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RECORDED GOVERNING DOCS?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published July 20, 2018
The requirement to
record governing documents – and amendments thereto – is another
example for our legislature obviously having no concept on how
to deal with laws regarding community association.
The industry threw
millions of families into so-called community associations
claiming that these associations provide “EASY LIVING”
and “PROTECT PROPERTY VALUES”.
Nothing is further from the truth.
These community
associations have no other purpose than making service providers
rich at the expense of the owners who were lured into these
communities under false pretenses.
In reality they
created Gulags with no real governmental oversight, allowing
board members to create dictatorships. Remember Checkpoint
Charlie in Berlin? Remember the prominent sign displayed at this
checkpoint saying: “YOU ARE LEAVING THE AMERICAN ZONE!”
Every community
association should display that sign at the entrance – warning
folks that our US Constitution is “outfoxed” by a “contract” – a
contract that can be changed without all partners to this
contract having a say.
Potential buyers are
always getting the smart advice: “Get the latest version of
the governing documents from the local court house in order to
avoid “nasty” surprises after buying into the community.”
Well, they’ll have a
“nasty” surprise anyway if they find out that there are valid
rules that were not recorded with the local Clerk of the Court.
The process of “RULEMAKING”
in associations clearly stinks. We only see too often that a
dictatorial president is making up rules as he goes along – and
owners have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to fight these
made-up rules.
When will our
Florida legislature finally realize that they were supposedly
elected to serve their constituents – and not the special
interests that are financing their campaign funds?
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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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