|
GONE FOR LONG?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published July 19, 2019
Florida is not only
the heaven for retirees – not considering the many scams
threatening especially older folks – it’s as well the heaven for
snowbirds. And that means that many homeowners and condo owners
– and board members -- are gone for a long period of time,
mainly in summer.
And because of the
hot and humid weather many permanent residents use the summer
time to take longer vacations, visiting friends and families up
North or going on lengthy cruises.
With other words:
Lots of homes and condos are empty during the summer months, and
there are community associations where the only people around
are the manager and the landscaper.
But that doesn’t
mean that there is no urgent business to be taken care of in the
associations. You can’t just close down everything, leave and
just hope that everything is still great when you return.
Remember: Summer is
as well hurricane season and a hurricane can cause huge damages
as we all know. And decisions have to be made in a rush in order
to avoid more damages caused by the failure of fast response.
So, before you leave
for a lengthy period of time make sure that all your modern
gadgets are in working order, that you can easily get in touch
with all the folks on the association boards – and/or neighbors
you know will be at home during the time you are gone.
Modern technology
has given us so many options to stay in touch, so: LET’S
USE THESE GADGETS!
Stay in touch and
make sure that business is taken care of – no matter where you
are!
|
|
 |
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
|
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
!
|
