2011 December
Focus on... Safety & Security

 Despite what film noir and gritty nocturnal crime dramas would have us believe,  sunny venues and beach vistas are as fertile grounds for criminal activity as  dark alleys and deserted piers—especially those typically referred to as “whit…

As Hurricane Wilma churned across southeast Florida on October 24, 2005, four maverick residents of a coastal Pompano Beach condominium under a mandatory evacuation order opted to stay. They brought along some booze, broke into the off…

 It’s often said that safety starts at home—and while many HOAs spend lots of money on sophisticated security and access  control systems to protect residents and property, others opt for lower-tech  solutions to neighborhood security and …

Q I am three months behind in my homeowner's association payments. Can the  condominium foreclose on my unit? My mortgage payments are up to date, and I  called my lender who said no, they cannot foreclose. I wrote a letter to the  board …

Meet the residents of the fictional Manor Woods condominium. Mrs. Jones loves her unit. She’s been living there for 30 years and while she’s still independent, she walks and talks a little slower than she used to. Next door, David was i…

Too often a condominium community takes a hard look at its security only after the damage is done. “Our business is an event-driven business,” says Andres Vidales, district manager for ADT Security Services in the Miami/Fort L…

 As the economy sputters along and unemployment rates remain steady at more than  nine percent, there isn’t call for celebration. Whereas the real estate market was also lumped in with  these aforementioned Great Recession causalities, in …

 They are the glue that holds the whole process together, the ones who make sense  of the world for board members, for vendors and consultants and for the  families who make up South Florida’s condominium communities. They are community as…

 It's no secret that HOA board members are often forced to balance the interests  of individual residents against those of the community as a whole—and that can make prioritizing projects and community budgets a tricky task  indeed. The re…

Q Our annual meeting was conducted this past week during which three of the  present board members were up for re-election: the president, treasurer and a  board member. All three were re-elected and a fourth member elected since there  w…