Board Certified Attorney Peter Sachs, who is founding partner and Chairman Emeritus of Sachs Sax Caplan, P.L., a Boca Raton based law firm, has been recognized by South Florida Business & Wealth (SFBW) with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Sachs received the award at SFBW’s annual Legal Awards, which were held at Fort Lauderdale’s Museum of Discovery and Science. The SFBW awards judge the nominee’s success, growth and professional accomplishments, as well as charitable and civic achievements.“As a child of survivors born in a refugee camp in Berlin, it was the goal of my parents to make sure I received a good education that had been denied to them,” said Sachs. “After graduating from Queens College, CUNY, performing military service and then graduating cum laude from Fordham Law School, I wanted to use my education and the opportunity it provided to help protect the freedoms and individual rights we enjoy in the best country in the world – the USA.”   "As a child of survivors born in a refugee camp in Berlin, it was the goal of my parents to make sure I received a good education that had been denied to them” - Peter Sachs of Sachs Sax Caplan, P.L. Sachs is a Founding Partner and Chairman Emeritus of Sachs Sax Caplan P.L. He is Board Certified in Condominium and Planned Development Law by the Florida Bar and through the years has handled a multitude of matters related to community associations (condominiums, cooperatives, homeowners, master and country clubs). He is one of the pioneers in the development of community association law and has earned a reputation as a staunch consumer rights advocate.Sachs received his B.A. from Queens College of the City University of New York and his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. Sachs is Past Chair of the 15th Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission, Past President of the South Palm Beach County Bar Association, and a Past Member of the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar.He was a Gubernatorial Appointee to the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council; Past President and Gubernatorial Appointee to the Florida Independent Living Council; Past Board...

As community association attorneys, one of the problems we face quite often with our association clients is how to prevent violations of the governing documents and rules of the communities. How do we prevent the homeowner from painting their house pink? How do we prevent people from hanging towels outside on the common element rails and doing other things that really are violations of the rules and regulations and the governing documents? And what a lot of board members and managers don't realize is that associations are sort of mini-democracies. What does that mean, exactly? There's a certain level of “due process” that associations must follow if they're going to fine somebody or if they're going to suspend somebody’s right to use the pool, or their right to use the tennis court. And one of the things that's common among both the Condominium Act and the Homeowners Association Act, is the fact that an association must establish a committee of non-board member owners who will hear complaints that the board has imposed regarding violations of the governing documents. This group serves as an independent body that decides whether they're going to uphold or approve the board's actions and decisions in relation to imposing fines and suspensions. Furthermore, both Acts require that the owner who was in violation and subject to a board-levied fine or suspension be provided with at least 14 days’ notice as well as the opportunity to be heard before this committee to present their case. This gives the person in violation a chance to present their opinion and present their evidence of why they think that the fine and the suspension should not be imposed. Only then, when it's all said and done, can the committee ultimately decide whether to approve or reject the fine or suspension. What we often face as association lawyers are situations where perhaps that procedure wasn't followed, where a board or managers just decided that this person violated the governing documents, and the violating party all of a sudden has a $1,000 fine on their account. When they come to us to try...