Condo board members must meet higher expectations under new law. Help is available | Opinion
Famous business consultant Peter Drucker used to say that management is about doing things right and leadership is about doing the right things. For Florida’s community association leaders, the skills to do both are required now more than ever.
Changes to the laws that govern the state’s community associations went into effect July 1. From increasing operational and financial transparency to giving state regulators greater power to investigate complaints, state lawmakers are beginning to hold these quasi-governmental organizations to higher standards — to expect more of their leadership.
To be clear, most associations are led by board members who selflessly contribute their time for the betterment of their community and for their neighbors. They work diligently with property managers to produce well-managed communities, often while enduring high-conflict personalities and difficult challenges.
Yet, it’s equally true that many have found themselves in a role for which they received very little preparation and training. From the tragedy of the Champlain Towers condo building collapse in 2021 to recent, highly publicized cases of financial malfeasance and wrongdoing at some community associations, a theme of failed leadership is woven through every story.
The new rules require that new board members receive a minimum of four hours of training. Topics considered include “milestone inspections, structural integrity reserve studies, elections, record-keeping, financial literacy and transparency, levying of fines, and notice and meeting requirements.”
Seeing the need for management and leadership training among our community association board members, Florida International University’s College of Business earlier this year launched an eight-hour online certificate course that covers issues such as conflict resolution and good communications.
Led by instructor Patrick Hohman, author of “Condos Townhomes and Home Owner Associations: How to make your investment safer,” a key goal of the program is to help community association boards and property managers work together productively — respecting the role of both leader and manager.
At the time we introduced the course, the state required new board members to receive only a fraction of that training. We knew that many board members would bypass our program and instead opt to simply check the box of meeting the state’s minimum education requirement. However, we also believed — and still do — that to develop world-class community associations, board members need to begin demanding more of themselves. They need to view education and training as an opportunity to be explored and not as a burden to be shunned.
Truth is that not even FIU’s eight hours of professional development is enough to prepare individuals for the huge responsibilities and challenges they face as community association board members. Often, they are overseeing very large organizations with multi-million-dollar budgets and making decisions that impact hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.
Just as it may take years to develop strong leadership and management skills, it will take time to properly develop the state’s governance of community associations.
Already, the new rules are producing unintended consequences. For example, they may unwittingly hurt community associations that are located at condo hotels.
But while the new community association rules are not perfect, they are a step toward progress. Our lawmakers may not have done this thing exactly right, but they most certainly are doing the right thing.
Jacqueline Bueno Sousa is the director of business operations for executive education at Florida International University’s College of Business.
