Barbara Billiot Stage

The Florida Bar  # 0042467

Member

Current

Q. Amendment of complaint in civil suit and agreement with opposing attorney

March 6, 2025

A: Generally, the courts will allow more than one amendment but you need the court's permission to amend. You cannot just file another amended complaint.

This website is for general questions and answers and we cannot advise you how to litigate because we do not know your case and cannot review your case in this forum.

Opposing counsel is not your friend and is the last person you should be turning to for suggestions, advice or requests. This could may have even been inappropriate by the attorney depending on the conversations or emails between you.

I agree you need to be familiar with the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure if you are going to represent yourself because you will be held to the standard of a lawyer if you seek too many amendments. Depending on what is at stake you should hire a lawyer, seek legal assistance from a pro bono services offered by your county bar or see if there is a local law school with a legal clinic. This would be especially important if there is a statute or contract that provides for prevailing party legal fees because a technical mistake could put you on the hook for several thousand dollars owed to the defendant. The complaint is just one aspect of a law suit and it gets very complicated from there in regards to the forms and strategy. ... Read More

Q. Can Florida HOA use Docusign for revitalization consent forms?

March 4, 2025

A: Revitalization is a very technical process and the HOA should have lawyer who is well versed in the Marketable Record Title Act to review and guide you through the process. It's not really a do-it-yourself project and I have seen associations make major mistakes that even though it did not defeat revitalization, the mistakes were major and affected the enforceability of the documents.

To answer your question, yes, Docusign could be used.

Q. Can a condo board force me to insure a deeded carport under a new rule?

February 27, 2025

A: Unit owners have always been required to insure their units, which would include a carport if it's deeded to you. The State of Florida has not been great at enforcing that statute but there has been a renewed push for enforcement. This is for your protection as well as the protection of others so I am always surprised when owners are against insurance. Lots of unexpected events happen that cause liability on the owner and without insurance the owner could be liable for damages. Sometimes they are minor and sometimes they are not. A slip and fall even if someone were trespassing on your carport might be an issue. On the flipside, someone could damage your property and if they don't have insurance you are stuck with the repair bills. With insurance, the insurance company would pay damages and go after the person responsible. Ask anyone who has experienced a fire in a condominium complex and thought the condominium was responsible for everything how that works with no insurance.

I'm sure that's not the answer you were looking for but I have seen a number of catastrophes during my time as an association attorney. ... Read More

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