There are just a few weeks left for Florida condominiums with 150 for more units to have a compliant web portal available for unit owners to access a laundry list of official records. If they don’t comply with the new law, there will be consequences. Some professionals mistakenly believe that there are none because the paragraph in the condominium statute requiring a compliant web portal does not specifically recite a penalty for noncompliance. Perhaps the statute addition was in-artfully drafted, but there are significantly consequences already built into other parts of the statute which will be implicated by not having a web portal up and running by January 1, 2019.
Indeed, Florida Statutes Section 718.111 (12)(c)(1) (“Official Records”) provides that:
The failure of an association to provide the records within 10 working days after receipt of a written request creates a rebuttable presumption that the association willfully failed to comply with this paragraph. A unit owner who is denied access to official records is entitled to the actual damages or minimum damages for the association’s willful failure to comply. Minimum damages are $50 per calendar day for up to 10 days, beginning on the 11th working day after receipt of the written request. The failure to permit inspection entitles any person prevailing in an enforcement action to recover reasonable attorney fees from the person in control of the records who, directly or indirectly, knowingly denied access to the records.
Upon a unit owner’s written request, the association must provide the unit owner with a username and password and access to the protected sections of the association’s website that contain any notices, records, or documents that must be electronically provided.
Office of the Board – Instant, Easy Compliance with the New Florida Web Portal Law