Q: I want to reduce my monthly condominium fees. Am I out of line? Do I have a right to see contracts that my condominium association has entered into with vendors such as lawn service, cleaning and elevators? Do I have a right to see the competing bids as well as the contracts?

L.H., Miami

A: You have a right to inspect the association's records. However, there is a procedure you must follow: Send a certified letter addressed to the board of directors and request to inspect the records. You need to be very specific as to what you want to see, such as contracts for the landscaper, cleaning service and elevators for this year. You should first ask to inspect the records and not for copies. If you ask for copies, the association can charge for the records. Keep in mind that the board is not required to always accept the lowest price for contract services. It has the duty to make prudent business decisions. For example, it may select a vendor because of a record of superior service. If you want to have an impact on the budget, you should volunteer to become a candidate and then you can help develop it.

Q: Our condominium has a strict screening policy. Our rules include a clause regarding peaceful domiciles. Recently, a new renter was interviewed and received the rules. Now she disturbs other residents at all hours. The renter has allowed a man to move in with her who is very formidable, to the point of coercion and threats against the neighbors. As a result, no one will file a police report on the disturbances. The owner lives out of state and refuses to help, as he believes it is the board's responsibility. Our attorney advised us that nothing can be really done without much expense, delay and possibly no resolution. Can you help us with suggestions?

B.R., Coral Springs

A: Your attorney is right in that it will involve time and money. I would suggest that you write a certified letter to the unit's owner and copy the tenant. State the problem with noise and the nonapproved tenant in the unit. Say that the association will not renew the lease. Also state that the disturbances must immediately stop or police will be called and the matter turned over to the attorney for legal action. You must determine if the matter is beyond the point of causing a devaluation of units' values. The board has a responsibility to maintain the values and the peace and quiet. If this tenant is violating the rules, turn the matter over to the attorney. If you win, the judge may charge the landlord legal costs. To protect from any future problems like this, have your attorney draft a lease addendum that all future leases must include. In that addendum, provide the association the right to terminate the lease and evict tenants who violate the rules.

Q: Recently you noted that the Florida Legislature was debating the requirement that individual condominium owners must have insurance on their units and that the condominium association must be listed as an additional insured on the policy. Our board decided to hold off notifying owners of the requirement until the Legislature made a final determination. Can you please tell me what they decided? Where can one look for this information?

G.C., Seminole

A: Your question gives me a chance to explain that I published inconsistent source information. Here is the current information: In 2004, because of hurricane damage to many condominiums, the Legislature changed the statute with a requirement that all condominium owners were required to have homeowners insurance for personal property in their unit. In 2008 they added a change stating that owners' insurance would increase loss assessment to $2,000 and name the condominium as an additional insured. It also said that a board could obtain insurance for the owner if the owner did not carry personal insurance. Please note that this was an option, not a requirement. Seeing the imperfect wording in the requirement or option of the board to purchase insurance, legislators have been working on additional changes to remove this language. The two primary 2009 bills are SB 880 and HB 27, however, the current legislators did not approve these bills in the recent session. (There is always next year.) SB 714 was approved with changes. You can go to www.flsenate.gov and www.myfloridahouse.gov to find the latest situation with all pending bills. To simply answer your question, condominium owners must provide homeowner insurance and name the association as an additional insured.

Q: On average, how much time should a board give an owner to pay association dues before starting foreclosure proceedings?

S.S., Miami

A: My recommendation is to send collection letters in the first 60 days and then turn over the matter to an attorney to file a lien. Depending on your documents and the statutes, have the attorney start foreclosure in another 30 to 60 days. With the court schedule, the final action should be complete in six to eight months. In many cases when the board is slow to start the collections process, the unit is too deep in debt to pay the delinquent amounts. Fast action allows the association to take title to the home and rent it, sell it (maybe a short sale), and maybe transfer title to the mortgage holder. It also sends a warning to other owners.

Write to Condo Line, Home, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132, or e-mail CAMquestion@cfl.rr.com. Include name and city.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@