website and we started to do this document uh folders making available.

[00:53:09]I've now spent a considerable amount of time and money and I'm getting ready to release where we've gone back through 25 and created the financial pictures and the entire documents bringing it forward.

[00:53:24]>> Right.

[00:53:25]>> My is >> I don't want to go back 24 23 22 those things that are boxes and closets on the floors. Where am I at? What can I do?

[00:53:37]And I understand you're calling from a small association. I get it. It could be expensive and I'm not telling you to, but maybe at least have the last year or two just like you're doing on the website. It's unusual for people to ask for records requests from six, seven years. I don't think that happens too often. I think people want to see things from the last year or two. And more often than not, you're probably going to make people happy those records for the last year or two on the association's website. Do people sometimes want to go back? Yeah. Do people sometimes want to break your chops and deliberately ask for records that are seven years old?

[00:54:15]Yes, that happens, too. But I think you're going to make most people happy by putting the records up there for the last year or two. I think you'll be fine in the majority of circumstances.

[00:54:26]>> The um off topic is something if I may.

[00:54:29]You talked about previously and I like you to maybe have a show on or an update. You talked about um there was pending legislation about these insurance companies mandating the expiration of a roof and forcing uh buildings to replace their roof sooner rather than later.

[00:54:49]>> You have any up >> I no I don't know um if there's any update in that regard to any pending legislation. just know that, and this happens, you know, all the time, that regardless of the actual condition possibly of the roof, um, if it's old, your insurance company has the right to come over to you and say, you know what, we're just not comfortable insuring you anymore, and if you're not going to put on a new roof, we're dropping you. Now, I know Rob, maybe can correct me if I'm wrong, we had, I think it was Mr. Defona from Best Roofing, um, who's council for, uh, Best Roofing on the show, and he was saying, "Well, slow down. If that happens to you, sometimes you can hire an architect or an engineer who can do, I think, what's called a four-point inspection." So, Best Roofing can come out, perhaps do this four-point inspection, give you a certain form that you can send to your insurance company that say, "Wait, before you drop them, here's certification from an architect or engineer that their roof is in good condition despite its age. So, don't drop them." Now, it doesn't mean for sure and for certain that they're not going to drop you, but it certainly gives you something to come back at the insurance company with rather than just say, "Okay, we're stuck. We got to put on a new roof. Certainly try that first, Bill.

[00:56:13]>> So, just to give you an update, it was citizens that exactly procedure took place and they still >> they still wouldn't do it. You know, look, it it is it is what it is. You know, go fight the ins the insurance companies. But I will tell you some good news. I'll tell you some good news in that regard. Um, I will tell you that, um, when I've been working on budgets with condominiums, including high-rise condominiums, over the past couple of months that they've been doing their 2026 budget, for example, and Rob, I don't know if you experienced this in in your condo, but yes, condo insurance prices have gone down even in high-rise communities. I've seen it. I can vouch for it and I can tell you it looks like there's finally some competition entering back into the condo insurance market. So definitely I think for the first time maybe in god knows how long, a decade or more, you finally have prices that are going down. Why? It all boils down to competition. So maybe don't just settle for the first price that you get. Ask your insurance agent, hey, you got to do better than this.

[00:57:24]price around.

[00:57:26]>> To support your statement, I saw my insurance coverage for our condo go down 40%.

[00:57:33]>> 40%. I mean, that's unbelievable. That's a dramatic savings. And I really appreciate the fact that you told everybody that because I think your phone call gives a lot of people hope out there um for perhaps they can see their assessments actually go down. If you believe that's possible, it actually can happen. I mean, insurance is typically in a condominium the largest expense by far, right? No, no expense, probably even close to the insurance expense. And if you can get that number to go down, you're looking at, like I said, perhaps for the first time, especially if you completed your structural integrity reserve study, if you completed your um reertifications, you're potentially looking at your your assessments going down for the very first time in years. Bill, I appreciate that phone call like always.

[00:58:26]>> All right, true gentleman. Thanks, Bill.

[00:58:29]>> Bye now. You got it. You know, I think that gives some people hope. 40% drop in insurance rates. That's absolutely incredible. I mean, think about in in a, you know, high-rise building when the when the insurance could potentially be hundreds of thousands of dollars, >> what a 40% drop would mean to that community.

[00:58:49]>> That's a substantial drop, you know, in your insurance rates. That's going to lead to a substantial drop in your assessments for the first time. Look, it's it's what we said. You know, we've discussed this so many times on the show, Rob. You know, we were, you know, I'll say it. We were we were pretty pushy on trying to get the laws passed regarding mandatory inspections, mandatory reserves, mandatory repairs.

[00:59:13]You know, I'm not embarrassed to say that, and I know that as a result of pushing that, I know assessments have gone up. I get it. But I also couldn't stand the fact that um I didn't like the fact couldn't stand the fact that I always said this that I thought Champlain Towers fell. Number one reason that it's fell not because the building built next door was built too close, not because of the pool deck, not because of the garage underneath. Of course, that's you know the structural reasons.

[00:59:42]>> The real reason it fell was because of lack of money. And I'll always stand by that statement. Y had they had the money to fix it in 2018, it would have been fixed. End of story. And again, not to talk bad about the board. By by no stretch of the imagination am I doing that. I'm just talking reality. They have had the money in 2018. It would have been fixed. And that's why I thought it was so important to mandate these mandatory expenses for condos.

[01:00:09]Now, is it going to be tough? Yes. For some associations, for some owners, yes.

[01:00:15]Um, is there going to be a time period of tremendous adjustment? Yes, absolutely. Are things maybe maybe maybe starting to go the other way now a little bit? Well, we see insurance going down. We see a lot of associations coming current now with their reserve studies, coming current with the repairs that they need to need to make, coming current with their reertifications that they need to pass. And once they get past the stage of having to comply with all of that and now they have a building that's in compliance that the repairs are made that they don't have to start putting away a lot of money for reserves. Guess what? You're going to see the reverse. And I think for the first time you're going to see expenses actually coming down for associations.

[01:01:00]So hang in there. I really believe that.

[01:01:02]I really believe that that's going to happen. I think things are also getting uh interesting with records on on the topic today with AI. I could tell you um I have one community that I manage their records and I installed an AI solution to scan all the existing records in their in their archive >> really >> and then it came back with suggestions on proper naming conventions for them.

[01:01:26]uh you know how how you organize them in folders because the other part is you might have uh a library full of records but if you can't find it because it's mislabeled or right then that's also part of the problem. So AI did a full scan, came back with a whole bunch of naming uh recommendations, folder structures, and then I said, "Change it." And it fixed it all. So I knew what the records were, >> right? So So you could say, "Okay, take these 500 pages, scan them in, and basically separate them into categories, something like that. It >> it'll scan the files that are in your record. It'll know what that file is.

[01:02:01]For example, if it's a meeting minute or an agenda, and it'll label it." So, I have a rule that says always tag the file with what it is. So, the agenda and the date. Um, and this is a community meeting, >> you know. So, so if you're telling me something like that exists, it's amazing. Things are changing weekly, you know. It's crazy. We were talking about this before the show started. It's getting scary. It really is getting scary just what AI can do.

[01:02:24]>> Sure.

[01:02:24]>> And how many jobs it's going to take in the future. It's crazy. But if you're telling me AI can do what you just said, then I'm at the point already where I'm sorry, there's no excuse. If Robert says you can take all your documents, basically scan them into AI, AI will separate them by category, I'm sorry, guys, then you should be putting all this stuff up on your website, make it password protected, and you could sleep well at night. Rob, if they had questions on that, where do they go to if they wanted to contact you? Uh, >> they could email me at robertconrazenhas.com.

[01:02:56]really appreciate that. Was fantastic.

[01:02:59]And that brings us to the end of another hour. Wow, that hour went fast today.

[01:03:03]Paul Kim, I want to thank you for calling in and talking to our listeners today. Karen, we missed you today. And of course, if anybody needs legal help off the air, you can call Glazer and Sachs during the week at 954983112.

[01:03:17]Again, 954-9831112.

[01:03:21]And of course, we will see everybody and speak to you again next Sunday at 11 am on condo craze and HOAs. Have a wonderful, safe week with your families, everybody. Take care.

[01:03:33]Same truth, same hourone.

[01:03:50]I choose lines clearly drawn.

[01:03:56]Process matter.

[01:03:58]Rules come first.

[01:04:01]Ignore them and things get worse.

[01:04:15]Read the rules.

[01:04:24]Mistakes happen. Don't take it personal.

[01:04:27]That's how lawsuits paid instead to grow. That's our community. Stay in control. We take the call. We hear it all. Helping stand tall. Condos. Every voice it loses the race.

[01:04:47]Same truth, sameday at 11. You've been watching condo crazy.