Legal Advertisement Spring 2015

The firm is proud to announce the hiring

of Attorney Richard Sachs who brings to

the firm more than 20 years of

experience. Richard is AV Rated by

Martindale-Hubbell* since 2000 and

from 2011 through 2015, he was selected

to South Florida Legal Guide, Top

Lawyers, and to Florida Super Lawyers.

Richard has litigated throughout the State

of Florida in complex commercial real estate matters including

construction defect litigation claims. He is also certified by the Florida

Supreme Court to serve as a circuit civil court mediator, appellate court

mediator, and a qualified arbitrator. Richard has also been appointed to

several local and state bar committees, including the Florida Supreme

Court’s Commission on Professionalism, the editorial board for the Florida

Bar Journal, Chairman of two Florida Bar Grievance Committees,

Chairman of the Business Law Section for the Broward County Bar

Association, Past President (2010) of the B’nai B’rith Justice Unit and

served on the Board of Directors for the Broward County Bar Association.

As our readers know, our firm’s practice is devoted to representing community associations and their owners, around the entire state.

We are proud to announce the addition of the following associations as our clients:

The Hammocks Community

Association, 1750 James Condo, and

Terrazas River Park Village —Miami

Mar Lynn Apts, Hillcrest East 20, and

Waterways at Hollywood, Hollywood;

Dean Chase HOA – Winter Park;

Valencia At South Beach Condo-

Jacksonville

Adrian Estate Homes at Monarch Lakes

– Miramar, FL

Residences at Lakes of Newport -

Plantation;

Estate Homes at Emerald Forest –

Renaissance of Pompano and Spyglass

Walk Condo – Pompano Beach;

New World Townhouses, W. Palm

Beach;

Estate Homes of Emerald Springs –

and Harvest Condominium - Davie

Hallcrest Condominium – Hallandale;

Point East Council – Aventura; Bent Tree Villas West – Boynton Beach

We certainly appreciate the trust

and confidence placed in our firm

and look forward to working with

everyone in your communities.

– Eric M. Glazer

Welcome Aboard!

Legal Advertisement Spring 2015

May 31st, 2015 at the Condo Craze Live Radio Show and Day of Education at 7:00 a.m. at the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood.

To register go to www.condocrazeandhoas.com

Make sure to check our website for additional seminars and time changes.

SOUTH FLORIDA

One Emerald Place

3113 Stirling Road, Suite 201

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33312

(954) 983-1112

CENTRAL FLORIDA

Executive Offices of Baldwin Park

4767 New Broad Street, Suite 332

Orlando, Florida 32814

(407) 515-1060

SATELLITE OFFICES

Fort Myers Naples Tampa

ON THE INTERNET

Our firm: www.Condo-Laws.com

Radio Show: www.CondoCrazeandHOAs.com

Blog: www.HOA-CondoBlog.com

HOA and Condo Education is back! As our readers know, members of condominium and HOA

boards need to become certified within one year prior to

joining a board, or within 90 days of actually getting elected

or appointed. If not, they are removed from their positions.

We are extremely proud to have worked so hard to change the

law in this regard.

One way to get certified is by taking our Condo Craze and

HOAs Board Certification Course, which has now certified

over 10,000 people around the state.

So come learn all about budgets, meetings, reserve funds,

duties of directors, foreclosures, elections, material

alterations, financial reporting and much more. At our “Day

of Education” events, our course is followed by other courses

taught by our radio show’s fantastic partners.

See the course listing below:

GLAZER & ASSOCIATES, P.A.

Live Radio Show & Day of Education.

May 31, 2015 at 7:00 am at the Seminole Hard Rock

Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.

There will plenty of educational classes along with

our Board Certification Seminar. In addition breakfast

and lunch will be served! Register at

www.condocrazeandhoas.com Space is limited!

Arrive early for check-in!

Register at www.condocrazeandhoas.com

Space is limited!

Arrive early for check-in!

Download our new App! The Condo Craze and HOAs App for your

iPhone or mobile device is here. Now, at

the touch of a button, you have instant

access to all laws governing condos, HOAs

and Co-Ops. Also, you can: listen to every

Condo Craze show; go directly to our

websites; send us your questions and

comments; read all of our newsletters and

blogs; and register for our seminars.

Day of Education Classes

WATCH YOUR WALLET by Association Services of Florida. Learn about the

procedures and safeguards that every community association board should have in place

to protect its money and to avoid fraud. Learn about segregating duties, fraud risks,

fraud controls and much more. It's your money! Don't lose it because you failed to take

these critical steps. To learn more about Associa and its services go to

www.associaonline.com or call (954) 922-3514.

HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS by Best Roofing. Through this course you will gain a basic

understanding of insurance versus warranties and what they mean should a catastrophic weather event

occur. You will also learn how to prepare your building in order to prevent the extensive damage that

water intrusion can cause to your property. Additional discussions will include actual case studies that

describe the building issues that hurricanes have caused. www.bestroofing.net

HOW TO READ A FINANCIAL STATEMENT by Gerstle Rosen and Goldenberg.

This course will be discussing how to read your financials or know what is going on with

your money, cash vs. accrual, cash vs. available to spend, combining funds and other

topics . Contact the professionals at Gerstle, Rosen and Goldenberg, P.A. by calling (305)

937-0116 and visit the firm’s website www.grgcpa.com.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS Participants will learn the steps to take before

a weather or non-weather related disaster event. Learn a basic understanding on

preventative measures to mitigate the destructive effects, also cover water

damage, mold remediation, and hurricane preparedness for condos.

Servicemaster can help you, call (954) 969-5906 and visit their website

www.servicemaster247.com.

ELECTION AND RECALL PROCESS 101 by Affinity Management Services. This

course teaches the “ins and outs” of elections for community associations and the

process for recalling directors that sit on an association’s board. Affinity will provide

this information with a detailed, step-by-step approach covering the entire election

process, the role of a corporation’s by-laws, the statutes that govern elections, the role

of the association’s attorney, the timetables for election notices and declaring

candidacies, the proper format of ballots, and election day protocol. Affinity will also offer an instructive

primer on the recall process and discuss why unit owners may want to recall a director (or directors) of the

board, who may initiate the process, who participates in it and what is required for a successful recall. To

learn more about Affinity and its services, visit www.affinitymanagementservices.com or call (305) 325-

4243.

More educational classes

THE COMPLAINT PROCESS with the DBPR This course is a guideline for unit

owners regarding the process for filing a complaint with the Division. What is an

accepted complaint? One received by the Division from someone with standing to file

a complaint, which addresses a subject within the jurisdiction of the Division, under

Section, 718.501(1), Florida Statutes, and which meets the Division’s criteria. Learn

what this means and more during this informative class brought to you by the DBPR.

Remember to register for any of our seminars at

Sponsors of STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING provides clients with professional guidance and

consulting services with their concrete repair projects, glass sliding door and window

projects and roofing projects throughout South Florida. As ‘Engineers Of Record’ on

construction projects, we specialize in specifying projects, bidding projects to contractors,

assisting you in selecting a qualified contractor and then acting as construction managers

and structural inspectors. Call us today at 561- 844-4060 or visit us at www.struc-

engineers.com.

ABOVE ALL SPRINKLERS Need your sprinkler head repaired? How about

modifying your current system? Above all Sprinklers can handle all of your needs from

repairs on site to design and regular maintenance service. Call Above All Sprinklers

today at 954-588-9988 or visit us at www.aboveallsprinklers.com.

OPTICALTEL Before your Association signs that long term renewal for the same

dated technology, let OpticalTel provide you with a no obligation quote for services

utilizing Fiber Optics to your Community. Our experienced team members will

prepare a custom proposal outlying the OpticalTel Advantage as well as our one stop

shop approach to Account Management, Construction, Customer Service, and most

importantly…Community Satisfaction. Call us today at 1-855-30-fiber or visit us via

web www.opticaltel.com.

SAVING CAPITAL Saving Capital Reserves class explains what are reserves and

why should a community establish sufficient reserve funds. The class also describes

what a reserve study entails along with the different levels of service the industry has

to offer. It also outlines the process of conducting a reserve study and details the two

types of funding plans typically utilized. To contact Custom Reserves, please call or

visit their website at www.customreserves.com.

New Laws effective July 1, 2015

payment no later than 10 days

after vacating the unit. Now,

instead of the “appraised value”

as determined by the property

appraiser, owners will receive

100 percent of the fair market

value of their unit as determined

by an independent appraiser.

The plan of termination must

provide for payment of a first

mortgage encumbering a unit to

the extent necessary to satisfy

the lien, but the payment may

not exceed the unit’s share of the

proceeds of termination under

the plan. Owners who wish to

contest the plan must do so in

arbitration, and not a court of

law.

Proxies

Any copy, facsimile

transmission, or other reliable

reproduction of the original

proxy may be substituted or

used in lieu of the original proxy

for any purpose for which the

original proxy could be used if it

is a complete reproduction of the

original proxy.

Electronic Voting

In condos, H.O.A.s and co-ops,

the association may conduct

elections and other unit owner

votes through an internet-based

online voting system if a unit

owner consents, in writing to

online voting and if the following

requirements are met:

1. The association provides each

unit owner with:

(a) a method to authenticate the

unit owner’s identity to the

online voting system.

(b) For elections of the board, a

method to transmit an electronic

ballot to the online voting system

that ensures the secrecy and

integrity of each ballot.

(c) A method to confirm, at least

Bills That Have Passed

Although it was a relatively

boring year in terms of new

condo, co-op or HOA legislation,

there were two bills that passed

and were waiting signature by the

Governor as of the date of this

publication. The highlights are

below:

Condo termination

Many of you may not know that

if one unit owner owns 80% of

the units in a condominium,

they can vote on a “Plan of

Termination” and attempt to

force you out of your unit, even

if you are current in your

assessments and your mortgage.

In fact, the unit owner can

purchase your unit for its

appraised value as determined

by the local property appraiser

even though the true value may

be a lot higher. More than 10

percent of the unit owners would

need to vote in order to defeat

the plan. The new legislation

requires every owner to be

counted in the voting process,

even if their voting rights had

previously been suspended.

“Conversion” condominiums

can’t be terminated until five

years after the declaration is

recorded if there is any

opposition whatsoever. If the

plan of termination would allow

for the lease of the units, each

unit owner may remain in the

unit for 12 months following the

effective date of the plan.

Owners who are forced out will

now receive a relocation

(b) For elections of the board, a

method to transmit an electronic

ballot to the online voting system

that ensures the secrecy and

integrity of each ballot.

(c) A method to confirm, at least

14 days before the voting

deadline, that the unit owner's

electronic device can successfully

communicate with the online

voting system.

(2) The association uses an online

voting system that is:

(a) Able to authenticate the unit

owner's identity.

(b) Able to authenticate the

validity of each electronic

vote to ensure that the vote is not

altered in transit.

(c) Able to transmit a receipt

from the online voting system to

each unit owner who casts an

electronic vote.

(d) For elections of the board of

administration, able to

permanently separate any

authentication or identifying

information from the electronic

election ballot, rendering it

impossible to tie an election

ballot to a specific unit owner.

(e) Able to store and keep

electronic votes accessible to

election officials for recount,

inspection, and review purposes.

To initiate this process, a

resolution of the Board of

Directors is required.

Fines Clarifies that the role of a fining committee is limited to determining whether to confirm or reject the fine levied by the Board.

If the close of the 2014 Regular Session was described as

"bringing it all in for a soft Landing", then the end of the

2015 Regular Session of the Florida Legislature can best be

described as "crashing and burning".

No budget was passed or even negotiated. No HOA reform passed. No prison reform was passed. No transportation bill was passed. No water land purchase bill passed. No water projects bill was passed. No economic development bill was passed. No film incentives were passed. No tax relief bill was passed. No PSC reform was passed. No low-THC bill passed. No Medicaid or Low Income reform was passed. No Fracking regulation passed. No gaming bill passed. No renewable energy bills passed. Of the almost 2,000 bills introduced, just under 200 bills actually passed. And if you remove claims bills and local bills and revisers bills from that list, only slightly over 100 bills of any substance will be considered by the Governor. Richard Pinsky, Public Policy Manager, Akerman LLP

LEGAL BE AT In this issue: Richard Sachs joins Glazer & Assoc. | Live Radio Show and Day of

Education May 31st. | New Laws effective July 1, 2015

You can read the HOA and Condo Law Blog at www.hoa-condoblog.com. Every Monday, Eric and the other bloggers, discuss the

latest issues concerning community associations throughout Florida.

If you want to receive copies of our newsletters (like this and Condo Law Blog, please make sure to visit one), get updates

on Florida association law, get notification www.florida-association-law.com and click on Sign up of upcoming seminars,

learn about upcoming topics for our E-mail Newsletter at the top of the page.

AN UNPRODUCTIVE LEGISLATIVE SESSIONSuper Lawyers

The firm is honored that for yet another

year, attorneys Eric Glazer, Scott Shapiro

and Richard Sachs have been

recognized by Super Lawyers Magazine

for attaining a high-degree of peer

recognition and professional

achievement.

FLORIDA COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

JOURNAL – GOLD LEVEL AWARD

The firm is also honored to be awarded for the

second year in a row, the Gold Level in the Legal

Services Category, by voters who participated in

a survey conducted by The Florida Community

Association Journal.

Our Condo Craze and HOAs Radio Show airs

each Sunday at noon on 850 WFTL. We are now

enjoying our 6th year. Call in and get your

questions answered live and on the air.

READ OUR BLOG

Start the week off by reading our blog each

Monday morning at www.hoa-condoblog.com.

Comment on our stories and chime in on what

others are saying about topics effecting your

community association.

Need a loan for repairs in your community? Maybe your association needs to pay for its

40 year inspection? Contact the experts at City National Bank. City National’s team can

provide great loan programs for your community association and much more. Contact

City National Bank at www.citynationalcm.com/home/business/condo.

Need insurance for your car, boat, home or office. To find out how much you can save, give

agent Randy Hoffman a call at (888) 298-8838, (954) 846-1206 or visit Randy’s Allstate

website at www.allstateagencies.com/randyhoffman.

Contact Carousel Development and Restoration, Inc., when it’s time to tackle the big jobs, like

deck repairs, balcony repairs and parking garage problems, Carousel can help. Give the team

at Carousel a call at (561) 272-3700 and visit www.cdri.net.

Redefining Association Management To find out how Condominium Concepts

Management can help your community, visit www.condomuniumconcepts.com, where you read

about all of their services and find contact information for the office nearest to you.

Need your walkways or driveways repaired or resurfaced? Held with handicapped

spaces and parking compliance? Call us at: 1-800-432-1191 and visit us on the web at:

www.driveway.net.

ERIC M. GLAZER NYU B.A. 1989 Miami J.D. 1992 Bar Licenses: Florida; New York; and District of Columbia Admissions: U.S. Supreme

Court; 11th Cir. Court of App.; S.D. Fla.; M.D. Fla.; N.D. Fla.; E.D.N.Y.; and S.D.N.Y.

ADR: Certified Cir. and County Court Mediator

RALPH C. RUOCCO Brooklyn College B.A. 1998 Miami J.D. 2002 Licensed in

Florida Admissions: U.S. Supreme Court; and S.D. Fla.

SCOTT R. SHAPIRO Florida B.A. 2002 Miami J.D. 2005 Licensed in Florida

Admissions: U.S. Supreme Court; 11th Cir. Court of App.; and S.D. of Fla.

PENNIE S.A. MAYS FAMU B.A. 2002 Florida J.D. 2004 Licensed in Florida

Admissions: U.S. Supreme Court; and S.D. of Fla. Board Certified in Construction Law by The Florida Bar

CELENA NASH Park University B.A. 2004 Florida Coastal J.D. 2008 Licensed in Florida Admitted in the Southern District of Florida

PAUL KIM UPenn B.A. 2002 Florida J.D. 2006 Licensed in Florida Admissions: S.D. Fla.; and M.D. Fla.

RICHARD SACHS, Univ of Florida, BA 1990, Nova Univ. J.D. 1994 Licensed in U.S. Supreme Court; 11th Cir. Court of App.; S.D. Fla.; M.D. Fla.; N.D. Fla Certified

Cir. and County Court Mediator

Do the pipes in your community need replacement or repair? Before spending all the

money for a total pipe replacement, call PipeLining and find out about its Trenchless Pipe

Repair. It’s quick, less intrusive and certainly less expensive than a pipe replacement. Call

PipeLining Technologies at: (561) 853-5463 www.pipelt.com

More sponsors of

Want to save on your electric bill and make your condominium, HOA or Co-Op look better at the

same time? Contact Jademar Corporation to learn about installing energy efficient lighting fixtures

in your community. Call them at: (305) 640-0465 and visit their website at: www.jademar.com.

GLAZER & ASSOCIATES, P.A.

Since 1994, our attorneys have counseled

clients on almost all issues facing

associations or their members. Our

practice is primarily devoted to community

associations and owners. Additionally, our

commercial litigation, ADR and appellate

practice has decades of experience before

state and federal trial courts, all appellate

levels and both state and municipal

administrative forums.

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