Q: I have heard that there is a new law requiring condominium associations to have a website. Is that true? (J.L. via e-mail)
A: Yes, although the law has somewhat limited application. First, it is worthwhile to note that the 2018 Florida Legislature passed a Bill on March 9 that would change the 2017 website law. As of this time, the Bill has not been signed by the Governor, but it is not expected that he will veto the legislation. Once the Governor has acted on the Bill, I will present my annual legislative update.
The 2017 law created a new requirement for any condominium having 150 or more units in total to have a website up and running by July 1, 2018. The new law will change this requirement in several important ways.
For associations which are obligated to comply with the law, the required implementation date will be pushed back to January 1, 2019. Perhaps more significantly, the scope of the law has been narrowed as to which associations it applies to. For example, a multi-condominium association that operates 10 condominiums with 50 units each would have had to comply with the website requirement under the 2017 version of the law. Under the 2018 changes, a multi-condominium association that operates 150 or more units does not need to comply with the mandatory website requirement unless at least one of the condominiums operated by the association contains 150 or more units.
The 2018 amendments also tweaked some of the posting requirements from the original law, allowing posting of summaries of certain documents rather than the documents themselves.
Written by Joe Adams is an attorney with Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., Fort Myers Originally appeared on the FL Condo HOA Law Blog