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READING THE GOVERNING DOCS? WHO
CARES?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
April 14, 2017
I guess nearly every
board member knows that the association is governed by their
specific documents: Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws and CC&Rs.
But most of them don’t care reading these governing documents,
much less follow their rules.
In my opinion the
problem is not the lack of board members reading these
documents, it’s the attitude: Who cares what these documents
say?
Board members know
that it’s outright difficult for owners to enforce the rules of
the governing docs, much less to hold board members responsible
for outright ignoring these rules – even if these board members
are on record saying that they don’t care what the documents
say.
We obviously live in
a society where it’s “politically correct” to not hold people
responsible for any violations. That’s especially common in
community associations where the rules even indemnify these
board members – no matter how badly they ignore statutes and
governing documents.
Let’s face it: We
are all human – hopefully? And if we know that we can violate
the rules without having to fear any punishment – we will do it!
No matter how much
money the association spends on keeping the governing documents
up to date: The failure of many board members to follow the
rules of the governing docs makes this expense a waste of money!
As long as there is
no punishment for violating rules and laws we will see rules and
laws being ignored!
Remember kids’
behavior? They will try anything to find out how far they can go
without facing punishment!
I guess many
board members are like kids!
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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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