HOA Q&A: Must a property manager have a Community Association Management license?
Editor’s note: Attorneys at Goede, DeBoest & Cross respond to questions about Florida community association law. The firm represents community associations throughout Florida and focuses on condominium and homeowner association law, real estate law, civil litigation, estate planning and commercial transactions.
Q: If the HOA hires a property management company, what tasks require the manager to have a CAM license and is it illegal to hire someone without a license? We have been told the manager of our community is covered under the management company’s license. She sets up and attends board meetings, inspects properties and prepares and sends out notices of violation. She is the point of contact for members to report items needing attention, solicits vendor bids and presents to the Board. She prepares meeting packets to include agendas, financial reports, and minutes of meetings, and takes payments and does the banking for the Association.
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A: Chapter 468, Florida Statutes, includes the regulations for various professions and occupations, including licensed Community Association Managers. Section 468.431(2), Florida Statutes, gives the definition of “Community Association Management” and provides a list of specific practices which require licensure. Such practices include, but are not limited to, controlling or disbursing funds of a community association, assisting in the noticing or conduct of community association meetings, determining amounts due to the association, drafting meeting notices and agendas, and complying with the association’s governing documents and the requirements of law as necessary to perform such practices. It would seem that your property manager, if operating without a CAM license, is performing a number of these duties in violation of the statute. However, that section goes on to clarify that, “A person who performs clerical or ministerial functions under the direct supervision and control of a licensed manager or who is charged only with performing the maintenance of a community association and who does not assist in any of the management services described in this subsection is not required to be licensed under this part.” Therefore, it depends on the specific tasks that your manager performs, and whether such tasks can be classified as clerical or ministerial in nature. For example, is the manager actually drafting the meeting notices and agendas, or does the manager only post them after they have been drafted by an attorney or licensed CAM? The analysis will also depend on the level of direct supervision and control that the management company or licensed CAM keeps over her work.
Destiny Goede, Esq., is an Attorney at the Law Firm Goede, DeBoest & Cross. Visit www.gadclaw.com or to ask questions about your issues for future columns, send your inquiry to: question@gadclaw.com. The information provided herein is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The publication of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Goede, DeBoest & Cross, or any of our attorneys. Readers should not act or refrain from acting based upon the information contained in this article without first contacting an attorney, if you have questions about any of the issues raised herein. The hiring of an attorney is a decision that should not be based solely on advertisements or this column.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: HOA Q&A: Must a property manager have a Community Association Management license?
