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TIMES ARE STILL
UNUSUAL
By
Jan Bergemann
Published June 19, 2020
Executive orders
YES or NO, it will still last quite a while before
life will return back to normal. Yes, there has been a serious
health-threat caused by the virus, but in my opinion the
executive orders dealing with the management of community
associations have created a lot of confusion – and no matter
whom you asked on how to deal with these issues -- you got a
different answer.
Let’s just be
honest: We were all not ready to deal with the problems
caused by COVID-19.
And I don’t think
everybody is ready to get back to normal. Life in this country
has changed, not only caused by the Pandemic. Our country is in
uproar – and it’s high time that life returns to normal again.
Let’s face it: The
COVID-19 crisis has been horrible, but the uncertainty of what’s
going on made life really complicated, especially for boards of
community associations.
But not all boards
used common sense – or were trying to do the right thing.
Some boards abused
the situation caused by Emergency Order 2020-04. They refused to
hold necessary meetings, especially when it came to recall
meetings, and used the emergency situation for their own
advantage. And, as usual, they found attorneys blowing their
horn.
Even if our Governor
Ron DeSantis is trying to get life in Florida back to normal,
not everybody plays along. Some boards didn’t close their
community pool, others are refusing to re-open the pools closed
due to the Pandemic.
And the list goes
on. There is lots of unrest among inhabitants of community
associations, and it doesn’t look like our lives are getting
back to “NORMAL” pretty soon.
The next warning is
already on the horizon: Unpaid dues due to financial strains of
owners and renters. That leaves another big question: Will our
economy get back to normal pretty fast?
There are still a lot of unanswered questions – and no matter
what: TIMES ARE STILL UNUSUAL!
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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