Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
October 15, 2024 -- As if Florida condo owners didn't have enough to worry about. A deadly duo of hurricanes caused suffering and loss of human life. But Condo buildings 3 stories face other kinds of challenges, as December 31 deadlines for Florida's stringent new engineering inspections and reserve studies go into effect.
If condo and HOA boards aren't nervous about all this - they should be.
The original Building Safety Law (SB 4), and later clarified by SB 154, was a reaction to the tragic Surfside building collapse in Miami in 2021. It specifies 2 key requirements for condominium associations that will fundamentally those will affect their finances. The first is a Milestone Inspection Study, the second is the Structural Integrity Reserve Study. We will explain those in greater detail, later. But first, let's talk about how this will unfold in the real world.
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Published on October 14, 2024
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Category: Home Owners Associations
June 14, 2024 -- If you ask someone why they won't live in an active adult or 55+ community, a top reason will be that they don't want to live under a controlling and arbitrary Home Owners Association (HOA, sometimes called Property Owners Associations). A new statute signed into law by Florida's Governor will severely limit the powers of HOAs to fine or discipline owners, as well as provide additional restrictions. The Guardian has an excellent and detailed report on the new law and what it means in "Curbing the Karens".
Tiffany Esposito, Republican state representative from south-west Florida, sponsored the legislation. She cited its purpose as to: “empower homeowners and increase transparency and accountability across homeowners’ associations in our state”. It goes into effect on July 1.
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Published on June 14, 2024
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Category: Best Retirement Towns and States
May 31, 2023 — Condo boards in Florida are reeling from a one-two punch. Quotes for insurance renewals are literally through the roof, and that is if the condo association can get coverage at all. Year to year rate hikes of 50% are common. The Jade Winds condo complex in…
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Published on May 30, 2023
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Category: Active adult communities
Update June, 2023 - In another development, Governor DeSantis recently signed the much anticipated Surfside Glitch Bill, SB 154, into law. The bill relieves some of the ambiguity in SB 154. It also provided relief for some provisions of the law such as allowing a Milestone Inspection to be provided by a team of professionals with an architect or an engineer acting as a registered design professional in charge of the report (the supply of inspectors was an issue). Other clarifications had to do with reserve requirements. In one provision, reserves are not needed for replacement costs for items for which the estimated remaining useful life exceeds 25 years (but reserves are still required for deferred maintenance for those items).
November 13, 2022 -- Hurricanes Ian and Nicole were bad enough, destroying thousands of homes, changing the coastline, and scaring residents and real estate buyers alike. But a new Florida law, SB 4-D: Building Safety, is about to provide a potential killer wave to the Florida condo market.
The Building Safety Law is a reaction to the tragic Surfside building collapse in Miami in 2021. It has several key requirements for condominium associations that most are not yet aware of, especially how fundamentally those will affect their finances. This article will attempt to give a quick snapshot of what is now required, and how things will change. We recommend that if you are on a condo board you get familiar with the law now, because it has several new requirements. As it spells out clearly, failure to meet them is a breach of an officer’s and director’s fiduciary relationship to the unit owners. Sadly, the jailhouse humor going round is that it could cause mass resignations of board members across the state. Even if you are not a board member, you should make sure that your board is working on this issue.
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Published on November 12, 2022
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Category: Active adult communities
March 10, 2022 – In a move that is sure to be controversial, a softball commissioner at the Del Webb Village at Deaton Creek has banned Linda Evans, a female, from participating on a men’s softball team at that community. Ms. Evans, 70 years young, is an experienced player, whose…
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Published on March 10, 2022
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Category: Active adult communities
January 4, 2020 -- When people hear about Home Owners Associations (HOA) there is generally one of two reactions. Either they loathe them, citing high costs and restrictive rules, or they tolerate them as a necessary evil. They have no super fans. Also called Community Associations, HOAs govern critical aspects of life in condominiums and active adult communities. It is essential that retirees know something about their HOA before they move in. As Joe West, CEO of the Community Associations Network, told Topretirements many years ago, the most important thing to consider when buying into a community is: “Don’t fall in love with the house before you check out the association”.
In any 55+, active adult, or condominium development that has shared facilities the Community Association is the top dog. It establishes the rules, enforces compliance, manages the assets, and insures the financial and legal well-being of their communities. Even in the most successful community plenty can go wrong. When serious problems happen, as did in last year's condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, the consequences can even become tragic.
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Published on January 4, 2022
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Category: Active adult communities
November 13, 2021 — The Associated Press reports that a judge has ordered the giant Solivita 55+ community in Poinciana, FL to pay back homeowners $35 million for improper HOA fees. The case arises from a proposal by the developer to sell various amenities including a clubhouse, swimming pools,…
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Published on November 13, 2021
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Category: Active adult communities
Note: We are once again grateful to Joe West of the Community Associations Network, LLC, for helping us research this topic.
July 10, 2021 -- The collapse of Champlain Towers South near Miami, built in 1981, has made owners and buyers nervous. The dream of living near the ocean has been interrupted by the fear that some buildings might not be safe, and that owners' investments could be in danger. It also highlights the problems that condo, community, and home owners associations (HOAs) face all around the country. Some 70% of homes and condos in Miami were built prior to 1970 - more than 50 years ago. Since then they have been exposed to all kinds of problems like those at Surfside - salt air and salt water incursions, rising water tables, aging concrete, and older building codes. The problems are worse along the coasts, but, like us baby boomers, even buildings far inland are not exempt from the vicissitudes of age. And who are the people who are going to have to deal with these expensive, highly technical problems - you and your condo board!
The causes of the Surfside collapse and the actions of its condo board members have been a staple of discussion in the news. The problems with the building were well known for a long time. After great struggles and almost a complete turnover of its board members, a $15 million plan was approved to correct water incursion and corrosion issues in the 167 unit building, although work had not started on it. Board members and residents fought over the expensive plan, which was going to represent a hardship for many owners. Some experts believe even those repairs might have too late, and still not have prevented the building's collapse.
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Published on July 9, 2021
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Category: Active adult communities
May 27, 2020 -- Any time active communities come up in a discussion HOAs and their fees are always a big focus. For many retirees, avoiding those fees or finding the lowest ones can become an obsession. So, is there a central depository of the fees at the thousands of active adult and 55+ communities around the country? Alas, the simple answer is no.
But that flat response does not mean that you cannot discover what you need to know before making an important purchase like buying a home. Ongoing HOA fees and assessments are key to your decision. First, let's talk a little bit about what kind of charges you might expect if you move into a community with a Home Owners Association (HOA) or Community Association (CA).
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Published on May 26, 2020
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Category: Home Owners Associations
March 10, 2018 -- Bills proposed in the Florida legislature would remove local control of short term rentals offered by companies like Airbnb, HomeAway, etc., and place it in the hands of the State. The online companies are lobbying for passage of the bills, since that would open up all areas of the state to rentals as short as one night. Local communities oppose the bill because they would lose the right to regulate what is often a problematic issue in many communities, particularly resort areas. It is a complex issue with the same people often having two different opinions on it: while at least half of the population would be happy to use one of these services for a short term vacation rental, but the vast majority of homeowners are against having them in their own neighborhoods.
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The bill is euphemistically called "The Private Property Rights of Homeowners", SB 824. The bill's sponsor is State Sen. Manny Diaz Jr,. of Hialeah. If passed, it would give the Florida legislature the preemptive right to regulate vacation rights - local governments would have to abide by whatever the state decides. A group in northern Florida has been active in the fight against it. That organization believes that each local community knows best what should be permitted when it comes to rentals, citing many problems such as noise, traffic, and general mayhem when vacationers invade local neighborhoods. The problem is made worse when absentee owners buy up large number of homes and/or apartments and rent them out. That has a deleterious impact on affordable housing.
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Published on March 9, 2019
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