Florida Law finally catches up with Stark & Stark
Florida law now permits homeowner associations to do what Stark & Stark has been encouraging its associations to do for years. The Florida legislature recently passed a law that allows homeowner association's to go after renters for association fees when the homeowners fail to pay their monthly maintenance fees. Interestingly enough, Stark & Stark has been obtaining similar recovery for its clients for several years now, without the help of New Jersey's legislature.
Associations are feeling the effects of the recession just like everyone else, and most Associations have at least a few owners who have not paid their dues in several months. Amazingly enough, some owners have failed to pay their regular dues, but continue to accept rent from tenants who are living in the unit. The Florida law permits homeowner associations to formally notify renters that their payments should be paid directly to the association, not to a landlord who has failed to pay the organization. If the tenant is ordered to make a payment to the association, it counts as rent credit. The tenant pays the remaining balance to the landlord and can not be evicted for failure to pay rent.
The process isn't as simple and straightforward in New Jersey, but nonetheless, lawyers in Stark & Stark have successfully argued to the court the inherent unfairness of a unit owner who refuses to pay his maintenance fees, but continues to collect rent from a tenant. In many of these situations, the court has appointed a "rent receiver", typically the property management company, to accept the rent from the tenant each month, pay the outstanding associations fees, and give any balance of those fees to the unit owner/landlord. This benefits not only the Association, but the tenant as well, who arguably should not be evicted or foreclosed upon when they are complying with the terms of their lease agreement. Stark & Stark's New York clients have the benefit of a New York statute which permits the Association to collect rent from tenants, however, if the tenants do not pay, the statute does not give the Association the right to sue the tenant directly, which all but eliminates the Association's ability to enforce the statute.
