|
THE WINNERS: THE “SPECIALIZED” ATTORNEYS
By
Jan Bergemann
Published September 1, 2023
Let’s be very honest: At the beginning of the 2023 Legislative
Session owners of property in Florida’s community associations
had to be very happy when they saw the bills filed. Many
owner-friendly bills trying to deal with the chaotic problems in
many associations, especially fighting election fraud, kickbacks
and embezzlement, were filed by legislators listening to their
constituents.
The originally filed versions of
HB 919 (Representative Juan Carlos Porras) and
SB 1114 (Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez) carried great
promises for owners in condos and HOAs. But these promises
quickly disappeared when the red pencil of incoming speaker
Daniel Perez killed most of the good provisions in the
well-intended bills. Not only did he remove any provision for
condos (FS 718), but as well any provision that would have
helped enforcing the few “left-overs” in the bill that was
finally signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis (Chapter
2023-228). Perez obviously thinks that there is no
election fraud, kickbacks and embezzlement in condominiums. I
don’t think so! I rather believe that the campaign funds given
to him by his fellow attorneys and the CAI convinced him to
remove all these great provisions for condo owners. Remember:
These issues are great money-makers for attorneys! Passing the
bill in its original version would have seriously reduced the
income of some law firms “specialized” in defending “crooked”
board members.
Homeowners are left to fight crooked board members at their own
expense – making this bill again a bill for only the RICH
– meaning owners who have the financial resources to hire
attorneys and accountants and fight lengthy – and very costly –
lawsuits against boards using the association’s money to cover
up their wrong-doings: See
HAMMOCKS and
BOCA VIEW.
|
|
 |
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
|
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
!
|
