Page 9 - CooperatorNewsSouth FLorida 2021

SOFL.COOPERATORNEWS.COM
COOPERATORNEWS SOUTH FLORIDA —
FALL 2021
9
DEDICATED TO THE REPRESENTATION
OF COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS
THROUGHOUT FLORIDA
Kaye Bender Rembaum, a seven-time Diamond winner from the FLCAJ for Best
Law Firm, is a full service law firm led by a team of experienced attorneys, several
of whom are Board Certified Specialists in Condominium and Planned Development
Law. Just some of our services and resources:
●
Assessment Collections
●
Contract Negotiation
●
Document Review
●
Covenant Amendments
●
Covenant Enforcement
●
Construction Defects
●
General Litigation
●
FREE
Seminars
●
FREE
Education
●
FREE
online resources including
Rembaum’s Association Roundup,
Legal Morsels, Webinars
●
FREE
Video Resources
●
Monthly
radio shows
DEDICATED TO THE REPRESENTATION
Several Locations To Serve All The Legal Needs Of Your Association
1200 Park Central Blvd. South
Pompano Beach, FL. 33064
954.928.0680
9121 North Military Trail, Suite 200
Palm Beach Gardens, FL. 33410
561.241.4462
1211 N. Westshore Blvd. Suite 409
Tampa, FL. 33607
813.419.0819
Miami-Dade locations by appointment:
Call (800) 974-0680
KBRLegal.com
Email:
info@KBRLegal.com
The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon
advertisements. Before you decide, ask us to send you FREE written information about our
qualifications and experience.
• personnel salary and medical records
relating to specifi c individuals;
• contracts and transactions currently ium association’s board did not have an ob-
being negotiated;
• existing or potential matters in litiga-
tion, mediation, or arbitration;
• declaration, bylaw, or rule enforcement to unit-owners, an owner’s right to examine
actions currently proceeding;
• association-attorney communications;
• records of an executive session of the a right to create paper copies or electronic
executive board;
• individual unit fi les other than those of spection; confi dentiality concerns were suf-
the requesting owner.
“Th ere’s no specifi c provision in Ver-
mont’s version of UCIOA that sets forth
what can happen
if an association
fails to comply
with these sec-
tions. An owner
would be able to
go to the appro-
priate
Superior
Court and get a
judge to order
the dissemination
of the requested
documents if they
were not other-
wise protected by
statute. An owner
might be able to
have the Supe-
rior Court judge
award fees and
costs and perhaps even attorney’s fees if a Th ese are things like condo documents, fi -
showing could be made that the association nancial records, contracts, insurance, meet-
unreasonably withheld the documents.”
Lewis Montana, a partner with Levine &
Montana in Peekskill, New York
“Section 624 of the New York Business would say that an association should have
Corporation Law addresses books and re-
cords, right of inspection, and prima facie up and have an electronic copy, and it’s usu-
evidence as follows:
“‘Each corporation shall keep correct ment companies armed with resources like
and complete books and records of account cloud computing to keep track of every-
and shall keep minutes of the proceedings thing in a way that’s not terribly expensive.
of its shareholders, board, and executive It’s useful to have a searchable version, and
committee, if any, and shall keep at the of-
fi ce of the corporation in this state or at the ter, like a fi re. You can really optimize your
offi ce of its transfer agent or registrar in this own business operation via digital record-
state, a record containing the names and keeping.
addresses of all shareholders, the number
and class of shares held by each, and the itself includes a protocol for turning over
dates when they respectively became the documents from one managing agent to a
owners of record thereof. Any of the fore-
going books, minutes, or records may be in tainly the expectation in Massachusetts is
written form or in any other form capable that you’re statutorily required to maintain
of being converted into written form within these categories of documents for seven
a reasonable time.’
“Th e bylaws of an association may also can expect that you’ve kept all these records
provide requirements to maintain records physically or electronically. Many times,
and indicate inspection rights of its mem-
bership. Also, a shareholder has both statu-
tory and common-law rights to inspect turn over the documents within 30 days,
books and records of the corporation if and sometimes they’ll specify who is re-
inspection is sought in good faith and for sponsible for the cost of doing so.
valid purpose.
“Courts indicate that a condominium documents were not backed up and are
owner has similar inspection rights under
common law.
“In one case, Pomerance v. McGrath, the
court instructs that, although a condomin-
ligation to mail or email copies of monthly
fi nancial reports, building invoices, redact-
ed legal invoices, or board meeting minutes
those records at the managing agent’s offi ce
during convenient weekday hours included
copies at her own expense during her in-
fi ciently accommodated by requiring the
owner to sign a confi dentiality agreement.”
Katherine G. Brady, an associate with
Moriarty Troyer
& Malloy LLC
in Boston and
Braintree, Mas-
sachusetts
“In
Massa-
chusetts, it’s stat-
utory that there’s
a list of certain
categories
of
items that must
be kept for sev-
en years, which
makes for a nice
checklist
that
should be incor-
porated into any-
one’s
manage-
ment policies for
record-keeping.
ing minutes, things like that.
“It’s not specifi ed that these need to be
kept within the commonwealth. While I
some physical records, it’s best to back those
ally pretty easy for sophisticated manage-
one that exists in the event of some disas-
“Sometimes the management contract
replacement, or one board to the next. Cer-
years, so an incoming managing company
management contracts themselves will
specify that, upon termination, you must
“In a hypothetical situation wherein
continued on page 10
“We honestly do not even
have physical fi ling cabinets
in our offi ces. Everything
from lease and sale applica-
tions, to drivers’ licenses, to
social security numbers, we
save in the eBridge, and we
consider that to be quite se-
cure.”
—Bonita Vandall