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DEDICATED TO THE OWNERS OF
PROPERTY IN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
September 8, 2017
Yes, we all know
that being a board member of a community association is not an
easy job if you are taking the job seriously.
But many of these volunteers just don’t understand that a
community association is actually a business and as such it
takes business decisions to manage a community association. It’s
nice to have volunteers, but mistakes made by these volunteers
can have a serious financial impact on all community members.
An even bigger
problem owners of property in community associations are having
is the fact that due to the total lack of oversight of these
associations created by the legislature we see a lot of scam
artist -- and worse -- abusing the power given to them by the
laws governing community associations. Believe me: it’s a lot
easier to get elected to the board of an association and then to
“steal” the funds than robbing a bank. And recent cases have
shown that there is a lot more money available in association
funds than banks have available to rob in their branch
locations. And the punishment if caught: In recent years only
more or less a slap on the wrist for these “embezzlers” of
association funds, while bank robbers were sentenced to serve
many years in federal high-security prisons.
And then there are
the “volunteer” board members who think they know it all,
compare themselves to Superman and quickly turn into dictators
who should be given middle-names like Adolf, Joseph or Fidel. We
all know the old saying: “POWER CORRUPTS – AND MORE POWER
CORRUPTS EVEN MORE!”
These folks make up
their own rules and defend violations of statutes and rules
created by the governing documents with excuses like: “The
association attorney said we can do it” or “I checked with the
Division and they said it’s o.k. to do it this way.”
Well, and if that
still doesn’t deter the owners who oppose these board members
they talk to their "willing" attorney to write some
“stupid” “CEASE and DESIST” letters trying to
intimidate these owners, hoping they will finally shut up.
I always get a kick
out of these letters. The accusations and “threats” often used
in these letters are nothing but ridiculous. Even if these
letters threaten the owners with about everything short of exile
in Siberia, they are in reality nothing but tools of
intimidation. Personally, I have a hard time understanding
attorneys who are willing to be puppets of these “dictatorial”
board members. For me it’s nothing but more waste of money.
I admire the owners
who are willing to fight these “dictatorial” boards and dedicate
time and money trying to right the wrong. It’s a difficult job –
with all the odds stacked against these owners. I know how it
feels doing it – been there, done it!
As much as I
appreciate the hard work done by the “GOOD” board members, I
dedicate this blog to the owners who are willing to fight
dictatorships – and worse – in their communities! THANK
YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK TO DO THINGS RIGHT!
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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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