Florida Condo and Hoa Law: Cutting Cable Service
Authentic utilities, Water, Electric, Sewer and Phone service should really in no way be halted thanks to non-payment of delinquent assessments. Florida Statute is distinct in the following instance. On the flip side, hdtv and internet most likely fall into a gray area which some have chosen to take advantage of in an effort to recover assessments. It isn't completely distinct whether locally furnished cable television and internet can be characterized as utilities.
The substantial threat to exploiting this grey area is a lack of awareness as to exactly how the unit owner is making their phone calls. As talked about above, it is clear that telephone service is considered a utility. Voice Over IP services which include Vonage, utilize internet service provider resources as opposed to phone lines to place phone calls and are being utilized in greater numbers due to their comparatively cheap price point.
If the Association were to suspend a unit owner' s cable television services, and said owner utilized a Voice Over IP service, the Association would without doubt stop the owner's telephone service. This could possibly result in a rather strong assertion that the Association has cut a utility as prohibited by statute. To further complicate matters, the liability exposure in the circumstance of an emergency that occurs while phone service is suspended would be immense.
There are other approaches to recover assessments that are equally as effective as cutting cable television. By way of example, association foreclosures can be successful in getting unit owners to pay as the real estate itself is in peril of being bought at foreclosure sale. To find out more, i highly recommend you see the article regarding Association Foreclosures here.
To read more pertaining to Florida Condominium Law and Florida HOA Law, including Association Foreclosures, please visit Association Assessment Attorneys, P. A. principal website.