Q: I live in a Florida community with all villas that are attached to one another. I recently got an email from our community’s management company that said homeowners insurance was required on each property. I have lived in the development for over 20 years and never gotten this before. They have not required proof of insurance, and since I own my place outright, I was thinking of dropping the insurance as it was getting very expensive. From what I understand, the insurance really does not cover the damage done to a property — I saw this on TV — and insurance companies seem to be adjusting their payout figures to give less than what insurance adjusters recommend. Can the management company require all property owners to carry homeowners insurance, and what would be the consequences if I do not?

A: The short answer to your question is that community associations and other homeowners associations can require that their homeowners carry homeowners insurance for their unit. This requirement is generally, if not always, spelled out in the association’s governing documents.

For example, there’s likely a whole section setting forth the requirements for the coverage that the association needs for common property (like a garage or clubhouse), as well as the requirements for individual owners.

It makes sense for community associations to require their members to carry insurance. The association won’t care if their members have insurance coverage for their jewelry and other personal items, but does want to make sure members have the means to rebuild if the building burns down or is damaged. If one homeowner does not have insurance and can’t rebuild a home, the community will have a gaping hole where that home stood.

In high-rise condominium buildings, the condominium association will want homeowners to carry insurance to cover damage they may cause to other units should something happen in that unit owner’s place. Let’s say one unit owner’s washing machine breaks and floods several places below them. The association will want all unit owners to have insurance for liability coverages.

In your situation, your development has many homes, and many are attached to each other. If one goes down, the association will want to know that the villa owner has the money to rebuild it and keep the same look and feel to the community. And, while you have no mortgage on it, the association can’t assume that you have the cash to rebuild the villa after a fire or other casualty.

We understand that Florida is going through an insurance crisis and that premiums have gone up exponentially over the past several years. It’s happening in other states as well. But each homeowners association has an obligation to follow their governing documents and make sure the community’s best interests are maintained.

On the issue of how and what insurance companies pay for filed claims, that’s a different story. Some insurance companies are better than others. We suspect that some, or maybe even most, insurance companies will try to pay out the lowest amount they can to save money.

They may not even be fair with the way they go about it. But that’s an issue policyholders will have to pursue using available legal remedies against those companies. That issue has no bearing on the community association’s requirements to have insurance coverage.

Ilyce Glink is the CEO of Best Money Moves and Samuel J. Tamkin is a real estate attorney. Contact them through the website ThinkGlink.com.