FLA Minutes

CAI FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE ALLIANCE (CAI-FLA)
DRAFT MINUTES OF MARCH 13, 2010
1021 Douglas Avenue, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714/Conference Call

A. QUORUM: A quorum was established made up of the following participants:

PRESENT:		AFFILIATION:
Mike Bender, via phone		Southeast Florida, Attorney
Louis R. Biron		At Large, Mid Florida, Insurance
Harold Blinder, via phone		Southeast Florida, Banking
Harry Charles, via phone		At Large, Mid Florida, Homeowner
Ron Cole, via phone		Mid Florida, CPA
Jonathan J. Damonte, via phone		Suncoast, Attorney
R. Michael Kennedy, via phone		At Large, Mid Florida, Attorney
Barry Scarr		At Large, Suncoast Chapter, Insurance
Merrill Spivak, via phone		At Large, Southeast Florida, Manager
Patricia Staebler, via phone		West Florida, Appraiser
Robert Taylor		Mid Florida, Attorney
Charlotte Toth, via phone		Suncoast Chapter, Manager
Paul L. Wean, via phone		At Large, Mid Florida, Attorney
William White, Chairman		South Gulf Coast, Manager
Douglas Wilson, via phone		West Florida, Manager
Also participating were:		Executive Director
Janet Rackley		Lobbyist
Travis Moore, via phone		Gold Coast, Manager
Excused:		South Gulf Coast, Manager
Laura Matijak, via phone		Gold Coast, Manager
Barbara J. Oliveira, via phone
George Reiter, via phone
Absent:
None

B. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman White called the meeting to order at 9;36 A.M.

C. MINUTES: Paul Wean MOVED and Barry Scarr seconded to approve for further
distribution the 2/26/10 Minutes as circulated, and the motion was unanimously approved.

D. LEGISLATIVE REVIEW: Travis Moore reported on the merger of the original SB 1222
language into the original SB1196 and noted that the bill retained its community reference and
picked up a military affairs reference, resulting in a strike all version that will now to go to the
bankers. He relayed that HB419 and 327 are not moving forward.
         Discussion ensued regarding interest in including a pre-lien “form’ in the statute to
shield those who fill it out from danger of UPL, which would expedite the process for both
owners and associations. Harry Charles noted that our language regarding the election process
is still not picked up in the bill, and Mike Bender agreed to work with Travis and Bill White to
provide Travis with the corrected language and locations.
         Travis stated that he is still attempting to have our definitions included in the bulk buyer
sections. He announced that HB 561 will become the companion to SB 1196.
Robert Taylor had agreed to review and examine the nonjudicial foreclosure proposals, and he
submitted a written report, “Comments on Proposed Florida Nonjudicial Foreclosure Act,”
which will be retained for use when the issues resurface.
         Lou Biron will draft and send language relating to loss assessment, wind and hurricane
and the community association master policy assessment to Bill for use later. Over the summer
Barry will work with Lou to develop strategy on bare walls vs. any other concept for insurance,
with an eye toward proposing language in the 2011 Session, per an assignment from Bill. In
the interim, Barry will e-mail Bill an article and other items relating to insurance, for Bill’s
review and determination about circulating them to the Insurance Subcommittee for the
meeting he asks be conducted prior to the general business meeting in April. Bill will take the
insurance positions to be determined in that meeting and use them in directing Travis regarding
insurance between now and April.
         Travis will forward the next strike all amendment upon its completion. Travis departed
the call.
         Paul Wean, Mike Bender, and Robert Taylor and Mike Kennedy gave their feedback on
the consequences of the recent Coral Lakes decision.
         Robert Taylor alerted delegates to requirements of the posting of signs for use by
firefighters, and he will send the information to Bill.
         Bill White and Doug Wilson relayed requirements relating to fences being constructed
around swimming pool heaters, and Doug cited Ch. 514 relating to public swimming and
bathing facilities. Patricia Staebler will forward to Bill White information pertaining to a group
lobbying in support of a particular state amendment, seeking to ask that the Alliance utilize its
resources to also lobby voters on the issue. Bill will clarify with national whether CAI
members’ resources could be used in this manner, as the amendment does not relate
specifically to common interest ownership issues.

D. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned to 9:30 AM, April 10, 2010, a conference
call with an assembly in Altamonte Springs.

Florida Legislative Alliance Update

By William D. White, CPM, CMCA, CAM ~ FLA Chairman

The 2010 legislative year is heating up very quickly. Literally dozens of bills are being filed every day. Some making improvements to the common interest ownership statutes Senate Bill 1196 by Senator Fasano will become the main bill supported by CAI-FLA in the upcoming session. This bill is now in committee and being reviewed for possible amendments by CAI-FLA. CAI-FLA have verbally agreed with CALL and CAN to re-view this and other legislation to make it better and workable for the industry. This effort, spearheaded by CAI-FLA, began in 2009 and together these three major lobbying groups will support the best legislation TO-GETHER. It is hoped that this joint effort will help get some important changes passed. In the forefront is the critical issue of the cap on first mortgage fore-closures. Consideration is being given to increasing the time period to 12 months and dropping the one percent altogether. The mortgage bankers lobby has made a pro-posal which does nothing in the way of relief for communities. This and the election requirements will be heatedly debated until a workable compromise is arrived at and proposed. As the session progresses you will be kept in-formed through the Chapter‘s Legislative Alert email chain. We encourage you to communi-cate with your chapter representative so your issues and suggestions can be brought to the monthly CAI-FLA meetings. Minutes of those meeting are available for distribution to CAI members from your Chapter CED.

The Chapter representatives to CAI-FLA from South Gulf Coast Chapter are William D. White and Barbara Olivera their email addresses are Billw@profcommservice.com and Barbaratv@Comcast.net .
Current filed bills of interest to community associations: SB1196, HB419, HB115,SB840, SB606, SB398, SB606, SB398, HB561, HB337, HB327, SB854, SB780, SB648, SB626, HB581,