Last week we blogged about some association bills that were filed in Florida’s Legislature. I thought two were bad but one was good. Here are some more:
CS/HB 0623:
- Provides that if a condominium association’s insurance policy does not provide rights for subrogation against the unit owners in the association, an insurance policy issued to an individual unit owner located in the association may not provide rights of subrogation against the condominium association. This sounds fair. Here is what it means…..Let’s say a condo is forced to put in a claim because a unit owner’s negligence caused a flood. If the condo’s policy has rights of subrogation against that negligent owner, the insurance company can sue that negligent owner to get its money back. But if there are no subrogation rights in the insurance policy, the insurance company cannot get its money back. On the flip side, let’s say the condo’s negligence causes damage to a unit and the unit owner’s insurance company pays a claim. This new law basically says that’s it’s not fair for only one party to have subrogation rights. If the owner’s policy has rights of subrogation against the association, the insurance company can sue the association to get its money back. But if there are no subrogation rights in the insurance policy, the insurance company cannot get its money back. This new law attempts to say, if one party does not have subrogation rights – neither does the other.
- Clarifies that an association may not inquire as to why an owner wants access to the official records.
- Allows condo associations to maintain either an official website or an app.
- Clarifies that only board service that occurs on or after July 1, 2018, may be used when calculating a board member’s term limit.
- In terms of transfer fees – it would clarify that an association can charge an applicant $100.00 plus the actual costs of the background check or screening.
- Completely removes the section on service provider conflicts.
- An owner would be allowed to install an “alternative fuel station” in their limited common element parking space.
- Provides for fines against a tenant of a unit.
- Would allow the Ombudsman’s office to be located outside of Leon County.
This bill is expected to make its way through The Florida Legislature without much of a fight. Nothing wrong with it – except for the fact that it fails to address things that need to be addressed. The bill does not address fixing a broken arbitration system, does not address mandatory board certification by taking an educational seminar only, and does not address The Florida Legislature continuing to take $4.00 per unit from every condo owner in the state, while sweeping the unspent monies into the general revenue fund each year.