As the Managing Shareholder of the Firm’s Tampa Bay Office, Ms. de Haan focuses her practice in the area of Community Association Law, representing condominium, cooperative, timeshare and homeowner associations.
Ms. de Haan served on the Board of the Community Associations Institute ("CAI") Broward County Chapter, currently serves on the Board of the Suncoast Chapter, and has served on and/or chaired the Public Policy Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, and the Public Affairs Council of the National Community Associations Institute; served as a Trustee on the CAI National Board, and is a past President of CAI National. Ms. de Haan is also a Past President of the Community Associations Institute Foundation for Community Association Research. She just completed six years of service as a Commissioner for the National Board of Certification – Community Association Managers (“NBC-CAM”).
Ms. de Haan is a member of the National CAI Teaching Faculty, as part of the Professional Managers Designation Program (PMDP), and assists in training new faculty members to teach the PMDP courses. She has developed curriculum materials under a CAI contract with the State of Florida, and provided educational programs for condominium and cooperative association board members and owners.
Ms. de Haan is a member of the Board of Advisors of the University of Miami School of Law Institute on Condominium and Cluster Developments, and has lectured at the annual Law Institute on such topics as "Community Association Counsel Perspective - The Association, Board and Dissidents - Duties of Loyalty and Ethical Problem Areas" and "Aging in Place - Health Care Issues Related to Residential Communities." She served on the State of Florida Escalator Safety Task Force, for which she helped develop written materials to increase public awareness of safety on elevators, escalators and moving walkways, and participated in the creation of the final report to the Governor of Florida.
Publications
In addition to being a past co-editor of and current contributor to the Law Firm's Community Update newsletter, Ms. de Haan has published numerous articles on such topics as: the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, the National Fire Protection Act Life Safety Code 101, Legal Liability of Boards of Directors of Community Associations, disaster preparedness; and an article entitled "Management Agreements for Community Associations" in the January/February 1992 issue of Probate & Property, the magazine of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the American Bar Association.
Ms. de Haan’s latest publication is a book entitled Boomer Shock: Preparing Communities for the Retirement Generation, published by Community Associations Press, Alexandria, Virginia. She has authored a book entitled Self-Management: A Guide for the Small Community Association, also published by Community Associations Press, Alexandria, Virginia. Ms. de Haan has written “Housing Trends for the 21st Century,” published in Marquette Elder’s Advisor, Volume 5, Number 2, Spring 2004; and “Litigation Involving the Developer, Homeowners’ Associations, and Lenders,” with E. Richard Kennedy, published in Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal, American Bar Association, Volume 39, Number 1, Spring 2004. In addition, she has authored an article entitled "Aging in Place - The Development of Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities" which was published in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Community Association Law; and a book of the same name, which has been published by the Community Associations Institute. Ms. de Haan has also authored an article entitled “Aging in Place: Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities and Condominium Living” published in Elder’s Advisor, The Journal of Elder Law and Post-Retirement Planning, Volume 1, Number 2, Fall 1999.
Ms. de Haan is a contributing editor for Common Ground, the award-winning CAI bi-monthly journal of community associations, in which she has published a number of "Ask the Expert" columns, and in which she has published articles entitled "Aging In Place," on the problems of aging populations in community associations; "In the Line of Liability," concerning board liability for criminal activity in the community association context; "Taking the Ethics Test," concerning ethical dilemmas and considerations for attorneys, community association managers and board members; and “The Truck Stops Here,” concerning vehicle and parking restrictions and enforcement. Ms. de Haan has served on several National CAI Task Forces, as well. Ms. de Haan also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Community Association Management Insider published by Brownstone Publishers, Inc.
Activities, Memberships and Professional Recognition
Ms. de Haan is a member of the Florida Bar, and The College of Community Association Lawyers, established by the Community Associations Institute to acknowledge attorneys who have distinguished themselves through contributions to community association law and have committed themselves to high standards of professional and ethical conduct.
In 1994, Ms. de Haan was given the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award by CAI; and received the Author of the Year Award for 1997-1998. In May, 2002, Ms. de Haan was given the Distinguished Service Award, considered to be CAI's most prestigious award, given periodically to an individual selected for long-standing, extraordinary contributions to CAI. In May, 2003, Ms. de Haan was again awarded the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award by CAI. In April, 2008, Ms. de Haan received the CAI Educator of the Year award. In April, 2010, Ms. de Haan was given the NBC-CAM Service and Leadership Award.
Ms. de Haan has lectured extensively, not only throughout Florida, but also nationally and internationally at conferences, professional meetings, and colleges and universities, as well as the National Community Association Law Seminar, several chapters of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, ARDA-Florida & Suncoast Community Associations Institute Resort Management Seminars, and annually, for the Firm's Community Associations Workshops. Topics include: Aging in Place; Kinder and Gentler Covenant Enforcement; Federal Fair Housing Act Issues. Ms. de Haan also develops and teaches certified continuing education courses for Florida Community Association Managers, with topics including: “Working With Difficult People,” “Stress Management,” “Aging in Place.” and “Trends in Community Associations for the 21st Century.”
Ms. de Haan has appeared on many television news broadcasts; Cable Community Television in a talk show format; and nationally on ABC World News Tonight, A Current Affair, Inside Report, and on QVC/Home Shopping Network. In September, 1999, Ms. de Haan was a speaker at the Communities of Tomorrow Summit, a national dialogue on excellence in community design, governance and management held in Washington, D.C. Ms. de Haan has been a featured speaker at Annual Condominium Conferences of the Canadian Condominium Institute and Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.