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OH, THESE DEVELOPERS!
By
Jan Bergemann
Published June 15, 2018
The developer we
bought our first home from here in Florida was as well my first
nightmare. I didn’t know what an HOA was, and relied on the
statement: "The HOA will take care of roads, amenities and
easements – it creates CAREFREE LIVING!"
I can assure you:
This HOA created my worst nightmares, especially after I found
out that the developer built the promised amenities using our
maintenance fees. And when we owners sued him we quickly found
out that – at that time – he could use our maintenance fees to
pay his attorney to defend against our lawsuit.
That made me think:
Legislators who allow such laws to be enacted, must be either
NUTS – or ON THE TAKE. SOME ARE BOTH!
That was about
twenty years ago. Much has been added to the wording of the
statutes in regards to turn-over of developer-control.
But what good is
wording if there is NO ENFORCEMENT of these
provisions in the Florida statutes?
Twenty years ago,
when “false” advertising was a Third Degree Felony, we were told
by the State Attorney’s office and the office of the Attorney
General, that there was “no” money to prosecute these
developers. I rather suggest that the elected attorneys and
judges were well “bribed” with campaign funds from developers.
And from what I’m
seeing in recent years – not much has changed on this front
either!
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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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