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On March 22nd Attorney Jonathan James Damonte gave a presentation on Homeowners Associations, Service Animals and Estoppel Fees before a joint session of the Bay Area Real Estate Council (BAREC) and the Greater Tampa Realtors. Attorney Damonte is a Florida Bar Board Certified Condominium & Planned Development lawyer and in demand for Bay Area speaking engagements. The PowerPoint from the most recent presentation can be viewed by clicking on the link below:

BAREC – GREATER Tampa Realtors

While many Floridians avoided the worst of Hurricane Irma some are still in the process of insurance claims and repairs. Our offices were without power for a week following the storm but for the most part escaped damage. Those in the process of recovering from the hurricane may need help settling insurance claims, determining who is responsible for repairs or having properties re-inspected for Lenders. Contracts and Lease Agreements can provide answers to current situations and can provide greater protections moving forward.

This wasn’t Florida’s first storm and it won’t be the last. There are a number of steps you can take to protect yourself against the possibility of a storm. Contract and Lease clauses should address the possibility of a future catastrophe. Many communities are considering adding Hurricane resistant features including hurricane glass, roll-down shutters and improved drainage and removing or trimming trees located close to buildings. Whether you need help assessing your legal rights after Hurricane Irma, or want to make sure you’re prepared for the next storm, our office can help.

The Damonte Law 2017 Legislative Update is now available!

Click the link below to download the full Legislative Update!

DOWNLOAD Legislative Update 2017

Members of the Board of Directors should contact their association attorney for information on proxy forms, consent ballots, notices of meeting, affidavits and recording. Do NOT wait until December when it will be too late to take action, start discussing this issue with your community, management and attorney today!

There are 2 Retrofits for Community Associations to contend with this year: one for fire sprinklers and the other for guardrails. Fortunately, both can be avoided by a vote of the membership in most cases. Those communities that fail to vote to forgo the retrofits could have major construction costs.

Sprinklers: Chapter 633 Florida Statutes requires that buildings over 75 feet in height or three stories plus with a construction contract executed after January 1, 1994 (except single-family and two-family dwellings) be retrofitted with automatic sprinkler systems that comply with Chapter 633.

A condominium or cooperative can avoid an expensive retrofit of the common elements, association property, or units of a residential condominium or cooperative with the new sprinkler system if the majority of the unit owners vote to forgo retrofitting and a certification of the vote is recorded on the public records. The association must also report the information to the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes. The vote to forgo retrofitting must be completed on or before the December 31, 2016 deadline. Otherwise the association must apply for the building permits necessary to complete the required retrofit installation.

Guardrails: Changes to the National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code require that the spacing between any handrail and guardrail pickets not exceed 4 inches. The changes to the Code are being applied retroactively, meaning that if the community does not take action it could be subject to a fire code violation. Most 55+ communities (housing for older persons) that have buildings less than 75 feet high may vote to forgo the guardrail retrofit requirement by a 2/3 vote of the membership in favor of opting-out of the retrofit. The association must then file a retrofitting report with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Multiple Florida Fire Marshalls have already given notice in writing that they intend to apply the retrofit rules retroactively and impose fines and penalties on communities that fail to comply. Discuss how your community plans to handle retrofitting with your members and advisers as soon as possible.

Kay Roesch retires after an over 10 year career with the Firm. Kay started as a legal assistant at Jonathan James Damonte, Chartered in 2003 and assisted thousands of clients seeking legal counsel. Her friendly face and warm smile greeting clients and staff alike will be dearly missed. Kay plans to stay in the Pinellas County area and spend more time with her children and grandchildren. Thank you Kay for your many years of service to the Firm and to the community. We wish you well in your golden years of retirement!

From the July 1, 2016 edition of The Florida Bar News:

Con artists using legitimate lawyers’ phone numbers to dupe the public appears to be the latest in a string of scams involving lawyers.

“My understanding is that caller ID makes it appear that the caller is calling from the phone number of a legitimate law office,” said Katherine E. Jean, counsel for the North Carolina State Bar. “The criminal calls a random member of the public to say, ‘I’m calling from lawyer X’s office. You owe my client money. You must pay up a (fictitious) debt immediately or I’ll have the sheriff come arrest you right now.’”

At this time, The Florida Bar has no knowledge of this scam using the phone numbers of Florida lawyers.

See a video of Buzz here: IMG_0092

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December 31, 2016 is the deadline for condominium and cooperative associations to vote to forego retrofitting their common elements, buildings or units with a fire sprinkler system. To forego retrofitting, associations must obtain an affirmative vote of a majority of all voting interests in the association by the December 31st deadline.  Associations that are not in compliance with the requirements for a fire sprinkler system and have not voted to forego retrofitting of such a system by the December 31st deadline must initiate an application for a building permit for the required installation demonstrating that they will become compliant by December 31, 2019.

For more information, contact our office.

The end of the snowbird season is nearly upon us. If you are on the board of directors for your association and will be heading north for the summer, have you thought about how you will handle your board duties remotely? Even when you are not here, decisions still need to be made on association matters. Also, occasionally the association will need an original acknowledged signature from you. This can be logistically challenging and expensive, especially if you are in Canada. For more information on what you can do ahead of time to make the summer season easier for your association, contact our office.