Also: A apartment proprietor lives in a 125-unit local community, and was advised they have to have a internet site and ought to post particular formal records. Will have to they? And: An impartial contractor/handyman does not lawfully want workman’s comp insurance plan. Is it ok to use him?
NAPLES, Fla. – Query: My homeowner’s affiliation is considering hosting a social celebration in which there will be a 50/50 raffle. Essentially, every person who arrives to the celebration will be questioned to donate a specific amount and a drawing is held for a winner. Fifty percent of the collected money go to the winner and the other half goes to the association to fund long term social events. Is this lawful? – S.R., Delray Seashore
Solution: Until your homeowner’s affiliation qualifies as an “organization” beneath the relevant Florida legislation, it is unlawful for your homeowner’s affiliation to carry out a 50/50 raffle. The relevant Florida legislation can be uncovered in Section 849.0935, Florida Statutes.
This regulation will allow specified companies to carry out raffles these kinds of as 50/50 raffles. However, the term “organization” is exclusively described as an business which is exempt from federal money taxation this sort of as a 501(c)(3), (4), (7), (8), (10), and (19) group and which has a existing dedication letter from the IRS.
For organizations that qualify, any brochures, ads, notices, tickets or entry blanks utilized in relationship with the raffle will have to conspicuously disclose:
- The principles for the drawing
- The comprehensive name of the charitable organization and its principal location of business
- The resource of the funds used to award the income prize
- The date, hour, and place where the winner will be picked out, and the prize awarded
- That no obtain or contribution is essential
Merchandise e. above can be tough. Whilst you can not mandate that to enter the raffle you “must” shell out an entry rate, you could “suggest” a minimum amount donation. Having said that, legally, if anyone needed to enter for no cost or for less than the proposed bare minimum donation you need to permit it.
I do not believe that your homeowner’s affiliation would qualify beneath the definition of “organization” less than Part 849.0935, Florida Statutes. Having said that, in buy to make positive, you must consult your lawful counsel or accounting specialist. If it does not qualify, your homeowner’s affiliation can’t legally conduct a 50/50 raffle.
Dilemma: Our homeowner’s association has an Architectural Evaluate Board, ARB. The ARB’s tasks incorporate reviewing and approving or disapproving proposed architectural variations inside our neighborhood. The ARB does not supply discover to the neighborhood when they satisfy and they do not keep any minutes of their assembly. Is this appropriate? – J.K., Hollywood
Respond to: Chapter 720 is the Florida regulation that governs homeowner’s associations. Section 720.303, Florida Statutes involves board of directors’ conferences to be recognized at least 48 several hours prior to the assembly, open to all users, other than for confined situations, and that minutes have to be stored of all the board actions at the assembly.
These exact same specifications apply to any committee or other equivalent physique vested with the electric power to approve or disapprove architectural decisions with regard to a precise ton in a community. This means that your community’s ARB is required to discover its meetings, keep it open to all associates of the neighborhood and to keep minutes of its conclusions.
Dilemma: Our condominium has 125 models. We are staying explained to that we will have to have an affiliation site and are expected to put up selected official documents on it. Is this real? – S.S, Plantation
Respond to: No that is not true. Florida Statute 718.111(12)(g) supplies that an affiliation running a condominium with 150 or much more units need to have a site and put up certain paperwork on it.
Considering the fact that your condominium is considerably less that 150 units you are not expected by legislation to sustain a website. Observe that there is no web site requirement for cooperatives of house owners associations.
Query: Our association has a handyman that we consistently use as an unbiased contractor. It is only him and in some cases a helper. He does not have workers compensation insurance as he is lawfully exempt from staying needed to carry it.
Our management company is telling us we must not use this man or woman if he is not insured. Our affiliation has its personal employees compensation insurance and common legal responsibility so I am not sure I comprehend the challenge. What is your viewpoint on this subject matter? – A.C., Fort Lauderdale
Remedy: Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance policy offering wage substitute and health-related rewards to personnel injured in the training course of employment in trade for mandatory relinquishment of the employee’s correct to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence. So, workers compensations shield the employer not the association instantly.
If an accident happens you have typical legal responsibility insurance to protect the affiliation, and if the particular person somehow could establish he was an worker of the affiliation, that is what the association’s staff payment is for.
The draw back of the employer not possessing worker’s payment is that if the worker gets harm and the employer is not perfectly financed, the hurt person will only have one particular entity to sue, the affiliation.
If the employer has personnel compensation, then some of the legal responsibility can be laid off on the employer and presumably fewer on the affiliation. But a different serious challenge is that if the handyman brings about damage to the affiliation assets or injures a person, he has no typical liability insurance plan to pay for it.
For these explanations, we do not advocate the affiliation hire individuals with out worker’s comp., even if not lawfully essential, and unquestionably not with out basic liability protection.
The details furnished herein is for informational needs only and should not be construed as lawful assistance. The publication of this short article does not make an attorney-consumer connection among the reader and Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross, or any of our lawyers. Readers ought to not act or chorus from performing based mostly upon the info contained in this article without the need of 1st getting in contact with an attorney, if you have thoughts about any of the difficulties elevated herein. The employing of an attorney is a determination that must not be based mostly entirely on ads or this column.
© 2021 Journal Media Group. John C. Goede, Esq., is lover of the legislation firm Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross.