Journal Notes—March 2017

Journal Notes—March 2017

by Michael Hamline, Editor/ Published March 2017

Congratulations to all the Readers’ Choice Awards winners! This issue provides more than 45 short, company profiles from winners that allow community association managers, boards of directors, and residents to get to know some highly thought of service providers. This special feature can be found by turning to page 22. The Readers’ Choice Awards are presented to service providers who demonstrate through their commitment to the community associations they serve an exemplary level of proficiency, reliability, fairness, and integrity. This is the fourth year for the Awards, and there were more than 342 nominations, 5,700 votes cast, and 154 service providers recognized. Many of these service providers have the distinction of being nominated and winning the Awards for their second, third, or fourth times, which means that they continue to stand out and are being recognized for their excellence.

Also in this issue is the article “They’re Ba-ack! SB 398—Estoppel” written by Alan Garfinkel, Esq., who strongly encourages community associations to carry out the important work of stopping “the home tax” as proposed in SB 398 and HB 483. To find out more about this issue, you can read the article on page 72.

Ryan Poliakoff answers questions in his “Condominium and HOA Q & A” column on page 80 about the important issues of material alterations, changing amendments, and paying taxes. Michael Gelfand’s “Florida Law” column comments on a vital legal case that deals with a board of directors failing to carry out their fiduciary duty and how it resulted in  a $16 million judgment against them. To read about this interesting case, turn to page 84.

Finally, don’t fail to read Chris Evers’ article on page 90 “The Science of Pavement Preservation,” which details the cause of road failure, the need for a plan to take care of the community’s roads, and the elements needed to craft such a plan.

So this month, enjoy reading about what makes these Readers’ Choice Award Winners stand above their competition, expand your knowledge and act on legislation that will affect your community, craft a pavement preservation plan, and let us hear from you.

Editor