01/08/09

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Condos, insurance on agenda

As Florida's annual 60-day lawmaking session kicks off, some of the largest advocacy groups in the state are lobbying for new bills targeted toward everything from community associations to alternative power sources.

The Community Associations bill (HB 679) moving through the House would require the state to tell buyers exactly what they are getting into when they purchase a condominium unit, according to Donna Berger, executive director of the Community Advocacy Network (CAN), an arm of the Katzman & Korr Law Firm in Fort Lauderdale.

The bill, drafted by Sen. Andy Gardiner, an Orlando-area Republican, would give condo unit owners access to committee records while protecting other residents' personal identification, including contact information and data from routine background checks.

If the bill passes, it would require condo associations in Florida to maintain records in a safe location within 30 miles of the development for a minimum of five years, according to Berger.

"Community associations need to be able to serve residents and provide them with the information they ask for without compromising someone else's privacy," said Berger. "Community associations have to make sure they are complying with the requirements."

Berger, a partner at Katzman & Korr, created CAN to serve as a source of education, outreach and networking for the state's 51,000 community associations that cover condominiums, mobile home parks, timeshares and homeowner groups.

The network serves an estimated 1,000 community associations around the state and is active on other fronts too.

It is opposing a proposal by Sen. Lee Constantine, an Altamonte Springs Republican, called the Energy Conservation bill (SB 308). The bill would allow condo unit owners to install solar collectors on building rooftops, an idea Berger is not too keen on.

"I don't know how well thought out this idea is," said Berger. "When you buy into a condo or home association, you agree to be bound by the contract that's included. So when you come along and change the language like this bill would do, you have a problem."

"What happens if we suddenly let residents go up without board approval to install solar collectors or sun tunnels and they accidentally puncture the roof and it's not their ceiling that's leaking?"

Other proposed bills include allowing homeowners to fly flags in their yards (SB 1378, HB 857) and extending the deadline until 2011 for high-rise condos to hook a generator up to power an elevator (CS/SB 550).

A hot-button issue this year is Florida's property insurance crises. Large companies like State Farm, Nationwide and Allstate have announced in recent months that they will stop renewing or underwriting new policies.

Last summer, State Farm said it would not renew 50,000 policies. Legislators believed the insurance fiasco was over after they passed a bill that they hoped would reduce premium rates. But most residents throughout the state continue to pay high rates for home and business coverage. After House Bill 1A passed last year, only 20 percent of state residents actually saw their premiums dip.

In a report published in February highlighting 2008 legislative priorities, Barney Bishop, president and chief executive officer of Associated Industries of Florida, said the trade group opposed expanding the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and preferred to rely on it as a last resort.

The Associated Industries of Florida, a statewide trade group that represents more than 10,000 businesses, announced in February that it was supporting several bills that target thieves who steal metal from homes and businesses.

The bills (HB 105, HB 799, SB 556 and SB 748), drafted by Rep. Baxter Troutman, Rep. Sandra Adams, Sen. Constantine and Sen. Victor Crist, would make it tougher for criminals to steal copper and metal to sell to a recycling yard.

Thieves across Florida are stealing everything from empty beer kegs and irrigation equipment to copper wire from utility sites, according to Sen. Crist, a Tampa-based Republican.

"Our communities, local businesses, and home owners are all negatively affected by this issue," he said. "If we want to deter crime, we have to implement policies that restrict criminal opportunity. That is exactly what this bill does."