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NECESSARY CHANGES TO FS 718 and FS 720
By
Jan Bergemann
Published September 10, 2021
Next Saturday we are holding our
TOWN HALL MEETING in DORAL. We will have a
great panel and experts discussing necessary changes to
Florida’s community association law with home- and condo owners.
We have already published our
DEMANDS FOR CHANGES necessary to prevent disasters like
the condo collapse in Surfside that cost the lives of 97 people.
But as so often in the past when changes to community
association laws were made, the main topic remains: TOTAL
LACK OF ENFORCEMENT!
LAWS WITHOUT ENFORCEMENT ARE USELESS!
How good is it if the owners are trying to get the records --
considered public records – from the association, but instead
receive a threatening letter from the association attorney
accusing them of slander and libel. And the regulatory agency –
named Division of
Condominiums, Timeshares & Mobile Homes
-- sits idle by, ignoring the fact that FS 718.501(c)7.
requires them to issue subpoenas
“if a unit owner presents the division with proof that the
unit owner has requested access to official records in writing
by certified mail, and that after 10 days the unit owner again
made the same request for access to official records in writing
by certified mail, and that more than 10 days has elapsed since
the second request and the association has still failed or
refused to provide access to official records as required by
this chapter.”
And don’t forget: Condo owners are paying $4 annually to finance
an agency that is about as useless as a pimple.
And there shouldn’t even be a discussion about mandatory fully
funded reserves starting to be established at the day of “certification
of occupancy.” Just right now condo owners in Destin are
trying to recall a board because of a $80,000 special assessment
necessary to repair and maintain an old building, with boards
over the years failing to create the necessary reserve funds.
You can be sure that some of the owners will lose their home
because they will be unable to pay the $80,000.
More than 50% of all Floridians live in community associations –
and we don’t have any reasonable laws – and enforcement of these
laws – that protect these families – and especially their
finances – from abuse, scams and embezzlement, not even to talk
about fair elections.
THIS HAS TO CHANGE!
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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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