|
SOLUTION FOR CONDO CRISIS?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published September 20, 2024
In all honesty, and I am sorry to say this, I don’t think there
is a feasible solution for the condo crisis. Latest developments
have shown that there is no “easy living” or “low-cost living”
in condominiums – as always advertised by the developers.
Over the last few weeks every news channel in Florida reported
about huge special assessments levied by associations. But they
not only interviewed the owners complaining about the
assessments, but as well the very obvious visible damages to
these buildings, damages that have obviously been there for many
years without anybody making the effort to repair these
substantial problems.
And the fact that many owners in many associations voted down
fully funded reserves year for year isn’t helping the cause. Now
there is no money to pay for the necessary repairs, repairs
desperately needed to guarantee the safety of the occupants.
Homeownership comes with a price – and so does owning a condo
unit. The older the building, the more maintenance and repairs
are needed and the necessary repairs are getting more expensive.
Giving these condo owners in financial distress low-interest or
even no-interest loans is in my opinion just prolonging the
misery. Condo owners have to understand that there is no
low-cost living in condos.
Even if they get a loan from the state or private banks they
have to understand that this is just a short-term solution. Even
if the special assessment just levied has been paid by such
loan, the monthly maintenance fees will go up and up – and there
will be definitely more expensive repairs on the horizon.
Condo owners should really check their finances and take a look
if they can afford all these extra cost they will soon be
facing. If they think that the family’s income is sufficient to
pay for all these costs – good for them. But all the other
owners who put together the numbers and realize that they will
not be able to weather the financial storm (not hurricane) they
are facing, it is time to face the facts and get out as long as
the going is still halfway good.
I think that nobody – besides the attorneys – wants to see
another flood of foreclosures hitting these condominium
associations.
|
|
 |
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
!
|
