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HB 841 – A TOTAL NIGHTMARE FOR OWNERS
By
Jan Bergemann
Published March 2, 2018
The only community
association bill left in the “running” in this legislative
session is
HB 841, a bill that was supposed to correct and clarify
legal issues created by last year’s Condo Reform Bill HB 1237.
Normally bills improve when being amended in committees. But not
if George Moraitis is the bill sponsor. This bill has turned
from bad to worse and instead of correcting and clarifying
provisions from last year’s bill, this bill is actually
destroying the good intentions of last year’s bill.
Not only is the bill
making a mess out of the condo recall provisions, it actually
puts an end to open board meetings. No more open discussions at
a noticed board meeting since the wording of the bill allows
board members to discuss all issues ahead of time by computer.
And nobody will ever know what has been discussed among the
board members since an arbitration ruling stated that e-mails
sent and received by private computer are NOT public record.
With other words: The Moraitis’ bill puts an end to open
meetings. Board business behind closed doors will be legal
again.
Well, owners of
electric cars will rejoice. They will be allowed to install
power outlets in condo garages. What a nightmare that will be
for the older condos. Many of them are not prepared for
high-power outlets – and it is already foreseeable that lots of
lawsuits will be fought over this issue.
But Moraitis surely
doesn’t care about the welfare of families living in Florida’s
community associations. He is an attorney and to me it seems
that he files bills in order to create extra work for his
colleagues, at the expense of his constituents!
THANK GOD FOR TERM-LIMITS! IT’S MORAITIS’ LAST YEAR IN THE
FLORIDA LEGISLATURE!
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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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