|
ARE YOU RISKING BECOMING THE VICTIM OF VIOLENCE BY VOLUNTEERING
TO SERVE ON YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS?
By
Eric Glazer, Esq.
Published October 23, 2017
So this morning I’m on the internet researching some issues
and I kind of stumble upon something that was truly alarming.
There is case after case after case of violent incidents against
Board members. In all fairness, there are also numerous cases
alleging violence by board members against home owners. This is
scary, uncalled for and should NEVER be tolerated. NEVER.
I’ve seen articles written by some attorneys suggesting ways
to deal with these situations, but I’m not necessarily in
agreement with all of the suggestions. I can only tell you how
members of my firm and I have dealt with such issues in the
past.
A few years ago we represented a condominium in South Beach
that had an owner living there that used his dogs to terrorize
the community, tazed people with a taser, beat someone with a
fire extinguisher and otherwise caused havoc and fear among the
residents. My star witness was the wife of an Assistant United
States Attorney who lived at the property. The trial judge
permanently removed this guy from his home. On appeal, the
defendant’s attorney argued that a court does not have the
authority to permanently remove someone from their home. I’ll
never forget one of the Appellate Judges stating at oral
argument that a judge’s first responsibility is to “preserve the
peace” and that the only way to preserve the peace in this
community was to remove his client from his unit. The decision
of the trial court was affirmed on appeal. About two months
later the same guy was found in the trunk of a car on Long
Island with a bullet hole in his head. Perhaps if the trial
judge and appellate court did not remove him from the condo, the
bullets would have been flying at the Florida condominium
instead.
In Central Florida we recently had a woman removed from her
home after repeatedly threatening violence against her
neighbors. A guardianship proceeding was established, a
guardian appointed and the owner received assistance that she
needed.
Many years ago I represented an association where an owner was
caught on video taking out a knife and destroying the common
area furniture. He would tell people he was infected with HIV
and that he was going to bite them. I organized several owners
who jointly prepared a Baker Act petition and the court granted
same. The owner was picked up and held against his will to be
medically evaluated. I remember fearing at the time that
eventually a member of this person’s family would call my office
and threaten to sue me and the association. Sure enough that
call came after a few days. However, it was a call to actually
thank me for the action we took. I was informed that without a
forced intervention their family member would never have
received the medical attention they need.
In yet another case, an owner in a condominium threatened to
blow the place up because the Board would apparently not fix a
problem that was creating noise in his unit. His comments that
he had the knowledge to pull it off were taken very seriously.
The judge ordered him out of the property.
In another case our firm handled, we removed an owner from a
condo unit who took out an AK-47 and AR-14 and emptied the clips
into the walls. You may remember that the criminal court judge
released the owner on a low bail and he was back at the condo
within a few days. We filed an Emergency Petition in civil
court to remove him and were successful.
The bottom line is that if you know there is a person living
in the community who has actually acted violent or threatened
violence, it is certainly foreseeable that they will do so
again. As a result, if someone is now physically or verbally
attacked by this person, the board and potentially the directors
individually can be held responsible in a civil suit for
damages.
Sitting back and hoping the problem will go away is not an
answer. However, in order to actually get the relief from the
court that you want, board members and unit owners will need to
step up to the plate, come to court and testify. And sometimes,
that’s where the problem lies. People complain, but when it’s
time to tell your story to the judge, nobody wants to become
involved.
|
|
About
HOA & Condo Blog
 |
Eric Glazer graduated from
the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 after
receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has practiced community
association law for more than 2
|
decades and is the owner of Glazer
and Associates, P.A. a seven attorney law firm with offices in
Fort Lauderdale and Orlando and satellite offices in Naples,
Fort Myers and Tampa.
Since 2009, Eric has been the host
of Condo Craze and HOAs, a weekly one hour radio show that airs
at noon each Sunday on 850 WFTL.
See:
www.condocrazeandhoas.com.
He is the first attorney in the
State of Florida that designed a course that certifies
condominium residents as eligible to serve on a condominium
Board of Directors and has now certified more than 10,000
Floridians all across the state. He is certified as a Circuit
Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has mediated
dozens of disputes between associations and unit owners. Eric
also devotes significant time to advancing legislation in the
best interest of Florida community association members.
|
