June 2010

There are often disagreements between association board members, unit owners and property managers regarding what constitutes condominium association property for insurance claim purposes. In these situations, there can be confusion between the association’s duty to maintain condominium property and the duty to insure condominium property. The condominium statute, §718.111(11), addresses the association’s duty to provide primary insurance coverage protecting the association.Continue Reading The Difference Between The Duty To Maintain and The Duty To Insure Condominium Association Property

(Note: this guest blog is by Jeremy Tyler, an attorney with Merlin Law Group in the Coral Gables office).

I am very excited to have the opportunity to contribute to this blog. Shaun Marker and I will be contributing to the Condominium Insurance Law Blog each Monday. Please check back frequently, as we have a lot to discuss.

For starters, in the recent legislative session, the Florida Legislature made numerous changes to Florida Statute § 718.111, which regulates condominium associations. For this blog, I’ll focus on the changes the Florida Legislature made to § 718.111(11) that deals with condominium insurance.Continue Reading New Changes to Condominium Insurance Legislation

On day 52 of the BP oil spill, residents of the gulf coast are still feeling that they have many more questions than answers. At this point, we have seen the majority of the oil stay offshore, but now that hurricane season has officially begun, many are wondering what will happen if a tropical system roars through the gulf. While there is a potential that the oily water could be blown all over the buildings along the coast, the more likely scenario is that flood waters will carry the oil to land, leaving large deposits behind when the waters recede.Continue Reading FEMA Clarifies Position: Flood Waters Mixed With Oil Will Be Covered

In my last blog post, June 1st Is The First Day Of Hurricane Season, I discussed the importance of an association checking to make sure that policies are in effect and contain the proper coverages before disaster strikes. It is equally important to make sure that the information in the insurance application is correct. Otherwise, insurers may attempt to deny even the most obvious of covered losses.Continue Reading Errors In Insurance Applications May Leave You With No Coverage

As I mentioned last Friday in Hurricane Expert Revises Prediction, experts are predicting one “hell of a year” for hurricanes. While the Atlantic has not picked up yet, we have already seen the effects of Tropical Storm Agatha, which killed over 100 people in Central America and caused a large amount of property damage. This should be a wakeup call to complacent associations and should encourage those who have not begun preparing for a potential storm to do so.Continue Reading June 1st Is The First Day Of Hurricane Season: Is Your Association Prepared?