Pavilion from the Ocean

Pavilion from the Ocean

Welcome to iPavilionCondo.com

This forum, by owners for owners, provides useful information for owners to view and discuss.

This blog does not belong nor represents the views of the Pavilon Condo Association

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South Florida home prices up 9.5 percent

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index for Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties rose 9.5 percent in October from a year ago, marking the third consecutive month that the annual increase outpaced 19 other metro areas.

South Florida tenants spent $10.5 billion in rent in 2014, up 7.7 percent from 2013, Zillow said. And the average renter household in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties paid $59 more a month ($708 a year) on rent in 2014 compared with 2013, the website said.

 Read More: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/

Chinese investors buy Miami site for $74.7 million


An affiliate of China Communications Construction Company U.S. International purchased a block-size site in the red-hot Brickell neighborhood for $74.7 million, in its first major bet on Miami.
Plans for what will be built on the 2.4-acre site at 1430 S. Miami Avenue aren’t yet complete, according to Dr. Shan-Jie Li, chief executive officer of American Da Tang Group Co. Ltd. in New York. American Da Tang, he said, is working closely with CCCC as the Chinese firm’s U.S. representative on the venture.
In an interview conducted through an interpreter, Li said the new owners are in the process of researching what type of development to pursue and could end up with a mixed-use project that includes condominiums, hotel and office elements. As their first project in Miami, Li added, he wants the development to be “a landmark.”
The buyer of the land is listed as a newly formed Delaware entity, CCCC International USA LLC.
The seller was Teca Group Investments GP LLC, which controlled 1430 SMA LLLP, the limited liability limited partnership that owned the land. Teca Group is managed by Elias Cababie Daniel, a Mexican.
The property is located between 14th Street and 14th Terrace and South Miami Avenue and Southwest First Avenue. The transaction closed on Dec. 26.
In the last development cycle, Cabi Developers had planned to build two towers on the site, but Li said the Chinese group doesn’t intend to pursue those plans and instead is starting with a clean sheet.

Florida Surpasses New York to Become 3rd Most Populous State


And North Dakota is the fastest-growing one

Florida has overtaken New York as the third lost populous state in the country.
The Sunshine State added 293,000 new residents between July 1, 2013 and July 1 of this year, according to the U.S. Census bureau, reaching a total population of 19.9 million. New York added only 51,000 people during the same period, amounting to a total of 19.7 million.
North Dakota saw the fastest growth at an increase of 2.16%, while the overall U.S. population increased 0.75% to 318.9 million. California and Texas remain the first and second most populous states, with 38.8 million and 26.95 million, respectively.

Voters to decide whether Miami Beach should have an 800-room convention center hotel

Miami Beach voters will decide the fate of a proposed hotel next to the soon-to-be-renovated convention center despite objections from one commissioner who felt building a hotel before developing mass transit would make Beach traffic worse.
On Thursday, the city commission voted 6-1, with Commissioner Jonah Wolfson opposing, to let voters decide in November whether to approve a possible lease of city land for an 800-room hotel. Beach residents will be able to review the plan online; 60-percent approval would be required to go forward. The city also unanimously approved part of the design for the $500-million convention center renovation, which is expected to start in early 2016.

New York City Prices in Miami


The New York Times
Richard Meier has been an architect for half a century, and yet, thePritzker Prize winner has never bought an apartment of his own design. Until now.
Mr. Meier, who is based in New York City, was one of the first to buy a condominium at the Surf Club Four Seasons, his latest project in Miami.

“I thought, well, you know, everyone is going to Miami. This place is jumping,” said the 80-year-old architect. “I probably should have done this before. But I designed the building and it is great, and I figured I might as well enjoy it myself.”
Pamela Liebman, the chief executive of the New York City-based brokerage the Corcoran Group, which is marketing the project, also purchased a unit there. In fact, two-thirds of the buyers are New Yorkers, said Nadim Ashi, the managing partner at Fort Capital, the developer.

Over the years, Miami has been referred to as the city’s sixth borough, and it would appear that in the exclusive world of luxury real estate, this has never been truer. A wave of New York City developers has washed onto the Florida shoreline in recent months, bringing with them New York buyers, and increasingly, New York City-type pricing.

Over the past 18 months, prices have risen by 11.5 percent along the beachfront in Miami, with new condominiums averaging $1,011 a square foot, up from $907 a square foot, according to a December market report by the Miami brokerage firm ISG.

At the same time, the number of units for sale has dropped by nearly 64 percent, to 623 units from 1,717 units, over the same period. There are also a number of high-priced penthouses for sale, including several that surpass $3,000 a square foot. The priciest is a $60 million home for sale at Faena, the development where the Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein and the Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black, both New Yorkers, have reportedly bought residences.
Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/

FREE - Board Certification Course


Everything You Wanted to Know about Being a Board Member… But Were Afraid to Ask!
Board Certification Course for CONDOS ONLY

Provider #0000811, Course #9626099, 3 HR or ELE credit hours

Presented by Carlos Martin, Esq.

If you agreed to serve on your board, you will want to be sure you comply with the State’s certification requirements, have the tools and information you need to perform your job well and to avoid any potential liability associated with your new role.
Our Board certification class is designed to equip directors in all types of shared ownership communities with the information they need to make their communities function well. We will discuss statutory requirements, common documentary provisions as well as best practices in the   community association industry.
Some of the topics we will cover include:
  • Defining Fiduciary Duty
  • Analyzing Association Operations
  • Explaining how to properly maintain the association’s books and records
  • Understanding the pros and cons of Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Avoiding Common Election pitfalls
  • Preparing Budgets & Funding Reserves
  • Understanding Financial Reporting Requirements
  • Navigating the quagmire of insurance coverage
  • Defusing conflict
Our class allows both newly-elected directors and board veterans to ask questions and get the answers they need in a comfortable environment.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Registration starts at 5:00 PM

Alhambra Towers
121 Alhambra Plaza
10th Floor
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Light refreshments will be served.
There is no charge to attend, but seating is limited.
Participants must be registered in advance to reserve a seat.
Contact Leydis Hernandez at lhernandez@bplegal.com or (305) 262-4433 Ext. 11041 for more info.


THE POWER OF THE PRESIDENT

By Eric Glazer, Esq.

Last week was interesting as far as politics goes. President Obama got tired of waiting for Congress to fix the immigration issues this country is facing, and decided to try to fix it on his own by signing an Executive Order. Needless to say, his opponents immediately yelled that the President has no such power to circumvent The Legislature and that President Obama has now caused a Constitutional crisis.
This historical event immediately reminded me of the constant questions I receive from Presidents, Board members and unit owners alike. That is: Does the President of my association have any extraordinary powers that other members of the Board or community don’t have?

Let’s first start by briefly explaining the set-up of your Board. Each year the unit owners vote to elect the Directors to the Board of Directors. They do not specifically vote for the Officers such as the President, the Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Once the Board of Directors is elected, those Board members themselves vote to decide who the Officers will be.

So let’s say your Board votes you in as the new President of the association. Can you rule with an iron fist? Need you consult with the other members of the Board before committing the association to contracts? The simple answer is…………you’re really just one of 3, 5, 7 or 9 votes of the Board of Directors. You have no more power than any other member of the Board except you get to chair the meetings and are typically the person who signs contracts for the Board, but only after the Board gave you permission to do so.

Many times over the years, Presidents have told me “But I’m the President ….of course I can do that!” To which I reply……”No you can’t Mr. or Mrs. President.” On the other hand, I have had Board members complain that the President votes on motions before the Board and that the President should never vote on an association matter unless there is a tie. To which I also have to reply: “Your’re wrong. The President always gets to vote on issues just like every other member of the Board.”

Sure, the President is often the face or voice of the Board outside the presence of a Board meeting. However, once that meeting starts, the President is simply another voice and another face on the dais.

So who still wants to be President?

Foreign Dollars Fuel A New Condo Boom In Miami

“They're all coming here because they seem to think this is the next Singapore. This is the next London. This is the next great global city. “
Miami Real Estate Consultant Peter Zalewski


Few people track Miami development closer than Peter Zalewski. He runs Cranespotters.com, a business that keeps tabs on all the new construction proposed in downtown Miami.

In an area that covers less than 4 square miles, he notes, there's a lot going on. In "downtown Miami, we're looking at 69 towers, 18,400 units," all residential condominiums, Zalewski says.
If history is any guide, not all of the projects will be built. But Zalewski says there are other big projects coming that are likely to add to the total.

Unlike construction elsewhere, the new condo boom in Miami is being financed mostly by foreign buyers. It caps a decade of building that has transformed one of America's poorest cities into an international destination.
"I would tell you, if we were to sit down in a year from now, we will be well over and above what we did during our last boom and ultimate bust and then ultimate recovery," Zalewski says.

A City Built On Building Sprees

Since the city was founded just over a century ago, Miami's history has largely been a series of property booms and busts.
Over the span of just a few years — until it ended in 2006 — Miami's last building spree added more than 20,000 condo units to a downtown where previously few had lived.

Today's new boom is adding more condos, as well as commercial, retail and entertainment properties, at a dizzying pace.
Brickell City Centre, one of the large-scale projects currently under construction, is a $1 billion project that will include residential condos and a hotel, plus a shopping and entertainment complex.
Several blocks away in Miami, construction is slated to begin soon on an even larger complex, the $2 billion Miami WorldCenter.
Developer Nitin Motwani refers to the project as "the hole in the doughnut." Right now, it's a 30-acre parcel of parking lots and old buildings in the heart of the city. But Motwani is planning a convention hotel, a shopping mall and more condominiums.
"Everybody has got their eyes on Miami," Motwani says.

Fine Homes For Foreign Investors

Similar construction booms are going on in other cities — Los Angeles, New York, Houston and Washington, D.C., to name a few. In Miami, though, developers are focused on one particular Real estate consultant Zalewski says Miami, with its celebrities, nightlife and jet-set events, has built an international reputation.

"This is why we have Russian oligarchs purchasing property. This is why we have Malaysian conglomerates that own casinos and cruise lines coming here and buying," he says. "They're all coming here because they seem to think this is the next Singapore. This is the next London. This is the next great global city."

The annual Art Basel show, an event that attracts the ultra-wealthy to Miami Beach every December, has also been a factor.
Developers and city officials say they can track foreign investment dollars by watching the news. Sales to Russian buyers slowed after the U.S. imposed sanctions on that country. Economic and political turmoil in Latin America brought investors from that region.

And it's not just the super-wealthy buying here. Nelly Fernandez lives in Caracas, Venezuela, where she's a real estate broker. Because of Venezuela's crime and political problems, Fernandez says, she's used her savings to buy a modest condo in Miami.
"I have many, many friends in Miami," she says. "I have family there. In this city, I feel like I am like home, you know?"
Developer Motwani says that's one of Miami's key attractions for international buyers — it's a city where visitors from Latin America, Europe and even Russia quickly find others who literally speak their language.

"When people come here, you get beautiful weather, you get great taxes, you get great restaurants, you get great beaches," Motwani says. "All of that is spectacular. But what no one else can replicate is the diversity of our people."
The decade of residential construction has transformed Miami's downtown. Many of the condos are now rented by young professionals who work and play in the area. City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff says that has dramatically altered the demographics of the urban core.

"The average person is 37 years old. That's pretty young," he says. "Miami is undergoing a youth movement. And that youth movement is good because it's the creative class moving to the downtown core."

But the high-end development downtown can mask another important fact about Miami: Even after all the new construction, it remains one of America's poorest cities. According to the Census Bureau, the Miami area has the nation's second-lowest median income, lower than Detroit or Newark, N.J.

With the wealth pouring in, the divide between rich and poor is getting wider. Particularly vulnerable are residents who live in neighborhoods that border on Miami's downtown.

In Overtown, a nearby neighborhood, work crews are renovating the old Josephine and Dunn Hotel. It was one of the few accommodations in segregated Miami open to African-Americans in the 1930s and 40s.
Yvette Harris works with Jackson Soul Food, a restaurant that's a Miami landmark. By next year, Harris says, Jackson will turn the old hotel into a European-style bed and breakfast "where travelers will be able to come into a community where they're able to do some cultural tours and learn a little bit about the Overtown area."

The work is being paid for out of a fund generated by fees on downtown development. Also in the works is a $60 million project to build affordable housing.

Activist and author Marvin Dunn is concerned about the neighborhood's future as developers begin looking for new places to build.
"So these properties [will] become very, very valuable," he says. "What will happen? The private market will dominate. People will build. Development will proceed to the west. Overtown will be squeezed."

Dunn believes gentrification may push out half of the community's longtime African-American population in coming years. A decade after high-rise condominiums began reshaping Miami's downtown, it's an indication that the city's transformation never stops.

Miami home price index rises 10.3%


The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index for Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties increased 10.3 percent in September from a year earlier. While the gains here are getting smaller, the tri-county region was the only metro area among the 20 measured nationwide to see a double-digit annual increase.

The West and Southwest, previously strong regions, are seeing price gains fade," David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement Tuesday. The only region showing any sustained strength is the Southeast led by Florida; price gains are also evident in Atlanta and Charlotte.

Notice from Miami Beach

You May Temporarily Experience a Slight
Decrease in Water Pressure
November 15 -22
  
  
The City of Miami Beach may notice a slight drop in water pressure starting tomorrow, November 15 for approximately seven days. There is no concern about the safety of the water under these conditions.

The Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department is performing an emergency replacement of concrete pipes on the Miami side of the Julia Tuttle Causeway. In order to perform the work, contractors will replace one of the water mains that feed the City of Miami Beach.

Please note, this is a temporary situation and is not under the authority of the City of Miami Beach. Call 311 for more information.


I want to be a Director on my Condominium or HOA Board. Am I Eligible?

By Paul T. Hinckley, Esq.
As election season approaches, the issue of who is qualified to serve on a condominium or homeowners association’s board of directors can become a hotly contested issue.  This post examines how eligibility to serve as a director in such a community association is determined.
Most Florida condo associations and HOAs operate as not for profit corporations.  Florida law provides that directors of such corporations must be natural persons.  This means that corporations, limited liability companies, and other legal entities are not permitted to serve as directors.  The law also requires individuals serving on the board of directors to be at least 18 years old, so minors are not eligible for board membership in community associations.
There is no statutory requirement that directors be members of the community association on whose board they serve.  However, if the association’s articles of incorporation or bylaws require directors to be members, then non-members of the association may not serve as directors.  Membership in associations is determined by record ownership of lots or units in the condominium or community served by the association.  Record ownership is determined by examining the deed or other instrument by which title to the lot or unit is held.  With married couples, title to property is sometimes held solely in the name of one spouse.  In such cases, only the spouse who holds title to the property is a member of the association.
If title to the lot or unit is held in trust, and membership in the association is determined by record ownership of lots or units, Florida law provides that the grantor of the trust is deemed to be a member of the association and eligible to serve as a director.  If the beneficiary of the trust occupies the lot or unit, the beneficiary of the trust is deemed a member of the association and eligible to serve as a director.
A director who has been suspended or removed from office by the Florida Division of Condominium is not eligible to be a candidate to serve on a condominium association’s board of directors, and neither is a person who is delinquent in the payment of assessments.  For homeowners associations operating under Chapter 720, Florida Statutes, a person who is delinquent in the payment of any fee, fine, or other monetary obligation to the association for more than 90 days is not eligible for board membership.
A person who has been convicted of a felony is not eligible for board membership in either a condominium or homeowners association unless such felon’s rights have been restored for at least 5 years as of the date such person seeks election to the board.

Construction Lien Law Can Result In Condominium Associations Paying Twice For the Same Work


Question: Our condominium association is going to re-roof all of the condominium buildings this winter. In my home state, there was a “mechanics lien law” which applied to repairs of this nature. Does Florida have a “mechanics lien law”? B.H. (via e-mail)
 Answer: Yes. Florida’s Mechanics Lien Law was renamed the “Construction Lien Law” about 25 years ago and is found at Chapter 713, Florida Statutes. If your association undertakes an improvement to real property (such as re-roofing), and the contract price is more than $2,500.00, then the association must comply with the Florida Construction Lien Law.

The first step in doing so is recording a Notice of Commencement in the public records in the county where the condominium is located, before the work starts, and posting a certified copy on the job site. Individuals or companies that supply labor or material for the project who are not in “privity” (direct contract) with the association will often serve “Notices to Owner” upon the association during the course of the work. This is the first step for a supplier of labor or material in perfecting their lien rights under Chapter 713.
If the association receives a Notice to Owner, then it must ensure that every time it pays the general contractor, it receives a proper lien release from anyone who served a Notice to Owner. The association should also receive a lien release from the general contractor each time it pays the general contractor.
Before making final payment to the general contractor, the association must receive a final lien release from any person or entity who served a Notice to Owner, a final lien release from the general contractor and a final contractor’s affidavit from the general contractor.
The Florida Construction Lien Law is very technical in nature and it is best that the association seek advice from counsel about how it works. If the association does not comply with the law, it may end up paying double for the same work, first to the contractor, and once again to the subcontractor or material supplier who the prime contractor did not pay. The law is clearly intended to favor the suppliers of labors and materials, and not the owner of the property.

Accepting Partial Condominium Maintenance Fee Payments Can Compromise Rights



Question: We have an ongoing dispute with an owner. They are always late on maintenance fees and they claim they have a right to deduct half their fees because of a water leak affecting their unit. They just sent us a check for about 75% of what is owed, and said that this was payment in full. Is there any reason we should not cash the check?  J.M. (via e-mail)
Answer:  Owners have the obligation to pay their assessments in a timely manner and do not have the right to withhold any portion of their assessment payments due to such a dispute.Florida appellate courts have found that an owner’s contention that the association is failing to maintain the common elements is not a defense to an assessment lien foreclosure action. However, the appellate courts have recognized that “setoff” can be a defense to a foreclosure action.
Therefore, if the owner is able to demonstrate that she suffered damages as a result of the association’s failure to maintain the common elements,  those damages could reduce the amount of the association’s lien foreclosure judgment. 
With regard to the owner delivering a check to the association for less than the full amount owed but stating on the check that it was for “payment in full,” the Florida Condominium Act provides that any payment received by an association must be applied first to any interest accrued by the association, then to any administrative late fee, then to costs and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in collection, and then to the delinquent assessment. The Act further provides the foregoing is applicable notwithstanding any restrictive endorsement, designation, or instruction placed on or accompanying a payment. Many have believed these provisions entitle the association to accept payments such as the one in your case without any adverse risk to the association.
However, a recent Florida appellate case held the statutory language concerning restrictive endorsements is limited to restrictive endorsements instructing how the association must apply the payment on the account, and not necessarily to those restrictive endorsements intended to operate as an accord and satisfaction or a settlement of the claim. Therefore, the association should consult with its attorney concerning whether it should accept the payment in your particular case. Accepting the payment might result in a full settlement of the amounts due to the association.  

Park Smart - Take your valuables with you!


“See Something, Say Something – Dial 911”




Ernesto Rodriguez, Police Officer
Neighborhood Resource Officer, Mid Beach
1100 Washington Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33139

We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work and play in our vibrant, tropical, historic community.

Foreign buyers face higher prices for Miami condos

Foreign investors — the lifeblood of South Florida’s condo market for the last five years — are finding it increasingly expensive to buy new and existing units east of Interstate 95 in the tricounty region of Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach.
For international investors, the increased costs associated with buying resale condos or preconstruction units in South Florida is the result of a combination of factors, including the resurgent tricounty real estate market combined with the strengthening U.S. dollar.
Gone are the opportunities of recent years when units in South Florida could be acquired in cash transactions at prices below the costs to build — or replace — these same condos.
Adding to the growing sense of sticker shock in the South Florida condo market is the fact the currency exchange rates of several key countries from which many of the foreign investors originate from have plummeted in the last year.
A quick glance at the currency exchange website OandA.com shows the U.S. dollar has gained value against most currencies in the Americas and Western Europe.
....
Currently, the mean asking price of a condo resale unit located east of I-95 in South Florida is about $355 per square foot, representing an 88 percent increase over the mean transaction price of $189 per square foot at the bottom of the last real estate crash in 2009, according to data from the Southeast Florida MLXchange.

HOT MARKET: Condo owners battle over selling to developer


For 20 years, Stephen Norris has lived in a modest condo in pretty Seaway Villas, a low-slung 1930s building with a primo spot right on the beach in Surfside.
But a majority of his fellow condo owners, most of whom don’t live in the building, have accepted buyout offers from a big developer that will make many of them rich. And now, because of a controversial loophole in Florida condo law, Norris — who says he doesn’t want to sell — could be forced out of his home. Two other holdout owners who don’t live in the two-story garden-style building, including a Bal Harbour council member, would also be compelled to sell.
As the holdouts cry foul, the battle over little Seaway Villas has blown up into a saga replete with allegations of conspiracies and high-pressure tactics by some eager-to-sell condo owners and developer Fort Capital Management, questions about the role played by development-friendly town officials, and a last-minute intervention by Miami-Dade County historic preservation officials — who say the 1936 building, the first apartment house in Surfside, qualifies for protection as a historic landmark.
.....

High payouts

The payouts from Fort Capital range from the high six figures to more than $1 million depending on unit size, several owners say. That represents a substantial premium over the market value of the condos, which according to the county appraiser’s website range roughly from around $150,000 to over $300,000. The payout would be especially rich for a handful of owners who control multiple units.
The willing Seaway sellers and Fort Capital officials contend the holdouts are not interested in historic preservation, but are using the process to “extort’’ a bigger payout from the developers, an allegation Norris and Cohen strenuously deny. Conaghan called Cohen and Norris “deadbeats’’ who refused to pay a substantial assessment for major repairs a couple of years ago — though both say they are in litigation with the board, which they claim improperly handled the project.
The sellers and Fort Capital also claim the building, which passed a 40-year certification just two years ago, is in bad shape and needs extensive maintenance that most owners and the association, which they contend is broke, can’t afford to pay for — even though most of those owners have homes somewhere else and many rent out their units.
“There is no doubt this will change the lives of the majority of these residents. This is more money than they have ever seen in their lives,’’ said Brian Campbell, an investor and businessman who owns two units in the building but lives in Brickell. “It’s a tremendous windfall, a great good fortune.
“There is no doubt the building is a ticking clock of maintenance issues. The building is going to fall further in disrepair. If they can’t sell, what are these people going to do?”
Just how much is at stake financially? Campbell and a group of other owners hired powerhouse zoning attorney Lucia Dougherty of Greenberg Traurig to represent them. Dougherty, whose appearance at a historic preservation board meeting this week raised eyebrows, more typically represents big developers in permitting projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.



Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article3005747.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article3005747.html#storylink=cpy

CAMs: Avoid That Temptation at all Costs


By Eric Glazer, Esq.

          After doing this for 22 years now, I don’t get surprised that often any longer by anything that takes place in the world of condos and HOAs.  This week however, I was quite surprised.

          Twice in the same week, community association managers brought it to my attention that companies that do business in South Florida with community associations are offering community association managers “referral fees” for each association client the manager brings to the vendor.  The offers are not discreet, they are blatant.  One shows a picture of someone (presumed to be a licensed CAM ) holding a pile of hundred dollar bills.  The second simply tells the manager “I will pay you……”  These are not referral fees…they are kickbacks.  Let’s not mince words.  So now, the question becomes, is this legal and secondly, should we worry that community association managers won’t be recommending the best vendors to their associations, but only the ones that pay the manager a referral fee?
          Both the condo,  HOA and co-op statutes state:
An officer, director, or manager may not solicit, offer to accept, or accept any thing or service of value for which consideration has not been provided for his or her own benefit or that of his or her immediate family, from any person providing or proposing to provide goods or services to the association. Any such officer, director, or manager who knowingly so solicits, offers to accept, or accepts any thing or service of value is subject to a civil penalty pursuant to s. 718.501(1)(d). 
   
          So, Florida Statute 718, 719 and 720 are clear that a community association manager can’t get a kick back from a vendor who provides goods or services to the community.  If that isn’t enough, Florida Statute 468 provides that a community association manager can face disciplinary proceedings if he or she :
Violates any provision of chapter 718, chapter 719, or chapter 720 during the course of performing community association management services pursuant to a contract with a community association. 
   
          And if that isn’t enough, remember that effective July 1st, 2014 community association managers were given the authority to perform many more tasks without being accused of practicing law without a license.  In exchange for that increased responsibility, The Florida Legislature imposed new standards for community association managers and Chapter 468 now reads:
  
A community association manager and a community association management firm shall discharge duties performed on behalf of the association as authorized by this chapter loyally, skillfully, and diligently; dealing honestly and fairly; in good faith; with care and full disclosure to the community association; accounting for all funds; and not charging unreasonable or excessive fees.

          If you’re a community association manager, and you receive kick backs from a vendor, good luck explaining at your disciplinary hearing that you were being loyal, were dealing honestly, fairly and in good faith and were providing full disclosure to the association you were working for.



          Managers are wise to stay as far away as possible from any company dangling that carrot in the form of a kick back.  Nothing is worth the loss of your license.