Just recently I posted on a social media site a discussion about your community association’s ledgers and asked if you really know that they are being maintained properly. Do you really know? I did not think that this subject would cause a lot of discussion but it has and I have been asked to elaborate and give a few pointers to board members and association managers. Once again, this may seem to be Florida specific but it pertains to all associations in all states. So here goes some humble advise.

Although this article may seem to be Florida specific it relates to all community associations throughout the nation.

On July 1, 2014 in Florida a new law goes into to effect that was legislated under HB 807 to section 718.111(12) of the condominium act.  This new law obligates “outgoing board members to return all official records … to the incoming board.” Now as benign as this may seem it speaks to a greater problem and that issue is: Where are all the association’s records?   Why did the legislature have to go out of its way to create a specific law to obligate a proper transition from one board to the other?  There must be a problem here.

Periodically in every state of the United States (mostly it would be annually) the state legislature gets together, and most of the time they change the laws. Bills are introduced, old language is deleted, and new language is inserted. The statutes are brought up to date to meet the new challenges that evolve as time marches on. In many states statutes are changed in regards to community association business. What about your community association? Do you review your By Laws, Rules & Regulations, Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) to keep up with the dynamic and ever changing conditions in a volatile industry?

As a collection agency for community associations, I meet with a lot of boards and am usually greeted with some good natured humor about debt collecting. Television and film have given us a vast amount of stereotypes to choose from that range from a gangster with a baseball bat to a foul mouthed outbound caller. I gently advise the boards that, contrary to their wishes, I will not break anybody’s legs nor will I harass anybody, because both actions are highly illegal and not at all effective. Yet, I do promise resolute action that one may consider aggressive. So what is aggressive community association collections?