September 3, 2010

In this week's tip, we provide a friendly reminder to always stay on top of changes in your state's laws governing homeowners associations. It's no simple feat, which is why HOAleader.com is launching an occasional series to update readers on significant changes in community association laws.

This month, we survey changes in three states, starting with Florida. "Effective July 1, 2010, there have been a substantial number of new laws passed to the Florida condo act and a few to the homeowners association act," reports Dennis J. Eisinger, a partner at Eisinger, Brown, Lewis & Frankel PA in Hollywood, Fla., who currently represents more than 500 condo and HOA associations.

"The most important by far for the condo statute all pertain to assessments, which is the threshold problem in this state," says Eisinger. "Previously when a bank foreclosed, the liability for the bank paying back assessments was 6 months back assessments or 1 percent of the mortgage amount, whichever was lower. The law has revised that to 12 months or 1 percent, whichever is lower."

Eisinger notes that the new law conflicts with 6 month/1 percent underwriting requirements by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy many loans originated by lenders. But so far, the conflict hasn't created financing problems in the state.

To learn about two more changes in Florida community association law and legal changes in two other states, see our new article: HOA Laws: What's New in Community Association Law?

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President