Condo Owners, Firefighters at Odds over Sprinkler Requirements

Around the State

Condo Owners, Firefighters at Odds over Sprinkler Requirements
The final week of the Legislative Session could finally bring an end to a long-running battle over condo fire sprinklers. In the 1990s, Florida law was changed to require all new high-rises in the state be outfitted with fire sprinkler systems. A decade or so later, existing hotels and timeshare complexes over 75 feet... (more)

Polk County Condo Owners Claim Homes are Infested with Mold
“I feel like they left me here to die,” Erica Ray, a single mom battling breast cancer says. She claims her condo is infested with mold. Sunday, she made the hard decision to move herself and her children out of Royal Crescent Condominiums because she said the conditions in her home were making her sick.... (more)

Blog Bits

Creating an Electronic Communication Policy for Your HOA
Your HOA communicates through several different methods, both when you're communicating with your members and when you're communicating with homeowners within the association. In order to successfully govern electronic communication methods like emails and social media posts, it's important that your HOA develop a strong policy for those methods of... (more)

Pets – Do You Love or Hate Them? Some Basic HOA Pet Rules
When it comes to pet ownership in condos, people usually come down on one of two sides: love ‘em or hate ‘em. You may think your cuddly buddy is the cat’s meow (even if he’s a dog), but your neighbors may not share your enthusiasm. We’re going to focus this article on dog ownership since that seems the... (more)

How to Lead Productive Board Meetings and Keep HOA Board Members on Task
It’s not unusual for extremely delicate situations to be discussed during HOA board meetings, which can cause some friction among board members. Because board members won’t always agree with each other, it can be difficult to get much accomplished in board meetings. If you can relate to these frustrations,... (more)

Aquatic Weed Control: How to Get Rid of Pond Weeds
As a Fisheries and Wildlife Scientist who regularly travels to client properties, people often recognize me as an aquatic consultant at gas stations or while I’m parked getting lunch. Sometimes people will approach me to ask a question, and it tends to be the same one every time: “Hey, I have some weeds in my pond that have taken over in the past few years. What can I do to... (more)

FCAP Resources

The Perfect Paving Project
It was a cool January day, and I was excited about starting this latest paving project. No, I wasn’t paving the project but was acting as the consultant hired to oversee the milling, paving, and striping crews and to be a liaison between the property manager, community, and contractors, making sure everyone was on the same page while working efficiently and staying out... (more)

Community Security Misconceptions
As a property manager, do you face questions from the board that are challenging to answer because a security system has been misinterpreted? Perhaps some board meetings include upset residents because the community security results do not meet a false perception that has been created. Security misconceptions form through a variety of ways. While it is not... (more)

The Tale of Two HOAs – Which Choice is the Right Choice?
One of the most difficult things about making decisions is validating you’ve made the right one. When faced with deciding which technology is the right one for your roadways, you rarely get to see what the result of the alternative choice might have been. Let’s take a journey through parallel universes to see how their respective roadways perform. While there may... (more)

Avoid Fines and Unhappy Residents by Testing Your Elevator Phones with a Few Simple Steps
You know that you are required to have elevator emergency phones in all elevators at your community via the elevator codes ASME A17.1 and A17.3. What you may not know is that simply having an elevator phone isn’t enough. Your phone must meet certain requirements, both through ASME and the... (more)

Upcoming Events

HOA/Condo/Co-op Board Member Certification
If you are planning to serve on your association board, you probably know that you will need to comply with Florida’s certification requirements within 90 days of being elected. Our Board Member course is tailored specifically to certify HOA, condo and co-op board members. Your participation will satisfy the statutory requirement so that you are eligible to... (more)

Disaster Preparedness and Recovery: Are You Ready to Weather the Storm
Is your community prepared in the event that a hurricane strikes through your city? In this special course we will go over practical tips for developing and implementing a disaster recovery plan for your community. Managers and board members will learn: • Steps to take to protect life and property • Recover and... (more)

Condo Board Certification Course
This complimentary course is DBPR certified and fulfills the State's requirements for newly elected board members. Current and prospective condo association board members as well as other community volunteers are warmly welcomed to attend. Attorney Jeffrey Rembaum from Kaye Bender Rembaum will be the instructor. Lunch will be served.... (more)

CondoJobs

Featured Job of the Week
Licensed community association manager for a beachfront condominium in New Smyrna Beach. Will coordinate management and operations duties. Will work with existing staff consisting of an office manager, maintenance director and broker/rental manager. Rental program is not a direct part of manager’s duties, and is overseen by the rental manager.... (more)