Florida Condo Website Law:

Requirement for Associations with 150 or More Units

 

Thousands of Associations Helped and Counting…

 

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Why Your Condo Association Needs a Website

Unit Profile Front Page

Did you know that a law has been passed that requires condo associations in Florida with 150 or more units to have a website that complies with specific requirements?

 

The law is clear - maintaining a generic, public website  where you upload documents is not sufficient. The law specifically requires that the official records which are being uploaded be accessible through a password protected area of the website. 


'The association’s website must be accessible through the Internet and must contain a subpage, web portal, or other protected electronic location that is inaccessible to the general public and accessible only to unit owners and employees of the association.'

How Our Platform Helps Your Association Comply with the Law

 

You can securely store and share all of your community documents online. Using our simple drag-and-drop system,  you can upload and distribute documents such as board minutes, forms, by-laws, floor plans, photos, and videos. Permission-based controls allow you to determine exactly who sees what.

 

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Existing Websites & Portals

 

Many associations already have a website or portal, however, it does not comply with the specific standards that are set out in the new law. For example, condo websites must contain a subpage, web portal, or other protected electronic location that is inaccessible to the general public and accessible only to unit owners and employees of the association. In other words, password protected. 

 

Be aware that if your association has not taken action to comply with this law, unit owners could file complaints with Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes or the department could monitor, audit, and enforce the law on its own.

 

The Division of Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes published Rule 61B-21.003 “Penalty Guidelines”. This rule outlines the various penalties, including fines and corrective actions, that can be taken against condo associations for non-compliance with the website and portal publication, in addition to a number of other condo regulations. 

 

According to the rule, the penalty for non-compliance would be no less than $500, and varies based on the number of units ($10 to $30 per unit). The statutory maximum for penalties that can be levied by the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes is $5,000 for each violation (See FL Stat § 718.501.). 

How Mirador 1000 Became a
Modern Association with Concierge Plus

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Mirador 1000 is a premier condo located in the heart of Miami Beach. They serve a diverse set of residents including locals and those from all over the world who use it as their vacation home. Their residents range from the young and upwardly mobile to retirement.

When the Florida Condominium Website Law went into effect at the start of 2019, Mirador 1000 had already taken action to ensure compliance with the new rules with the use of Concierge Plus’ platform.


The law required that residents and owners should be able to access financial documents, association records, and rules and regulations, as many residents have experienced unnecessary difficulties when trying to locate or obtain such documents. The law’s objective was
thus to address transparency and communication issues within condo associations.

It required that condo associations had websites that allowed owners to access documents. Some of the documents include:

  • Association agreements and contracts
  • Annual Budgets
  • Financial Reports
  • Meeting notices
  • Condo bylaws
  • Declaration documents
  • Articles of incorporation

Many condo associations were scrambling to find and post the necessary information, or create websites if they didn’t already have one, however, the management at Mirador 1000 already had the information they needed at their fingertips. They simply uploaded all the required documents to Concierge Plus’ media library and referred their residents there for any information.


Concierge Plus also helped Mirador 1000 tackle Airbnb and VRBO activity. Short term rentals are illegal in Miami Beach, but the association struggled to curb the problem in the past. With entry instructions through Concierge Plus, management can quickly notice when new people were checking into any one condo too often.


Mirador 1000 now has the technology to match its modern premises, and residents are much happier with both the board and management.

 

“The onboarding staff took care of everything. They took all the resident data and set up a portal with all the amenities, workflows, and features. We didn’t have to lift a finger.”

Komal Bhojwani - President, Mirador 1000 Condominium Association

 

 

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What if My Association Has Less Than 150 Units?

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If your association has fewer than 150 units, there is no legal requirement for it to have an independent website. However, the rules could change. Amendments have been proposed to the law and include lowering the minimum number of units where a condo association is required to have a website from 150 to 25. Amendments also include requirements for websites to be mobile friendly, and have the required documents also available to mobile users.

 

Our web-based, modular solution is fully scalable and customized to meet the needs of any size community. 

Our application is fully responsive - this means that you can access everything about your community from any mobile phone or tablet with a web browser!

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Benefits and Outcomes

Here's what's going to happen when you sign up for Concierge Plus:

Law compliant website/portal
You'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief because your website/portal will exceed the technological requirements set by the State of Florida by including SSL encryption and separate password restricted content areas.

Improved workflow
You’re going to love how we just make things work better – it’s easier to manage service requests, deliveries, amenity bookings, visitor parking and visitors. You can deliver better and more responsive customer service.

Save money in the long run
Managing day-to-day administrative tasks will no longer be time-consuming. Concierge Plus takes these tasks online with a dynamic suite of tools customized to suit your needs. We’ll not only help you get organized today, we’ll save you time and money in the long run!

Enhanced communications
It’s a snap to communicate with residents: announcements, service requests and amenity bookings can be created and tracked in one place. Offer better customer service and pain-free task management.

With a website from Concierge Plus, you will increase efficiency, improve resident service, and automate administrative processed so your condo or HOA runs more efficiently. 

 

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Features

There are over 30 modules in Concierge Plus encompassing hundreds of features designed specifically to manage the operations of a condo association.


Our expert will walk you through a few of the most frequently used ones so you understand how they work and the benefits that they will bring to you and your community.

 

Announcements


Before, when you wanted to send out announcements to owners, it required you to print individual copies of that announcement and distribute it door-to-door.


Now, you compose your announcement in Concierge Plus and quickly select the groups of people you want it to go to. (For example water shut-offs affecting only a particular line.) Instantly your message is delivered to everyone. Reporting that is triggered immediately lets you see who has received the email, phone call, or text message. Easy accountability to ensure everyone is getting your message.

 

Deliveries


Before when you wanted to notify residents of deliveries, you would have to log the packages in a binder and then call each resident or leave a sticky note on their mailbox.

Now you can use our Deliveries Module to quickly log each package and immediately send an email, text message, and/or automated phone call to the resident to let them know without having to use a lot of your team’s time.

 

Service Requests


Before, when you wanted to have a resident’s service request actioned, you would have to find and speak to the right team member and let them know what to do.

But now, you can use our simple Service Requests module to assign and keep track of issues without the need for manual assignment and tracking.

 

Media Library


Before when you wanted to distribute important documents or information to residents or owners, you would need to print thousands of pages of copies of those documents and leave them at each resident’s door, at the front desk, or worse, pay for postage to mail them to owners.

Now you can use the Media Library to distribute information without wasting any time, money, or paper and ink.

 

Amenity Bookings


Before when you wanted to process an amenity booking, a resident would have to visit or call the front desk where someone would look through a calendar to see whether their date was available. The booking was written into that calendar and in some cases a check collected for payment.

Now you can use our Amenity Bookings module to allow residents to view availability, make a booking, and even pay online (if necessary) without frustrating and time-consuming manual interactions.

 

Resident Database


Before when you wanted to look up contact or other important information about a resident, you would look in a resident information binder or Excel spreadsheet.

Now you can quickly search and locate all of these details with just a couple of keystrokes without the need to manually search or the risk of someone inadvertently changing resident information.

Again, those are just six popular modules.
Concierge Plus has 25+ other modules for every aspect of your association.

Any of these features and modules can be disabled if not needed or desired.

 

Accounting Software Integration

 

Bike Registration

 

Classified Ads

 

Community Calendar

 

Custom Fields

 

Custom Workflows

 

Daily Overview

 

Digital Lobby and Elevator Displays

 

Discussion Forums

 

Entry Instructions

 

Equipment Tracking

 

Estoppel Certificates

 

Granular Permissions for Users

 

Incident Reporting

 

Integrated Public Website

 

Multi-Language Interface

 

Newsletters

 

Online Store

 

Parking Management

 

Pass-On Logs

 

Pet Registry

 

Quick Votes

 

Resident Guide

 

Shared Facilities

 

Storage Locker Tracking

 

Tasks

 

Themes

 

Vacant Units

 

Visitor Parking Passes

... and more!

Questions and Answers

We also wanted to go through some commonly asked questions. Things that people often want to know about when evaluating us.

Isn’t this going to add work to my plate?


NO! Absolutely not. Thoughtful technology is about making life easier. Just the way Uber makes it easy to find a ride, or Amazon makes it faster to buy most items, Concierge Plus brings efficiencies to your community. We are all about making life easier for everyone.

Who owns the data and where is it stored?


You always own your data, and we will never make it available to any third-parties. Your data lives on one of our dedicated servers.

How much work is involved in setting up Concierge Plus for my building or community?


Very little. You’ll have a dedicated Customer Success Specialist assigned to you from the beginning. They will collect all of the information on your community and configure Concierge Plus to match your existing owner and resident data, building amenities, parking, lockers, staff, and a lot more. We know that being a Property Manager is a busy job, and we’re happy to help get you configured, so that this doesn’t add to your plate.

I’m currently using another solution. If I want to switch to Concierge Plus, what’s involved?


We are happy to help migrate you from any other platform. In the 20+ years that we have been operating, we have switched customers from virtually every solution out there, without any difficulty. There’s no additional cost for this migration, and we keep things easy for you.

Why would residents want to use this? Aren’t they just going to continue calling me when they need something, like they do now?


Most of our clients see a very high resident adoption rate – this means that people are actually using the web site. Because of this, you will find that residents will learn that their Concierge Plus community web site is the first place to obtain information. They won’t need to track you down to get access to documents or information that you make available to them.

Can I turn off or disable any of these features?


Yes! You can very easily turn features on or off that you don’t need for your community. When disabled, no one will be able to access them, or even know they are there.

What about e-mail hosting? How many email addresses do you provide?


If you need any email addresses for your staff @yourdomain.com, we are happy to include these with your plan. Email addresses that share your community’s domain name help build your brand, and make it easier for everyone to recognize they are contacting a staff member. Ask your salesperson for details.

How much does it cost?


Concierge Plus is billed by the number of units in your community, and based on what package or features you require. We’ll tailor this just for you. Ask your sales person for more information. Many condos associations can get started from $100/month.

Will my community save money using Concierge Plus?


Yes! You will save time and money. Your management team will be better equipped to deal with owners and residents by sending out digital announcements instead of photocopying paper versions; they will save countless hours by allowing residents to view and book amenity online themselves, and not have to call or visit the office; Concierge and security guards will save time by not having to flip through binders to find details, and you’ll save money by not having to print and manage those binders; and a whole lot more!

Is any hardware included in the price?


We offer hardware as an add-on, including barcode readers for scanning packages, pass printers, digital signature pads, cameras, and digital lobby displays.

Do you offer any third party integration?


Concierge Plus is an extremely flexible solution which provides the ability for admin users to create various types of custom fields which can be integrated with other, third-party software through our API. You can find out more about some of the partners we already integrate with by clicking here.

Do you have a trial version?


Yes! You can start a free trial of Concierge Plus to get to know our features today. Click here to begin.

Do you offer training?


Yes, we offer on-going training and support through your dedicated Customer Success Specialist. We have options to do this remotely, or at your building or location.

Can we choose our own domain name?


Yes! We will help you find an available domain name to reflect your community’s brand during the onboarding process.

Is Concierge Plus secure?


Yes. Concierge Plus is a fully-hosted solution. We partner with leading, global hosting providers who provide a managed infrastructure along with architecture and security guidance. Each site is issued an SSL certificate (the “lock” you see in your web browser on many sites) to ensure that data is encrypted while anyone is interacting with the site.

What if I need to cancel? What happens to my information?


No problem. Just give us 30 days notice and we can cancel your Concierge Plus account and delete any data you provided to us. The data entered into Concierge Plus is always yours.

How often do you update/upgrade the program and do you notify clients of this? Are they included in the annual fee?


As often as we can! We strongly believe in a commitment to innovation, and stand behind that commitment with our track record of new features and functionality released approximately every quarter. We build new features and enhancements largely based on hearing from our customers – we believe this is the best way to continue to make great software. Concierge Plus includes a Customer Suggestion Forum where you can post and vote on suggestions to help us prioritize what we develop next. We encourage all of our customers to post in this forum.

Which mobile devices will Concierge Plus work on? Do you have an app?


Any modern web browser is compatible with Concierge Plus. You, your residents, and staff can access this from an iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Kindle, or any other browser. There are no app downloads required – just open your community’s web site address.

What type of technical/customer support do you provide during onboarding as well as ongoing? Are there any additional costs associated with that?


Technical support is always included for all of our customers by phone and email. We are happy to help any way we can. We also provide options for in-person/on- site training at your location.

Do you offer any partnership discounts and/or white label opportunities?


Yes! We work with all kinds of third party companies. Ask your sales person for more information.

How is the owner/resident data populated within Concierge Plus?


This is all done during our onboarding process. We offer multiple ways to populate owner/resident data within Concierge Plus, including synchronizing with your existing accounting software (Yardi, TOPS, Jenark, MRI, etc.); importing your information from existing spreadsheets or other files; or by having users sign-up to the web site themselves.

Do you have any references?


Yes, absolutely! Just ask your sales person and they will be happy to provide you with reference information of someone near you.

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