It is really pretty basic.

If you are _eoin_q to

serve on yoLll' association's board

of directors.

familiar w'ith your Declaratiorr

of CondorniniLun. Bylar,l,s. and Articles of
Incorporation. After all. those are the -goventin-9 principles for your condominiLlm. If you
don't know the rr"rles. how can vou enforce
thern? How can yoLr follow thern'l How' do you
voLl should be

know if they are not bein-e followed?

The rnajority of problems in condominiums
arise from the failure to tollow basic _governin_9
procedr"rres. sLlch as holding fair elections for
the directors. providin-9 financial information
about the associartion. fairness in application of
nrles and re-gulations and resultin_e penalties.
and adoptin-g an annual bud-eet. In order to be

effective. board members should understand

their responsibilities for establishin_e and calt'\/ing ourt policies. handlin_e the finances. and

maintainin_g

of the condonrinium.

It is a scary prospect to

minium (and your investment

) bein_g

l2(3Xb) has been amended to provide:

"Witltirt 90 doys ufter beirtg elected or

718.1

ima-gine your condo-

nrn by

r!'

ctltpoirttecl to tlrc boctrcl, eac'lt rtev'lJ' elec'ted

sonreone 'uvho has not takert the tirre to read

the -eovemin-e doclrments. As o\\'ners. \ /e

rtltpoirttecl director slrull certi.h' irt writirt,q to

assLlrre tl-rat our leaders have the requisite

has rectcl tlrc ussoc'icttiort's cleclurutiort of cort-

back-uround and knor,r'ledge to do the job. In

clontirtiunt, ot'ticle s of itrcorporotiort, bylolr'.r,

Florida. nothin-e is assumed. not anyn'rore.

Too nranv recurrirt-9 issues appear to have

arrcl currert v'r'ittert

been the impetus for a le_eislativ'e enactment in

Florida mandatin-e that neu'lv appointed or

elected directors read the gor,'erning docurnents
and policies. and pled_ue to dischar_se his or her
responsibilities in good faith. If that seems too
-great a task. board mernbers har,'e the option of
attendin-s an approved educational curriculum.
If volr do not do one of those tu;o things.
yoll cannot serve on the board. It is as sinrple
as that. And it's true. Florida Statutes. Sectiorr

tlte secretun' o.f tlte ossocicttiort tltut he or she

policies; that lle or .slte will

work to upltold .suclt clocumerts ctncl polic'ies to
ttte Uest o.f tts or lffi':
cutcl ,l::,t trc q

.slte v'ill

fuirllfully clisc'hurge

lti.s

or

lter;fo!1,19!-

ury responsibi

bg ltt lieu oftlis

writtert certificution, the

nerr'lr' electecl or oppoirtecl clirectot' tnov subrrtit rt certiftcate o.f ,scttis.factort' cornpletiort o.f
tlte erltrcutiort curric'ulunt achnirtisterecl by a
cl i v i .s i o r t - u p p t'ov e d c' o r ul o m i r t i m e cl u c' o t i o rt
pt'ot'itler A director who fails to timely file the
written c ertificatiort or educational certfficate
u

COAs Should

When lt ComesTo

28

condo owner

WINIER 2011

l r'l.t').t.: c () | | (l ( ) -

)tt'

tI

r.

II

is suspended fi'otn service on the board until

lunder statlrte. Ever'\' Alabanra board ntenrber

have too lnuch infornratiorl re-gardin_u the oper-

Ite or she complies with this sub-subporo-

should aim to meet this standarcl set recentlv in

graph. Tlrc bourtl tnur terrrltot'ttrilt',t'ill the

\'(t(uncy tlurirtg tlrc period o.f' .stt.s;ltert.tirtrr. Tlte

Florida. Reallr'. it should not be an option for

iu'rYone in anv stilte tcl senre on i.r condontiniunr

atiort of 1,or.rr condonriniLtnt.

Successful associations are not created by

rt't'retut't' .slrull (uu.\e tltc u,s.socitttiott trt rctttitt

board r,r'ithout havin-9 flrst read the -govenling

docunrents and pledged to faithfullv discharge

know' 'uvhat to do ancl w'hen to cJo it. dependin-u

on the circun-rstance. These are skills that carr

his or her obligations.

It is inrportant tr-rr board ntenrbers to beconre
acquainted u ith the standard of conduct that is
expected of thenr. The lau's of each state
irttpose certain standarcls and assign a tlcluciary
dutv tr-r the nrenrbers of the board. Follou ing
the rr,rles and knou'ing the role clf eiich director
is inrportant to nraking the association rLut ils
snroothlv and effectir,'ely' as possible.

be learned.

tt tli rectot".\ wt'ittett

t t't'ti.ficute

.fbr

ce

rti.t'it'tttiott or edttt'ttriottul

irr.spectiort lty the rrrerrrbers.t'rtr

rive yeurs ttfiet' u diret'[or',\' elet'tiort. Fuilure, to

!tttve,sttclt v't'ittett ce rti.t'icutiott rtr etlttt'tttiottttI

ort.file tloc.s rtot u.fJ'et'r rlte vtlitlitt' ot''

r//ll' ut'ti0tt."
It is indeed a sad state of afthirs w'hen a state
nrust force board nlembers to do sontethil't_g so
busic. Of coLlrse. the new lau' should not be
t;.tken as criticisnr by those dedicated boarcl
nrenrbers who work tirelesslv on behalf of all
, r\\ l'le l'S. with little thanks. I n-ri_rht add. While
t arti.t'icttte

:riost board rnernbers alreadv reacl the govern:nq clocuments. not everyolre cloes it. This is
)lte way to nrake sLlre tl-rat directors have
Jr'ne rtl knowled-ee

of condonriniunt operatiolts

..:rtl the associated responsibilities.

The sanre problenrs that inspirecl this legisla.:\ e enactntent exist in Alabalnit. too.
., ,r'egoin-q

Onlv the

lltandate does not specifrcallt, erist

After reading the govenrin-e documents

accident. They are nrade Llp of people w'ho

If vou ha"'e

training. relationships and experiences.

Will Anderson is a member of the Baldwin

County-based law firm of
Daniell, Upton, Perry &

ancl.

hopefulh'. the condonrinium act. don't stop

there. Just because vou read thenr cloes not
nrean that voll reallv understand thern. Have

Morris,

P.C.

The attorneys

in this regional law firm

practice in the fields of

voll ever read a conrplrter nranual before operating a conrputer'l It can be lnind nunrbing. It

condominium, construction and insurance

law in coastal Alabama, Florida and

Mississippi. Contact the firm at P.O. Box 1800,

is a great idea to attend condonrinir,rnt sentinrrrs

or educational coLlrses annually tc-r stilv cun'ent
on lau s. trends. hot topics. and ne\\' icleas for'
handling condonriniunr aftairs. You ciln lte\/er

"

thenr alreacly. relneln-

ber that good leaders can beconte even better

leaders throu-uh the proper use of eclucatic-rn.

Daphne, AL 36526; Phone: 251-625-0046;

Fax: 251 -625-0464; www.d

pm.com.

Bonaventu re, " ou r

Twitter bird, keeps owners,

renters and businesses up

to date with condo-related

news and happenings.

Although Twitter and

other social media outlets
can be a valuable networking resource, HOAs
are urged to use care when incorporating
social media into member communications.

:. t' 0

ntl 0 - ott'

||

c t:

( )r t

WIF.I

\q

.r.tri.i:.''.r-

i:.

st:-,n--,

.-r.t

ril

-rl\-;5* {isttff*{st

TER 2A11
+1r..;

..!tF*f,-

condo owner

.Wiijllf

"

29