2014 December
Focus on... Safety & Security/Expo

When it comes to ensuring the safety of each resident in a homeowner’s association before, during, and immediately after natural disasters like tropical storms and hurricanes, South Floridians know that it’s critical to have an updated eme…

One only needs to watch the news regularly to get a sense of the devastation wrought by fire on a home or community. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in 2012 (the most recent year on record) some 97,000 fires br…

When we step through our front doors and turn the lock behind us, we expect to feel content in the knowledge that we are safe and sound in our home, and the community in which we live. The boards and managers who oversee these communities …

Whether you live in an urban high-rise in the heart of a large city, or in a more spread-out suburban HOA development, security—for both property and physical safety—is an important issue in any condo community. Who can come in, at what ti…

A fire breaks out in an apartment building; A broken water pipe floods several floors; A resident collapses with a heart attack on the tennis court; An intruder roams the premises with criminal intent; A huge alligator settles in for a nap…

While it’s true that over the last two decades, South Florida has become a safer place to call home, that doesn’t mean that security concerns don’t still exist—especially for those in condos or HOAs. While gates and doormen are a good star…

The slowly-ebbing recession that’s been going on in South Florida and across the nation since the mid-2000s has affected far more than home prices and mortgage rates; it also has a huge effect on monthly HOA fees. The great majority …

South Florida is the land of sunshine, swaying palms, and long miles of sandy beaches, but contrary to what many folks may think, the region does have seasons; they just happen to be a bit different (and a lot more subtle) than the more no…

The South Florida Cooperator’s third annual Condo, HOA & Co-op Expo has arrived and will offer a full day of networking and education at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center on December 11th, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.…

It’s a sight that's more familiar in Florida co-op and condo communities than perhaps any other region nationwide: multiple unoccupied units. Depending upon the neighborhood, this may or may not be a bad thing, since some communities have …

With all the condos in South Florida, it’s inevitable that some associations will run into problems or situations they never expected—including ceasing to be a condo association entirely. These occurrences don’t happen every day, but they …

Walk down any street in any of South Florida’s major cities and you may have to step around or go under one of the ubiquitous steel-and-plywood structures that shade urban sidewalks, more often than not festooned with wheat-pasted posters …

While the era of massive, NASA-sized satellite dishes is long past (unless you’re in a very old building, or have held on to an antique dish out of nostalgia), the advent of smaller apparatus—as well as rooftop cell phone towers—has brough…

Many people believe in the ethos of 'reduce, reuse, and recycle'—they buy vintage clothing, pre-owned cars, or refurbished electronic equipment. But most of us also like brand new things, including homes. And with markets across the countr…

Q I live in a 55+ co-op community in Florida, where we have recently run into a problem for which we have gotten nothing but conflicting opinions. 1) Our bylaws state that our board should consist of seven directors, but recently several …

My condominium does not allow any animals, as spelled out in the condominium rules and regulations. This was one of the reasons I purchased in this building. With no regard to the rules, several owners snuck in cats for pets. Our property i…